So, no one informed me exactly how vertical a place this was.

I knew in an academic sense that there were mountains here. What I failed to realize was that the city is built into a mountain.

And that I’d be walking up it.

I take the bus from the bottom of the mountain. Which isn’t so bad, really. So long as I’m not running an errand on the Esplanade, it’s just a mostly level walk with a slight incline to the bus stop. But man, I want anything else than the bus stop, I”m getting a hill, either on the way to or back. I love exploring cities, but these hills… I ain’t in my twenties anymore. Guess I’ll lose some weight at least.

Today was a lot of information being dumped onto my plate in pure, Stanley Spadowski ‘drink from the firehose’ mode. But, it’s good to be working. I don’t get a lot of time to myself, mostly on account of jet lag. I’m usually asleep or very, very drowsy by now. It’s technically 11:24 right now by my internal clock. So I’m amazed I’ve made it this far. This may finally be the night I see 9:00 PM local. Provided the beer doesn’t put me under.

That’s about it for tonight. I’m going to kick back on this wonderful porch in the cool air, and try to get used to the idea of being here another 19 days.