Happy New Year from Louaize

The New Year saw us waking up in our very own flat.*  We moved in a bit later than planned but much faster than we were able to do so in Egypt.  We have landed in Louaize, a "village/suburb" on the outskirts of Beirut.  The great thing is that G (our** Lebanese cousin) lives right down*** the street from us, and her sister, parents, and brother are within a stone's throw, too.  Our American friends from Egypt, it turns out, are a 20 minute walk uphill, or a 5 minute drive.  That still remains ever-so-much better than the friend situation in France.

J has just left for his first night of work, and I need to do a bit more cleaning on the flat, hence the icon on this post.  However, aside from making beds with newly-bought and newly-laundered sheets, I don't think I'll do much tonight.  We did a lot today, and the place almost looks like home.  It would feel more like home if we had hot water, but the hot water pump is broken and we can't get another until Monday at the earliest.  Either I will heat water on the gas stove**** to wash my hair and sponge bathe until then, or I will go to G's place to shower.  It is not freezing here, but a cold shower is NOT in my future. :P

How is your New Year shaping up?

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* I wanted to share pics of the view, but that is beyond me at this moment. :P
** I am claiming G as my own even though she is J's cousin by marriage to HIS cousin...
*** Literally downhill, since Louaize sits on a hill, culminating at about 850m above sea-level.  We can see both the sea and snowy peaks from the north side of our flat.
**** We have daily power cuts so electric kettles are not as good of an investment as a good ol' whistling stove-top kettle.