Old Place, New Place

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't been updating this week. I've actually been pretty sick with an ear infection. I never really had them as a kid, so I guess this is my turn. Ear infections are actually pretty common down here. It's easy to pick up bacteria from the ocean and then it's not so easy to kill the bacteria. I'm on all sorts of medicines that are theoretically supposed to make me feel better, although I'd have to disagree with the 'feel better' part. Hopefully I'll be over it soon... this has been going on for a week! I feel very bad for little children who develop ear infections. This is very painful for me... poor kids!

The really big news is that on Friday Ryan and I signed a lease for a new apartment! We are so excited. It is currently occupied by some of our friends, a fourth semester student and his wife. They're very kind and have given us a lot of advice during our time here... and we really loved their apartment, so when they move out sometime at the end of April, we will be moving in! The housing market is pretty fluid here- you don't sign leases for any set period, so it's not like we're paying penalties to leave our current place after only a month.

Ryan and I made a video of some of the reasons we want a new place, so please enjoy! The main reasons are that this place is just small for a couple. For a single person it'd be fine, but we're tired of walking into each other while we're cooking or getting ready in the mornings or just trying to brush our teeth! The kitchen is extremely small. I have one countertop of space, which I have to use for all my chopping and stirring and for rolling out dough... I use the table a lot, but it's pretty low to chop on! The lighting isn't great- but that is a very common complaint about the apartments down here. Again, with the size... there just isn't enough storage space. I feel like I'm always picking up because there is just not enough space for everything. Besides the size, our main complaint is the distance from campus. It's a good 10-15 minute walk... and it's on the very secluded end of Picard. There are only about 20 people who live out this way, so it's a bit of a lonely walk- which is scary at night.

To be fair, there is a lot we've liked- good internet, friendly and helpful landlords, a wonderful maid that we consider a friend... but we needed more, so we went apartment shopping!

When we were looking for a place, we were looking for something with more space. We were DESPERATE for a couch and a larger kitchen. Anything with a couch and a larger kitchen made our list! Other things we looked for was the general layout (it's nice if you can have friends over!), the view (it is so beautiful down here we want to enjoy it), a private porch (we share ours now), a good breeze into the apartment (another MAJOR requirement as this saves a lot of electricity since the apartment stays cooler), an open layout (it's nice to be able to have friends over), a good sized table, and plenty of storage space in the kitchen.

We looked at a lot of places. Well, I looked at most of them alone and took notes and photos to share with Ryan, although he did accompany me some of the time. I looked at places ranging in price from $500 to well over $1400 dollars a month!

I had no idea that the one apartment was so much a month before we looked, we just saw a nice building and knocked on the door. The $500 dollar place was horrible. It was small, windless, had no couch... and the door had a square of security glass in it! True, it was painted black for privacy, but still. There were only two windows in the whole place! We also saw a nice little place that was the top floor of a pretty yellow house. We liked the layout, the two bedrooms, the homey feel... but the kitchen was worse than ours! The upper cabinets were above my head- I'd have to stand on a chair to get things in and out. The yellow house was still third on our list, though, just because it sort of reminded us of a summer camp- places we've both loved. Number two was a nice two bedroom apartment that was $100 a month more than our new place. It had a WONDERFULLY nice landlord who I really liked and it had an attached laundry- a HUGE find down here. But the kitchen was long and narrow- like a hallway! It was sort of tunnel like, with a door at one end and a window at the other, and the two bedrooms off of one side.

But our top choice remained the place we ended up with. We originally thought we could find one for a bit less, but there is a huge difference in price in the quality of apartments. We really wanted to be closer, so that we could both feel safe walking to the campus at night (although Ryan still doesn't like me walking alone). There is a price jump as you move closer, and everything in our current price range was pretty miserable. The place we ended up with is a good price though, and well within our budget. It has absolutely everything on our list- and more! I'm very excited about the larger refrigerator and stove. Another big plus- it is right upstairs from our friends Neil and Jen and a short walk away from Grace and Justin. The layout is wonderful and we're very happy with our choice. I think one thing we're most excited about is the couch. It's great to have a comfy place to relax, other than the bed!

Here's a photo of the outside of our new apartment building. It's called 'Green Homes' and it is the very bright green one closer to the top of the hill. Our apartment is on the other side of the building. When we move I'll post a new video tour of our new place.