What an evening!

We decided to go grab a quick fast food supper tonight, and then our plan was to go do a little shopping for a few fall clothing items for the girls. The area we were going to has an open evening market street with all sorts of vendors, and it was sort of my plan to wander that street after we ate. We didn't include rain in our plans though! While we were eating, it started raining, so we decided to go to a supermarket next door instead of the street market.
We spent some time in there and bought a few things and then just decided to head home. But then we had a new problem! It has been getting increasingly more difficult to hail taxis in the city especially when the weather is bad! We realized right away that it could be a very long wait out in the rain before one finally was empty and agreeable to taking us. We nearly always take taxis when we go out as a family because it's much more convenient. Oh to have our own vehicle! But owning a car here would bring it's own set of frustrations with it.

So we instead walked down to a bus stop, and we were able to hop right on a bus that would take us almost the whole way home. There was standing room only, and the people around us were in no mood to be accomodating to a family with two little ones, so Brant held Nita with one arm, and held to a railing with the other. I had the stroller to hold on to, which was folded up and hence had two big dirty tires sticking up about waist level. There was a guy next to us with a white coat on, and he was sprawled out a bit and sitting on a bar next to us and leaning against the vertical bar that meant we couldn't hold on where he was leaning (actually Eden held on where he was leaning anyways). My feelings towards this guy were not so swell, and I was envisioning a mess of stroller tires on his white coat, but I refrained! I just grinned to myself as I thought about it instead. Incidentally, that guy was grumbling about someone else on the bus who's mp3 player was playing out loud - the world is full of grumblers...and I'm one of 'em!

Anyways, we finally reached our stop, and saw that we'd have to make a small leap to avoid a river...er, puddle on the side of the road. We all made that leap to the curb, but Eden and I didn't plan our next step well and ended up in a puddle just as deep on the other side of the curb! We totally soaked our feet as we crossed the road and went through another puddle.

We had one more adventure to round out the excitement. From that bus stop, we had to go another 1/2 a mile or so. Sometimes we walk it, but at times like this, we always hope to take a little pedicab. There are usually a few of these guys sitting at the corner waiting to take people for short rides back into our neighborhood. These pedicabs are 3-wheeled cycles with a bench seat in the back, and they're pretty much all enclosed in a make shift plastic covering or small car body type thing. Most of them are motorized with little moped motors, but there are a few of them that rely on the brute strength with bicycle petals. I always feel bad for those guys and have rarely taken those rides. But it just so happened that that sort was the only one out there tonight! With all of our stuff, I doubted that we'd all fit, but Brant and the pedal-er man seemed confident about it. Our stroller was strapped to the top, and we huddled inside. The plastic windows were totally fogged up, so we couldn't see a thing. The thing looked like it was held together with wire and packing tape! Fortunately the way home is mostly flat. There is one lower spot that, when it rains, a huge puddle forms, and we heard the water swishing as we sloshed through that lake in the road. Unfortunately, there's a little alleyway that's a pot-hole nightmare, and when you combine that alley with rain and a dark evening, you might just drown in some of those pot holes - I think maybe they go all the way to America! Our chauffeur gave it a good try, but he just couldn't do it with all of us inside. He got waylaid right next to a building where water was pouring down in a spout, and Brant (holding Nita) had to get out right there and help the guy a little bit. Then both the guys just walked the rest of the way with me and Eden still inside. Brant gave him a nice tip for getting us finally home. I sure hope the guy headed home after that!

So, we sloshed inside and got all our wet stuff changed. Eden found some super fuzzy socks to put on, and she was so pleased about those "cozy, fuzzy, furry socks." She told Brant, "you can think about these cozy, fuzzy, furry socks tonight when you go to sleep, and in the morning I'll ask you about it, whether you thought about these cozy, fuzzy, furry socks as you went to sleep." Such a silly girl! Where does she get such ideas!?

Anyways, that was our adventure for the night! Times like these are always a bit frustrating, but at the same time fun too just to have a silly adventure.