inexpensive by half

436 words
A nice run in great weather.  The high today is supposed to be 14 or something.  I see on the internet that Iowa is below zero F, a dozen or so degrees COLDER than Moscow.  Well done!
I couldn’t start off with pull-ups on the school playground because since I was here last, half the playground has collapsed because they are building a road immediately beside the school.
Much of the playground equipment had to be dismantled.  When I go to the first pull-up bar in the park, there was a dude there swinging.  He watched me closely as I groaned through 11 pull-ups.   Then he started to give me advice about holding the hands alternately instead of both facing one direction.  I grunted, “Uh-huh,” and continued running.  I stubbornly wasn’t in the mood.  As I ran, though, I reasoned that he may really know what he was talking about.  Maybe he is a phys. therapist or something.  So when I got to another spot with a bar, I did alternate the hands and it felt great.
Another thing that I realize is that without body-boosting, I am not able to do so many repetitions.  I hope I’m making some strong muscles.

Albania is certainly the coldest place on earth.  How else could I come from -25°C weather in Moscow and come here and freeze (even thought the weather is just about at 0°C)?  The house here is ridiculous!  No insulation so it stays cold all day long, and in the morning, it’s terrible.  This morning, I brought another space heater from the bathroom into the living room.  Ten minutes later, there was a ‘POP’ as the cord flew out of the wall socket as a burned up mess and the fuse blew.  I feel like when I was in Iowa last year and I simply did not turn up the heat in the house.  Here, there IS no heat in the house.

The boys and I are having a great time.  It’s fun to snuggle between them in the bed.  The prices here are amazing.  We went to their favorite restaurant last night and I was able to pay with a credit card.  I saw today that the charge was just more than $20—and we even had ice cream and apple pie for desert!  The same meal would have cost twice that in Moscow.  I am pleasantly surprised when I do conversions in my head here because 100 rubles is about $3, while 100 lek is $1.  That being the case, though, it feels like the prices are similar…so they are 1/3 as much.