2 undertakers down, 1 to go

It’s a good thing I took my laundry in off the balcony. No sooner did I pull it inside when a complete downpour started. Those gray clouds just rained down intense and hard for about 45 minutes and then poof – the whole thing was gone. Now the skies are bright blue and the sun is out and intense just like normal. The forecast for the week is 75.

Well internet in my room is a bust. Turns out that my computer won’t take a SIM card, and I don’t want to pay the 80Euro for a flashdrive version PLUS the 30Euro monthly rate for an aircard that won’t work in the US and isn’t returnable. So back to the cafes I go. The interesting thing was that I got to “try” the aircard at my apartment for two days to see if the connection would work and because I picked it up on Friday and they are closed on Sunday, I got to keep it until Monday at no charge. I mean – there was a 50Euro deposit but I got the whole deposit back. It was nice because I was able to skype with my family for free from my apartment and not have to wear the headphone set while sitting at a crowded café with everyone staring at me.

In any case, I decided to make the best of the day anyway by calling up the 2nd of the 3 undertakers on the island, the one in Zebug with a shop in Victoria. He said he could meet me right away because he was actually in Victoria. The shop was a quick 10 minute walk from where I was at the mall so I hoofed it over there. After greeting me with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, which is something that’s never happened before, we talked for about an hour and a half. He offered me a beer while I was there, but I declined and asked for water instead. He was very informative, though he asked that I not record him because he was concerned about how bad his English would sound. I was a bit disappointed as there were some concepts that, upon trying to remember them for my notes later, I wasn’t quite sure how he explained them and I wanted to get his words right. Like everyone else I’ve spoken too, he too said I could call him for anything I needed and could come back if I’d like. He also offered me a ride back to St. George’s square which I gladly took him up on. Crazy to think that it’s been a whole month since I was inside a car. Well, in this case, a pickup truck.

In celebration of my good interview, I made myself a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. This is huge because it means I figured out the problem with the butter. I realized that at home, the butter we/I eat is naturally salted. The butter here in the grocery store is not. (For the most part). So when I was there Saturday I found some salted Irish butter and put the world right again. Man was that grilled cheese tasty! I should also confess that I had some buttered bread with dinner when Chris and I were in Xlendi last Wednesday night. But yeah, outside of that (and the times I did the same when Wim was here and we were at a restaurant), I really don’t think I’ve used butter at all in the 5 weeks I’ve been here. It seems like such a little thing but considering how much I used it at home it’s really quite big. Of course, then again, so was I. Ha. Wah wah.