The Second Day

Tuesday I woke up and started cleaning the house. I immediately swept the living room and carpet and then started in on the kitchen. The kitchen definitely need a good scrubbing and organization. I went through the cabinets and took inventory of the pots, pans, silverware, glasses, etc. I put the stuff we would not immediately be using in the closet, then I washed and organized everything and put it where it was convenient for me to reach it. Then I proceeded to scrub the walls, stove, oven, and countertops. That took a while, but when I was done there was a sense of accomplishment. We now had a clean and functioning kitchen. That's a good place to start for a fat guy!

Around noon, Thomas, Tracy, and I went to go meet the landlords. We sat in Rick and Carol's office and they gave us a run down on the island, like how to be polite and greet people with "Morning", "Afternoon", and "Evening", how to turn down a West Indian while your boyfriend is sitting next to you, and telling us that 20% of the people on the island have AIDS. That fact Phoebe did not believe when I told her later, but I will look into it more.

Rick told us to make a list of the things in the apartment that did not work and to get back to him. I signed over my three Bank of America money orders totaling $2250 and they made me a copy of the signed lease. Overall Rock and Carol seemed like very nice people. Tracy even got to help out by asking such important questions as when the hot water would be fixed (which they claimed they had never heard before), and if we bought furniture if they would reimburse us. Thanks Tracy!

After that I went to First Bank of Puerto Rico while Tracy and Thomas went to Connections to check stuff out. Connections is a mail service, post center, internet spot, bulletin board, etc. Opening an account at the bank took a very long time and in the end I didn't receive my temporary bank card because I forgot to get a post office box first. Oops! Note to self, do that in the reverse order next time.

After that I went to Connections to open a mailbox for Tracy and I. I also took a look at the bulletin board in search for a car. I took some pictures of some prospective leads with my iPhone camera and then we were off to Starfish Market the grocery store.

Thomas dropped Tracy and I off there while we scoured the store for everything we thought we would need. We had a little list of things to buy like soaps and sponges and stuff, but the food we just started throwing in the cart. We nearly filled the whole thing. Food is quite expensive. The bill ended up being about $220 and we really didn't get much. I kept the receipt so I can show it to anyone who asks.

Tracy and I came back to our apartment and unpacked the groceries, then we went upstairs to hang out with Phoebe and Thomas and have drinks and watch television. Eventually we went to sleep so I could wake up in the morning and drop Thomas off so we could use the car.