Coalinga – Week 2

On Sunday, we were glad to be back at my aunt and uncle’s Presbyterian church, which I have attended as a visitor since I was born, practically. The church supports my parents as missionaries in so many amazing ways, and the people are incredibly kind. David and I even got to attend Sunday school while Timothy was watched in the  nursery – what a  blessing! My aunt and uncle had a barbecue in the afternoon, which we enjoyed immensely. (It actually rained, but we were inside and cozy must of that time.)

Monday, we decided it was time for us to move in. Our landlord had put sheet rock up in the doorway leading to the rest of the house, so at least we would have our privacy. We got all our things over and started settling in. We don’t have all the furniture we need, but we were making do. I was also starting to grade assignments like crazy. I’m an online teaching assistant, and the class’s first written assignment – a 2-3 page essay – was due Monday night. I tried to get as many done early as had been turned in so I wouldn’t be swamped on Tuesday and Wednesday. Fortunately, this worked. But our little house was cold, and I mean frigid. I called up my uncle to see if we could borrow some blankets, and I sent David over to pick them up. All evening, we’d had the oven on at 200F to help warm the place up. We piled at least six or seven blankets on the bed, and when I crawled in, I felt like an Arctic explorer. I’d hardly ever been so cold, and I sure wished our landlord hadn’t removed the wall heater. (Don’t worry; I didn’t leave the oven on at night!)

Tuesday started well if cold. My aunt Mary lent us a space heater, so I changed Timothy’s diaper and dressed him in front of that. I got a lot of work done, went grocery shopping, got a bit more unpacked. A friend from church stopped by with some lifesavers from Costco (paper plates, paper towels, and toilet paper – yay!). We ran some errands, including going to the police station to get David fingerprinted for his CNA training course. When I finally got my act together that afternoon to start making dinner, I discovered that the stove wouldn’t light. I didn’t smell gas, either, so I figured there must be a problem with it, but I had no idea what. Frustrated, I told David we’d have to eat out because I wasn’t prepared to do microwave dinners that night. We had a short meal at McDonalds so that Timothy could play in the kids’ area, and we came right back. Our landlord then came over to start working on closing the hobbit door. I started to fill the sink for dishes and realized there was no hot water. I told him so, and about the stove, and – shocked – he said they must have turned off the gas. He’d been waiting for our April rent to come in before he paid his bill. He assured me it would be on the next day.

It wasn’t. In fact, eight days later, there is still no gas coming into our house. We told my aunt and uncle the next day, and we started looking for a new place to live. This was just the last straw… or so I thought.

Fortunately, that night a kind lady from church gave us an electric blanket to keep us warm. This has been immensely helpful!!

Wednesday, our landlord told us that we needed to change our mailing address from the one he had told us the week before. That’s where he gets his mail, so we needed to add “1/2” to our address. Oh, and by the way, he said, we couldn’t receive mail at the house. Because of certain new rules at the post office, we needed a new mailbox set at the curb. Our landlord said he would put one up soon, once he got the funds.

Okay, so this was after I’d already notified almost everyone about our address change. There was no way I was going to write back and tell them to add “1/2” to the address. I was already ticked off about having to go to the post office to collect our mail. It’s a short walk, but I hated the thought of having to go to the counter several times a week and physically ask a real person for our mail, looking sheepish every time. So when I went to the post office and told him about the whole thing, I said, “You know, we’re not staying at this house. We’ll only be there through April at the latest. What do you suggest?” He gave us ideas, and after careful consideration, yesterday we began renting a PO Box. I think it’ll be much more convenient for everyone.

On Thursday, David went for a routine physical at the doctor’s office – the only doctor’s office in town that performs these specific physicals. We ground our teeth at the cost, but it’s over. Phew.

And that was the majority of our week. I put out a request for microwave recipes and appreciate all your responses and support! I also got to borrow my aunt’s rice cooker and crock pot, plus a few microwave cookbooks, so we’re in good shape for now. I tried my hand at Swedish Meatballs last night, which weren’t very tasty but satisfying, and tonight it’s sloppy joes. Tomorrow I’m going to try Jambalaya in the crock pot. Yeah!

It’s a new and exciting challenge, living without gas. The funniest part is that it’s so similar to our lives in Nigeria. We did all our laundry and baths at my parents’ house because we didn’t have water. Well, now we have water but no heat, so we still do laundry and baths somewhere else! Oh dear. As my aunt said, it’s like I brought Nigeria here with me.

So we’ll be moving as soon as we find a place that’s available. There are two possibilities we’re looking into. Both are houses and more than 1 bedroom, so we’ll have more expenses and more bills to pay. But we’ll also have  more space, and I think we’ll be better off than we are here, in the long run. In the meantime, write to us at our PO Box!! (Ask me for it.)