You guys. I am feeling seriously jubilant right now. My day was full of success. In fact, the last few days have been overwhelmingly successful. Very exciting stuff and, you'll notice, a distinct change from my last post.
Back to my point: my mattress is very uncomfortable. It's actually not bad support-wise, but the root of its flaws comes from the several coils right in the middle of the mattress that stick up sharply into my back. Not nice. I had seen an ad for a mattress store in Kragujevac, and made a note of the address, but my first quest searching for it was thwarted due to the lack of visible street numbers on the buildings here. I accidentally went to another mattress shop, on the same street, that did not have what I was looking for.
Successes of the first shopping trip: luxuriously expensive towels, a yoga mat to serve as a temporary mattress pad, various office supplies, laundry detergent, clothespins, and The Little Prince in Serbian.
My loot. |
But today, I set off with renewed hope, and walked down Save Kovačevića, determined to keep walking until I found the mattress shop or my legs gave way beneath me. Luckily, I came rather quickly upon a big mall, and on the ground floor: Dormeo Sleep Shop! Hallelujah!
I went straight inside and inquired about the mattress topper. Sure enough, it was in stock! The saleslady then proceeded to talk about some card I could get for discounts, and of course I was totally lost. That's where the kindness of strangers comes in- an old lady buying a kind of chiropractic back support thingie (it was a multi-purpose shop) started translating for me, and then a younger guy jumped in too. Between the two of them, I had it all sorted out. I got the membership card, which meant I got a "gift" of a pillow along with my mattress topper. I also got a very warm and cozy-seeming blanket, which will blissfully replace the crappy red one that sheds red puffs of fleece EVERYWHERE. Yes, I bought it at that same discount shop (although I don't want to knock them too much since they basically allowed me to steal a bunch of hangers from them, accidentally of course!).
Nice and warm in my new blanket. |
Other things of note:
- I taught my first three English classes yesterday, which went quite well, I daresay. More on this later.
- I've made some new friends, including some of my very nice neighbors.
- Last Friday I went with the other ETAs to the embassy for an orientation of sorts. We got to meet the brand-new ambassador, who has been here about as long as we have! Again, more on this later.
- Still struggling to figure out how I can access the cafeteria where I'm supposed to be eating my meals. I tried today with partial success, but have a promising action plan for tomorrow.
- I couldn't help but smile at two middle-school-aged boys walking down the street today, listening to "Gangnam Style" out loud on a cell phone, and air-guitaring/singing along.
- Last but not least, I think I have found somewhere to take Serbian classes and/or procure a tutor. Fingers crossed! I have a name and a number to call tomorrow morning, so here's hoping for the best.
Awesome post...filled with hope. Glad things are getting sorted out. Here it is day 2 of TMOLP and things are a little dicey.
ReplyDeleteOh man, I forgot that TMOLP was starting. keep me posted.
ReplyDeleteSounds like everything is turning out well for you. Glad you'd met some nice people.
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