Trip One, Day Seven

Day seven was our last day, and the day we came home.  We really weren't in Katie's country much that day - just to get ready, go to the airport, and wait, wait, wait for our flight.  While we were in country we stayed in an apartment owned by our driver.  It was t.i.n.y.  We are so spoiled in America.  While it was quite small, (think entire area of less than 500 square feet - I could literally put it in my kitchen) it was very comfortable, and was exactly what we needed while we were there.  It was very clean, and had everything we needed.  I really liked that we had a kitchen, because we were so exhausted by the time we got to the apartment every day, we were more than happy to just eat something we had picked up at the market.

This is the "living room" area.  The couch has storage underneath, and the space behind the drapes is used for storage as well.  There are no closets at all, so the owner really has to use the space wisely for storage.  Imagine that - a home that actually has fewer closets than ours!

This is the bed, obviously, which is opposite the couch area.  The crib is provided for people who stay there after picking their children up.  I think the bed is a king size (maybe queen?) which was a nice surprise!

This is the entry, and the bathroom is off of this.  I didn't take a photo of the bathroom, but the tub is HUGE.  You have to step way up and over the side to get in and out - I mean like up three feet.  The building is hundreds of years old and is concrete, so all of the plumbing and wiring is outside of the walls.  I think the tubs are so high because there is a space underneath for the plumbing.  Regardless, it's a hike!  We were so fortunate to have a washing machine in our apartment (which took a bit of instruction from our driver to figure out!) so we were able to pack very lightly, and also didn't come home with a suitcase full of dirty clothes.

This is one side of the kitchen.  He has it stocked with basic necessities, and there was nothing that we needed that he didn't provide.  It was great.

This is the other side of the kitchen.  We didn't use that tiny table, but we got a good laugh out of it.  It's  so little - seriously like something our children use.  

This was the view from our window, of a sort of court yard area.  I saw several people walking their dogs here, and there are benches and playground equipment as well.  This window has a very small balcony area too, just big enough for two very small chairs.  

This was our scary elevator. . . this photo does not do it justice.  It is about four feet wide.  I'm totally serious.  Three people barely fit inside.   

If this gives you any indication, this is how close we were inside the elevator.  Touching.  

And we would have taken the stairs to the sixth floor, but the common areas of the apartment building are. . . um. . . really gross.  My chant in my head each time we were coming or going from the building was, "This is not an American apartment building.  This is not an American apartment building.  This is not an American apartment building."  

It was very, very affordable, and very safe.  We are fortunate that this is an option for us, and we will very likely stay there again if it's not occupied by someone else while we're there.

Our flights home were so uneventful - NOTHING like our flights there!  Uneventful can be good!  We were starving by the time we got home, so we stopped off (during a tornado warning we later realized) to get something to eat.  By the time we got home, the boys were all asleep.  I was so excited to see them the next morning!  It was our first trip ever away from them, and they all did so well.  They were excited to see us, and very excited to get the treats we brought home for them.  I'm pretty sure Jack liked his treat we got in AMERICA better than the one we got in Katie's country.  We had about 5 minutes at a very small flea market to pick up some quick gifts, so next time we hope to have more of an opportunity for that sort of thing.  I'm going to have to step it up with Jack's gift selection!