9/14/02

The quest for this week has been to find an apartment. It’s been stressful and frustrating so far. Michael gave us a few leads, but not many of them have panned out yet. It’s especially hard because we need our places to be furnished; yet we’re on a tight budget. In addition, I’m looking for a place where I won’t have to take more than one bus to get to work every day. The busses here work like spokes on a wheel going out from the city. Most everything I do and have done so far is on the north side of the city. I’d like to be sort of close to the highway so that I don’t have to walk far to the bus, and also so I’m near the water. That will be helpful, too, if I have visitors, so that they can get around on their own. Also keeping visitors in mind, I’m looking for a more-than-one bedroom place. All of this, hopefully under $800 a month. Side perks would be a friendly neighborhood and fruit trees in the yard.

So on Friday I went to look at one place, in an area called Entrepot. It’s on the east side of the city. I would need to take 2 busses to get to work. The location had its strong and weak points. It was on a hill that overlooked the city and the sea, but I’d have to be trucking up that hill every day. The layout of the apartment wasn’t so hot. There was a lot of wasted space in the form of a long, wide hallway. There were many cabinets and a long countertop. There was no space in the counter for the refrigerator (dorm-sized) or stove, so they just sort of hung out in the middle of the kitchen. To top it off, they wanted $1000 a month. I don’t think so.

Today I went to look at another one. Tom & Mary’s homestay family has two apartments downstairs of their house. We were all going to the Peace Corps office to do email, so I stopped by there first to have a look at the apartment. The place was really nice. It was spotlessly clean and with a nice open layout. There was a good-sized porch, except it faced to the back, away from the street or anything scenic. There were two bedrooms, a generous bathroom, big kitchen and nice furniture. The only drawback is the location. It’s a ways from the highway, and no busses run on Sunday. I had to hitchhike today. They wanted $750, and included water. I would have the benefit of the connection with a family there, and also I could probably catch rides to the grocery store with them. They had a Peace Corps person living there a few years ago, so they’re familiar with how these things work.

Tomorrow I’m going to look at another place. It’s near Tom & Mary’s, at a place called Marisule Gap. It’s right on the highway, right near a prominent bus stop. It’s also walking distance to the beach and a grocery store. Downstairs is a hair salon. Deb looked at this one the other day, and wasn’t impressed with the furniture, or the possible noise of the location. I favor convenience over noise.

I found another one in the paper that I’m calling about tomorrow. It’s in Babonneau, where I had my first homestay. It’s a two-bedroom, semi-furnished and includes cable, electricity and water for $650. I’d like to look at that one.

We’re getting down to the wire here. We have to find places within the next two weeks. If it comes down to it, Tom & Mary’s place wouldn’t be so bad. It just makes me nervous to not have a plan.