Fresh Veggies

We have been hit with a few culture shocks since moving back to the U.S. I will later post as to why we moved back but also several of these instances on later posts but the one most on my mind at the moment is the overwhelming generosity and friendliness of the people here. I find myself being a bit of a cynic though have been fighting the urge to doubt the authenticity of some of the kindness but for the most part it seems pretty legitimate.

We stayed with some friends for the first week we were here, they have a garden and we have been beyond blessed with fresh vegetables straight out of the ground. They also have some cattle that they kill and sell once a year which they gave Alex some of the meat to try. Another girl that we have just met last week that lives in the building of lofts next to ours kindly dropped off Alex's hoodie that we left at their place during a party the other night along with a heaping back of fresh vegetables from her garden. We have been eating some wonderful dishes inspired by what we are receiving from very generous friends.

Other than that, the entire population almost seems to be on something in comparison to London. Everyone smiles, offers assistance and goes out of their way, to help make your day that little bit better. I have even tried to get mad about things. For example, someone is in our parking spot, we have a parking garage below our building with secure parking and assigned spots to coordinate with your loft. Someone has been in ours since we moved in. Granted it has only been 3 days now but it is annoying none the less. They first told us to park in guest parking though at times this has been full, forcing us to park in handicapped parking in fear of throwing the system off balance by taking someone else's individual assigned spot. I felt very uncomfortable about this and marched in to tell the guy whom we rented from that something must be done. He was not worried, "oh, just go ahead and park in 212." Today I see that there is a note on our car from 212, kindly asking us to move as they have moved in and need their spots. I again march in, beyond annoyed, as now I look like the bad guy and and ready to give this guy a piece of my mind. Again, he calmly says it was his mistake, he will apologize to them and that I was to park in 214. This would have not been the response I would have gotten in London, at least not from our letting agent or managing company.

I am slowly getting used to this new kind wonderful world, but things are looking pretty good!