First of all, this is not where I live (sadly). This is a picture from vacation but one of my only ones with water in it!
1. Find a place to swim.
Sounds easy enough! So, I began asking tons of people. All my options were an hour and a half away and only open in the middle of the day or thousands of dollars a year. But after 10 months, I finally asked the right person. A girls college is open in the mornings (American mornings, yay 6am) and only 30 min from my place (depending on traffic).
2. Call said location.
After having someone who speaks the national dialect call (with no answer), I mustered up the courage to try later in the day. He answered, oh no... After trying to figure it out, he spoke a little English. Sadly his fluency stopped after the word swim. I told him I'd call him back, but instead he called me with a girl who spoke English. After establishing I do not in fact want swim lessons, I was given a price and times. Sweet! Making progress.
3. Now to buy an appropriate swimsuit.
I call my friend I met last weekend at a girls camp and ask her where she got hers. Although it's 7:30 at night, I decide to make the excursion into the city to look for said swim suit.
4. Hop on the metro.
Right before I hop on I hear some one making cat noises. This could only mean one thing, I've been spotted. I turn and see a friend I haven't seen for months holding cakes from a bakery in our neighborhood. I'm told I have to come to a party to celebrate the trainer at our gym passing her classes. Since I haven't seen her in months, I decide I have to go. After all, it's on the way.
5. Go to said party.
We hop off a couple stations down the line and go in the sporting complex. I'm snuck into the side of the gym and given a cake as someone rips my headscarf off my head, It's just girls after all. I'm sent out and told to yell surprise. My sweet sweet friend opens her eyes and screeches. We both cry and hug each other for a long time. I greet the rest of my friends, promising to meet up again before leaving and hopping back on the metro.
6. Taxi to the store
I hop off downtown and find a taxi to take me over to the store. After getting adamantly denied by several due to the traffic, I walk over closer to my location and find someone to take me. Of course he insists on a "short cut" that doubles my fare.
7. Buy the suit
I finally find the location and walk in to find my options are limited. I try on a few and after trying to convince myself to buy the bumble gum pink one (for my mom) I end up with black.
8. Buy the goggles and cap.
I asked where I could go to buy the rest of my accessories and was told to head to a mystical street not far from here. I looked for a taxi for a while before asking two guys where to go. After he asked for my number, I aborted that mission and walked towards said mystical location. I got a taxi telling me it was 10-0. Knowing the price was 10, I said 10? And he agreed. We get close enough and when I get out he demands 20. Ahh that's what 10-0 means. I gave him ten and walk away while he yelled at me. I quickly found the store and bought what I needed.
9. Go home.
I hop on the bus yelling metro and ride it, missing two metro stops because I have no idea where I am (and the stops were hard to spot). The bus stops and I have to grab a taxi to a metro station farther away. I jump on the metro, transfer half way and ride it close to the end. I hop off at my station and head home to shower the sweat that is falling off of me before I go to bed.
10. Go swim!
Tomorrow I wake up at 4:30 to meet a coach at 5:10am so she can show me how to get to the pool. Wish me luck!
Things take a little longer here, but learning how to care for your self is so important to your santity. You just have to laugh at the bumps in the road because everything takes hours longer here.