Frustration

Many people have been asking me if we have found a place to live yet.  The answer is no.  Trying to find a place to rent in Edinburgh is a nightmare.  Seriously... Blae read in the newspaper that for every flat that goes on the renting market there are 20 people trying to get it.  I think this is an exaggeration, but from my experience there are between 5-10 people competing with you for each flat.   I have been to 8 or 10 viewings.  I have applied for every one that I possibly can, and so far no luck.  The problem for us is that we don't look good on paper.  We can only promise that we will stay for a year, neither of us has any kind on income yet, and Evan is a student.  the one thing that we have going for us is that we are a family, but when we are competing with 10 other people for a flat, the chances of getting it are slim to none.  I find myself going to a viewing hoping that it is an overpriced dump so that nobody else will want it.
The good news... there is a possibly that I am afraid to hope for... There are a minority of property companies that don't select from as many applications they can get, they have a "first come first served" policy.  If we can beat everyone else in putting a deposit down, then we can get a place to live.  I have a viewing for one of these tomorrow, so Evan and I have a plan and I will keep you posted to let you know if it works ;)

At the moment we are living at a place we found on airbnb.  Its a guest room in a family's house.  They have two little girls and are super nice people.  They feed us breakfast, let us use their kitchen, and even gave us a shelf to keep our food.  Needless to say we have been eating a lot better, and Erik loves having kids to play with! I felt much better about our living situation since we came here, and they don't mind if we stay for a while.  Also, the bed is much more comfy!  Our location is in a part of Edinburgh called Portobello and we are very near the sea.  There is a huge long beach which we explored on Sunday.  Its very nice but the wind that comes off the water is very cold.  Despite the cold, there are a lot of people that go there.  Erik loved the beach and Blae put up a video of him on Facebook that you should check out.

Aside from finding a place to live (which fills most of my time) I get to do lots of exploring!  I went to Costco on Monday with made me a little home sick I think.  It was wonderful and I can't wait to get a flat so that I can get Erik a couple of the toys they had there!  I had a hot dog, and although it was the same price in pounds as it is in dollars at home, it was way better.  Wanna know why??? They put steamed onions on it!  Oh my word... so good!

My list (so far) of things that are better here:
-Chocolate is one of the few things that is a lot cheeper here so I have been gorging myself. :D
-They include the tax in the price you see which is so nice! (though tax here is 20%!!!!)
-Packaged food is healthier (if not as tasty)
-There are 2nd hand stores everywhere!
-The bus system is much more extensive and they have free wifi on all the busses
-The road between Costco and Ikea is called "Costkea way"
-You can leave bread out for days and it doesn't go stale
-The ocean

Things that are not as good:
-Everything is so freaking expensive!
-I want a place to live...

Write me and let me know whats going on with you!  I miss you guys!