More Q&A

Question: 

1. Do you know any of your neighbors?  Are they friendly?

1. Neighbors

We live in an apartment building. Ten stories tall, with two apartments on each floor. I saw our neighbor for the first time today as she was getting into the elevator. We`ve never talked. When we get home at night, the entryway is always full of cigarette smoke. We don`t smoke so we know its the neighbors. 

We do have a friendly downstairs neighbor. She has a baby that cries really loud at night. Apparently, there have been some problems with the baby being woke up from naps by the missionaries. She slipped a note under our door a week before I got here saying, "Dear Neighbor, you wake up my baby. Please respect the resting hours of the day from 20:00 at night to 8 in the morning and the siesta from 1-4. Muchas gracias. your neighbor" I thought it was pretty funny but to try and make less noise we taped clothes around the bottom of our metal chairs (similar to the metal folding chairs in the church) to stop them from squeaking on the tile floor (only rich people have carpet).

2. Homes -Do most of the homes in your area have computers, cell phones, and televisions?  What are some differences in their homes and the one you grew up in?

Everyone has smartphones and TVs. The only people without them were robbed of them in the past week or so. Computers are rare. The wealthier part of the people sometimes have desktops or a laptop. 

Differences in the homes: They`re all made of red block and a little bit of wood. It can be a mansion or a shack and they`re going to be made of the same red blocks. Almost everyone has bidets. The plugs are different. Water heaters and stoves are run by natural gas. The floors are tile or dirt. Sheetrock doesn`t exist, only bricks and blocks on the inside for walls. Very few people have front yards or side yards or backyards. Most houses are surrounded by fences. All windows have bars. Every bedroom is shared by two or more people. 

1. What is your favorite smell right now?  Least favorite?

3. Favorite smell: a book of Mormon fresh from the box

Least favorite smell: skunk marijuana. Cigarette smoke smells bad but marijuana is terrible. We smell it a few times a day.