Some Progress...

I just couldn't muster the strength to get to another post last night. We made our initial trip to the grocery store, and let me just say, we will be ordering our groceries online from now on. First off, we went the wrong way to get there, so it took like 30 minutes. We only got 6 bags, for a total of roughly $50US, and then we carried them the short way back- which still took 20 minutes. It's just not efficient! Haha. But we now have a few staples for the next couple of meals. We chuckled when we bought "NYC Bagels." It would be like us buying "English Breakfast Tea" in the States. Funny how just because it says a different country or city, we think it's cooler. Then after all that hauling of food, we decided that we wanted to go out to eat instead of cook any of the food we just bought. Typical. We mostly just didn't want to have to clean up because we forgot to buy a dish sponge, and we don't have a dishwasher.

Anyway, we slept for about 10 hours last night, so we should be mostly caught up. Matthew got up this morning to go on a tour of a biotech company outside Cambridge. One of his classmates is the former COO of this company (Sagentia), so the students who are in town got to go visit. I decided that while he was gone, I would take some pics of the flat to share with you all. I apologize for their non-edited nature, and the messiness...haven't had time to fully unpack yet. Hope you enjoy! More pictures from around town and outside will come next. Here goes the virtual tour:

Thought I should show the only way we got packed in 2 suitcases a piece: space bags. This one had all of Matt's dress shirts and a couple sweaters in it. (These first 2 pics are from when we were still in OK. I miss our comfy/cute bed.)

Can't believe how condensed it actually made the clothes. Ended up with a little extra room in our suitcases, but no more weight allowance. Good thing there was already a vacuum here at our new home so we can get all these clothes back to the States!

Ok, here is what it looks like when you walk in our front door. The door on the right leads to the 'guest bedroom' with a twin bed. The lefthand door is the one to our room.

Guest bedroom= good news for those of you who are coming to visit! No paying for a hotel! Nice little dresser thing too.

Our bedroom with a nice little dresser and a closet (see below.) Don't know why the light shade is crooked, but it won't straighten. It's driving my obsessive compulsive side crazy. Also, that duvet cover will be going as soon as I can find a new cheap one.

Good size closet (only a few missing doorknobs) and handy shelves next to it.

View to the left when you walk into our front door. Bathroom on left, living through the middle, and crazy closet thing to right.

Bigger than our bathroom in Stillwater. Came complete with a scale so I can tell how much weight I lose from eating minimal food and walking all the time.

Teeny tiny medicine cabinet and the only mirror in the whole place.

Here is the crazy closet thingy. Sorry the pic is dark, but there is our little freezer. In the corner is the vacuum. This little room will also be good for storing our luggage once it is emptied.

Here is our living room. Nice couple of love seats. Cushions are a tad-bit flat, but clean nonetheless. Nice desk for Matt to study. Good dining table with leftover crayon marks from the little family that lived here before. 2 bookcases.

View looking from the other end of the living room. Kitchen is off to the right. Can't remember if I mentioned this before, but there was an iron and board here. We used it last night to iron Matt's suit for the company tour, but he misread the email, and the attire was casual. Oh well, next time the suit will be ready!

Don't know if you can tell what this is, but it is a giant spider on the ceiling above one of the couches. It has definitely caught another bug, and I am too afraid to knock it down to kill it. Waiting til Matt gets home to take care of that one. I'll be sitting on the other couch for now.

Kitchen! Nicely stocked like a time share with a few plates, silverware, pans, skillet, etc. I need to buy a cookie sheet so I can make cookies and so we can bake the frozen pizzas we bought!

World's tiniest washer. No dryer, so we need to buy a clothes line and pins. Haven't figured out how we will ever get our clothes clean since it is usually raining. Guess we will string them up inside. Notice the nice toaster and kettle. Those were a couple of unexpected happy surprises. Matt can now have instant decaf coffee!

World's tiniest "cooker," stove/oven combo. I put a quart size baggie on the top there to give you an idea of scale. Definitely smaller than the one in Stillwater, but as long as it cooks our food, we are better off than 90% of the rest of the world. (*I made that statistic up, but I want to make sure I don't come off as ungrateful. This humble abode would be 5 star luxury for most of the 6 billion people on earth. I don't know why we have been so blessed!)

View from the kitchen to our little back patio. It's so nice to be on the first floor and to have a cute little vista to nature! Tons of really chubby squirrels and huge pigeons have come to visit already. I feel like Snow White. Just waiting to see some bunnies so I can start singing "Whistle While You Work."

Dorm size fridge and hot water heater above. Kind of scared of the heater because it's in Celsius, so I have no idea how hot the water is. All I know is that my shower was warm, and that's all that matters to me!

View toward our flat from outside on the back patio. It's a good size for a grill. Maybe I'll find a cheap one.

And finally, the other part of the patio. That's the kitchen window there.