Friday, February 05, 2010

There is Nowhere like Home

One year and three countries later, we are now finally at HOME.  There is nothing like our own place.  It is ok that I come from a big city, then I lived in an even bigger city for almost 10 years and now I find myself stranded in the middle of the desert.  Now I will have to learn how to drive, something that I never needed to do in my life.  Food is a problem easily solved with a good supermarket (thanks, Trader Joe's!), internet buys and lots of cooking websites from all over the world - now I have my own kitchen again!!!



Everything is rated according to the point of view of the viewer.  In Brazil, even on a big city, I was used to big spaces, big houses, lots of storage for things you will never touch again (i.e. clutter).  In London, the biggest place was a joke compared to what I was used to back home.  So I went on to live in very small cramped spaces, learned to throw away all that was not necessary anymore, lived on the bare minimum.  It is true that I first arrived there with a backpack, and for my last move I had 15 boxes packed to be shipped to "the new world", but this is another story.  Our house in Albuquerque, NM, used to be hubby's bachelor pad and it was rented out while we were in London, UK.  He always complained that it is too small.  Well, now I kind of have Londoner's standards, it is a palace compared to many places where I had to live during those expat years.  It is not small, it is cozy :)  I couldn't love it more.

 



It has been a great pleasure to find the right places for each of our belongings, to clean every spot in the house with all love, imagining where we will fit our furniture.  We are fortunate to be able to move little by little, as everything is stored in the in-laws basement.  And that is how we decided to do things, one load at a time. Everything gets cleaned and organized, then another load, etc.  We haven't brought any furniture yet, only cleaning stuff, some kitchen and bathroom basics and little food.  Yet, I don't even feel like I'm camping anymore, I couldn't care less about sleeping on the floor, it feels so much better than the most luxurious hotel in the world.

Now I can't wait to use my crockpot, my coffee maker, my oven, bake an orange cake, prepare my kibes and coxinhas, eat rice everyday, have lots of garlic and onions on my food, buy real bread at the French Bakery, yumy!!!

THANK YOU, GOD!

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4 comments:

Brasil na Italia said...

Hey Vicky,
Congrats for the new house! So do you cook kibes? I love kibes. :)
Ciao ciao,
Barbara

Vicky MundoAfora said...

I love kibes too!!! My mother used to make me a big batch every Saturday, so I had to learn how to make it myself. In London they were easily found, but not here in NM. But one day I was "crying" so much asking for a kibe all day (I dreamnt with a birthday party and food) that Gerald decided to go to an Arabic store to see if they have it. Not only I bought my kibe, but also humus and "requeijao de copo"!!! I didn't know how to buy the proper wheat so I ordered it online, but now I know where to go to make my own.

Stella said...

Good Luck at home, Vicky! Looks like a great new adventure. Did you live in NM before going to London?

Vicky MundoAfora said...

Hi Stella! This is the first time I come to live in the US, before was only on holidays. Everything is new again and food is my main strugle, but I'm enjoying cooking. New life all over again.

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