Kristen and I have finally settled into our apartment and we thought we should post some pictures of the place. Locate the white truck poking out of the garage and then count the next two arches to the right, these three arches are all part of our apartment (plus the upstairs portions, of course). The building was originally built as part of a vineyard operation, but now has been partitioned and converted into seven apartments. The layout is very nice. There is an inner courtyard with a patch of grass that will eventually be landscaped with flowers and trees. It also has a very strange fountain, but we aren’t complaining because we are hoping it provides some white noise against the barking dogs at night. A clothes-drying area is being constructed atop two garages, which will be nice when it is finished. (The shot above was taken from here.)
Our neighbors, the Fruendenbergers, are also American and Mark is Kristen’s mentor for her fellowship. They moved into their place a couple of years ago after their other apartment was destroyed by fire during the 2002 Crisis. Until we moved in, they were the only residents in the entire complex, which is probably because theirs was the only place completely renovated. Our place was mostly finished when we moved into it mid May, but it has taken until now to get all the little details hammered out. Now that it’s done, we’re very happy and feel well settled. Check out the blueprint to get a sense of the layout.
The other units are in the last stages of completion, although this doesn’t mean they’ll be habitable before Christmas. Construction around here is maddeningly inefficient and illogical at times. It’s not unusual for a wall to be put up, cemented and painted, only to later see it chiseled apart to make way for the electricity or plumbing. Take two steps forward, one step back. The landlord has been busy showing the units, but he’s been having a hard time filling them. We did hear news that a Malagasy family is moving into a nice three bedroom unit soon, but we’ll see if that turns out to be a truth or fiction.
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