Ropa vieja on the roof

Last night the ladies of D-Dong (my apartment building) had a potluck dinner on the roof. I had never been up there and was pleasantly surprised. There are clothes lines, lights, and a storage space with tables and chairs. There were also puddles and a lot of leaves, but it was nice. I brought ropa vieja that I had started in my crockpot in the morning. It was a little dry, but had good flavor. The other ladies brought drinks, pasta salad, tossed salad, deviled eggs, Korean pancake with squid on it, corn pudding, sweet potato and apple casserole, chips and salsa, and chocolate cake. We sat around eating from plates in our laps and listening to French music. It was good to touch base and to hear what the returning teachers have to say. Of the current residents, 3 are returning and 6 are new. It appears that we will have a recently hired addition to our building. A fellow was hired to help out at the pool and he will be moving into one of the first floor apartments. Hmmm....a single guy, they are rare here. We also set up our next dinner which may be a cookout.

I received confirmation of my flights for my trip to China. I will be flying from Seoul to Guangzhou, Guangzhou to Hong Kong, and Hong Kong back to Seoul. Now Misty and I are putting together the rest of our plans. Hopefully we will have a hotel booked this weekend. She and I are thinking along similar lines, shopping, sightseeing, and a spa. A vacation in September, odd but exciting.

The icky part of my day was realizing that my entryway had a mold issue. I store all of my shoes in my entry way and I had no idea they were the perfect place for growing mold as I have only been wearing the one sneaker. I pulled out my shoe rack and wiped down every pair of shoes I own with a kitchen cleaner. Now they are nicely lined up in my study to make sure they are completely dried before going into the shoe rack. I'm told this was the rainiest August in 100 years. I hope that the rain and humidity goes away soon so that I can put my shoes back where they belong without the threat of mold.

Today is a beautiful day and I am going to get off the hill. I don't know where I will end up (hopefully E-Mart or Home Plus) but I am going to get out and about for a while.