Room 101

Househunting was frustrating and haphazard. There was no formal support from the university, just Zohra’s assistance, which was able and her patience most abundant, but the method of finding a place to live here was just to go from one complex to the next and look for adverts … We had been offered a place that last year’s students used but had ruled it out on the grounds it was too expensive (not by Western standards but by the average here, which seemed to be a good way to go – after all, people are living here just fine, right?) … so the first place she showed us was in a great location, just 10 minutes (if that!) walk from the university, in the teachers’ complex, so nice and safe and quiet and scenic. Except the flat, it really wasn’t very nice at all … the bathroom wasn’t great, there was only one bedroom (the living room could be made into a second one apparently), and there was even a room that wasn’t being rented out (why? the landlord was using it for storage, quite cheeky I think, to expect us to pay for a house we can’t even fully use!) … So we moved on, the next place was too small, the next one didn’t want to rent to us, I don’t know why, until we found a housing complex with a lot of adverts, and one that looked good. So Zohra called the number and the results were sounding very positive. Then a lady who was putting up posters on the advert wall introduced herself as an estate agent and would we be interested in seeing a place in this complex? Well, sure … ! I mean, it’s a bit far from the uni, but there’s a bus service and it shouldn’t be too hard, right? So we made an arrangement to see this flat, but by that time Zohra had to go, she was busy in the afternoon, fine we can look at it ourselves and if we need her in the morning for signing a contract she will be around. Yay. So that’s what happened. We looked around, we liked it a lot more than the other houses we had seen – it wasn’t amazing but it wasn’t rubbish either, and we thought yes, we would be happy living here for 11 months. The rent is very reasonable, and although we have had to buy some amenities in the last couple of days, we’re still not breaking the bank over our living … however it has some problems too, like the little insecty creatures living in our fridge – I think some poison is in order there, or a new fridge, and the fact that the beds (mine in particular) are very hard – well mine is just some MDF with a thin padding over it! Oh and the toilet we thought was blocking, but it turns out it was our flushing technique (you need to hold the button down), and the shower method in this part of the country is crazy (you have the shower next to the toilet and just stand there, it will drain into the floor, it’s very … basic. Not to mention our shower doesn’t even fit into the holder on the wall, it rests on some makeshift line that the landlord put in … Oh and our washing machine is in the same room which makes it quite cramped. I think the bathroom is my least favourite part of the house. Maybe my own room, I don’t know I haven’t slept in it yet, I haven’t had a mattress! If I can find a decent gym with decent showers I will probably end up just washing there for the most part and maybe here just once or twice a week. Still, the place is habitable, and it will make me appreciate what I have back at home that much more, when I return.

Oh and for those of you versed in English TV … yes, we are living in Room 101, address printout to follow for anyone who wants to send us mail to cheer us up.