Moving Around

I've done a lot of moving around the last three weeks. I went back to the states, then to London for a few days, had full week at work, then on to Malta for the weekend to celebrate my birthday for the 3rd time. In addition to all of that, I also managed to find time to move into a new place here in Tripoli. I'm out of the guesthouse in Gargaresh. Now I'm out in one of the small villas in the suburbs. I share the house with 4 other coworkers. It's 4 bedroom, 5 baths, I think. I haven't opened all of the doors yet. My best conservative guess is it's somewhere around 7,000 square feet of floor space- 2 stories, 60'x80' with a big front porch and second floor balcony. It was too big to photograph it in one shot from my gate so the photo at the top is two photoshopped together.

In addition to the obvious improvements in space, my internet connection is a ton better out here. It's nice being able to talk on Skype without all of the drops. There's also a maid that comes everyday just like before. We also have a houseboy who serves as our cook/waiter. He makes the coffee and eggs in the morning, and serves dinner every night.

There's a swimming pool too, although it's too cold right now to use it. They said they woulud try to make a heater for it, but I'm not sure cutting the head off an extension cord and throwing it in the water is the best way to heat things up. The smoke would be pretty interesting though.

There are some downsides to the new place. We're on the outskirts of town. There aren't any shopping areas like Gargaresh that we can walk to, just the little corner store and vegetable stand down the street. I do miss dinner at the GH though where there were 20 or so of us sitting around a big table every night talking and telling stories, and making fun of the brits.