Our First Week in Älmhult

On Sunday, we finally got up around 8:00am, showered and had some breakfast.  We then went to the grocery store to try and get groceries to last for a couple of days.  It takes much longer to shop when you cannot read Swedish and you have to check labels due to food sensitivities.  We had to return the car and spent time trying to get somewhat settled.  We could not do too much since the professional cleaners were coming on Monday.

Monday morning David went off to work for his official first day and I stayed at home with the cleaners.  They worked from 10:45 – 2:00 and then called it a day, until tomorrow.  Not much was clean.  I spent the afternoon, cleaning the glass cabinets that were not cleaned when they supposedly cleaned the kitchen.  I then made David a very nice Italian dinner for our first dinner in our home and then we went for a nice walk.

On Tuesday, the Chimney Sweep came at 9:00am (yes, he looked just like the chimney sweeps in Mary Poppins) and then the cleaners arrived again about 10:30 and again only worked until 2:00.  This time they told me they were done.  For professional cleaners, they are not very good.  I went into town to meet David for lunch.  I had to find my way myself and I did it, without too much trouble.  My biggest fear is getting lost in this small town.  I do not know why I am afraid, I am able to get around Chicago and Houston without getting lost, but for some reason I am afraid of getting lost while I am walking.  Strange I know.  Anyhow, we went to the Apotek (the drugstore), David has some horrible rash, we think is caused by mosquito bites, so we picked up some hydrocortisone to see if that will relieve it.  We then went to Jacob’s for a nice lunch, it was a beautiful day about 72 degrees and we were able to eat outside. 

In the evening, Hauke (the homeowner, who is back in town this week) lent us his car so we could go to the grocery store again and then to IKEA to get a new mattress (We thought perhaps David’s rash was being caused by bed bugs, but it appears that this is not the case).  I also washed all the bedding to make sure there was nothing in that causing the rash on David.

On Wednesday, finally there are no appointments!  I slept in and then had a very lazy morning watching movies on TV.  They were American movies with Swedish subtitles (I have to learn Swedish somehow).  The cats were also happy because they did not have to be segregated to one room, they napped as well.  Then I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and rearranging the cabinets in the kitchen.  No, the cleaners did not clean the cabinets as they were paid to do.  I again made a nice dinner for David and we spent the rest of the evening trying to clean things up and make things nice.

It is now Thursday and David’s rash is worse.  It is spreading all over his body and he surprised me this morning when he told me he was going to call the doctor.  He came home at lunch and I noticed that it was now on his neck.  Poor thing.  David went to the Doctor and found out that he is having some sort of allergic reaction to a bug bites.  I think it stems from the ant bites he received while we were in Houston and now his body is overreacting to any bug bite!

In my next post I will tell you more about the house.

See you soon!