We arrived here in Rochester (Rah-Chest-ur) last Saturday, very late. I was extremely tired and a little sad to be leaving Lethbridge and little Cadbury (yes Greek family, I miss my dog!). I had been warned that the U.S was very different from Canada and that I should be on my guard. Customs was interesting as I had to have my fingerprints and retina scanned before I was allowed in the country, Whitney however, being Canadian did not.
Had a scary 20 minutes in Rochester Airport where
my wife disappeared without telling me where she had gone.
She went to call her mum, but I thought she had been abducted (I was tired!). I sleepily drove to the apartment where we are staying, which seemed very complicated even though we had SatNav and then we left almost immediately to go to a 24 hour Walmart at about 11.45pm. I felt like I was in 'The Wire' with all the corner boys and the blue flashing Police cameras on every street. It was pretty daunting and I wanted to cry. My wife laughed at me and told me that this place was much nicer than Dallas where she lived for a year.
After finding Walmart closed (the area was too dangerous to keep it open 24 hours) we travelled to the other side of the city to a pleasant neighbourhood and an open Walmart. I slept well that night despite the worryingly flimsy lock on our front door.
The next day I felt much better and my fears were allayed when the light of the day revealed we had stumbled across one of the nicest streets in Rochester, East Avenue. The houses are more like mansions and would not be too out of place in Hertford, England. I even felt brave enough to take my camera out for a little walk and snap some of our neighbours houses. These include the home (and now Photography Museam) of George Eastman, founder of Kodak. His house is the large grey one with pillars and ivy. Our house is the mock tudor number with white plastic chairs out the front. I have to tell you about Wegman's. This is the best supermarket I think I've ever been to. It is family run and has all organic local produce; vegetables, fruit and meat. They have everything, including imported cheddar cheese. I am very happy.
