2022.10.22. – You see, it is not easy, but I’m doing alright

Title choice was a bit random (lyrics from the song I'm listening to rn) but I studied literature so I could give at least 2 great reasons why it's relevant.

Originally, I’d planned to go for a swim in the morning before it was time to go meet the real estate agent (we’re looking for an apartment to rent) but since I had a pretty bad night (woke up a bit before 5 am to a horrible heartburn and stomach ache, spent at least an hour trying not to throw up and somehow ease the pain – mostly sitting up in bed, and at the end next to the toilet on the bathroom floor, but whatever it was (probably too much food for supper), it stayed down), and I was still feeling a bit off in the morning, I decided not to go anywhere.

The apartment we checked out was about a 15-min walk from the university, in an old building, but the flat itself was nicely and newly renovated. It wasn’t huge but every single room was almost impossibly separated from the others – like the kitchen had its own, narrow hallway (between the bathroom and the living room walls), with the small kitchen at the end. So strange. It made us realise how much we prefer an open layout to these overly divided spaces. I don’t think we’ll rent this apartment bc it had way too many compromises and wasn’t that cheap, but we’ll see. I hope to find better alternatives.

The newly opened Chinggis Khaan Museum seems to be very popular
(we just passed by, didn't go in)

Once we got home from there, I made a quick snack (softened some apples with cinnamon and a drizzle of agave syrup in a pan, served with leftover coconut milk from a can and a tbsp of oats) before leaving for the pool. At this point I was feeling quite myself again and figured a swim wouldn’t hurt. I did 3000 meters, nothing special, but this was my first time swimming in this pool just before sunset, and I’ve learned a new lesson: never swim here just before sunset. Most of the ‘wall’ is actually just huge windows which is usually very nice, and one side of the pool (the one where the whole length of the wall is made of glass) faces West. Yes. The setting sun was burning holes in my retinas whenever I tried breathing to that side (I even tried closing my eyes for when I turn my head but that just made me dizzy), and I don’t like breathing to only one side, makes my technique lopsided. And it was a crawl set today. So yeah, it was disorientating and really uncomfortable. Even an evening swim is more preferable to this (when the spotlights are also annoying but they are still much better than the sun itself blazing at your eyes). Just like River, I certainly do not expect the sunset to admire me back, but I’d be happy if it didn’t try to make me go blind either.

Finally had the chance to capture this weird statue (it's usually too dark by the time I get here)
I think it looks like someone testing their ski bindings and boots.

Cyclists not only have to pay attention to crazy traffic but also to the bike lane that sometimes disappears from underneath them.

After a nice walk home (I was still out and about all day without my coat, it was so sunny and pleasantly Autumn-y outside), a quick instant ramen spiced up with carrot and bell pepper slices, and an episode of the Modern Family, I convinced my husband to go out for pizza for dinner. We walked to the nearby Pizza Hut (haven’t been to a Pizza Hut in over a decade) and made kind of a date out of it. It was nice, even though I’d somehow managed to sit under a giant decorative spider (Halloween is near and it seems like Mongolian like to decorate for it – excessively) and not notice it, and the promptly getting the crap scared out of me when my husband pointed it out to me and I looked up.

One of Aragog and Mosag's children lurking above my head

Also, the WiFi wasn’t working today at all, all day, and I really hope it comes back tomorrow because using a hotspot for work and entertainment on all of our devices is going to use up our data pretty fast.