New Apartment - Part 2

You might be thinking, based on the titles of the last two posts, that I won my appeal and that I’m in a new apartment.  You would be wrong.  I was informed that I did not “win” my appeal, but there had been an administrative decision by “Management” that my apartment was to be turned into a TDY (temporary duty) apartment and that I would have to move - at no cost to myself of course.  The letter expressly stated that my appeal “was not considered” and had no bearing whatsoever on their decision.  Yeah, right.  Thank you very much for the inconvenience of having to move.  I know enough not to look a gift horse in the mouth, lest I appear to be rubbing it in.  A win is a win is a win.

So I moved into a new apartment last weekend on a crazy Friday that saw me helping folks move my stuff so I could make it to a dentist’s appointment (a crown fell off that had to be put back on) by foot, and then running back to my apartment to get changed to go to a meeting at the Land Commission.  But move I did.

How is it?  Nice and bright!  During the day I rarely have the lights on.  And although I’m on the lowest level, I’m elevated enough to get light and not feel like I’m in a cave somewhere.  It’s still not ideal because if I look out my windows and look down a bit, I still see concertina wire, if I’m sitting down and looking up (especially in the living room), I don’t get that prison view.

Here’s the view as you walk into the front door:

My bedroom, though a bit smaller, is much, much brighter:

Note that there are no lights on for this photograph.

Like my other place, I get 3 bedrooms (hey, space is based on my pay grade!), one is mostly empty, the other has two twin beds that will likely never get used (there are the periodic requests for folks to house Peace Corps volunteers for a few days).

The kitchen will take a bit of getting used to, though the stove is in a much better location here than the old place:
 

And to give you an idea of how nice this place is, here’s the living/dining room:

The layout of the apartment is a bit odd, and definitely inefficient.  For starters, I have a bowling alley for a hall:

I kid you not.  The distance from the base of the short wall to the left to my bedroom door at the end of the hall is just a bit longer than a bowling alley.  

Working your way down the hall on the right you have the entry way, then a large laundry room, then a wall that overlooks an interior courtyard (not used and nothing to look at), then another room that has a freezer and will house my foodstuffs when they get delivered, then into my bedroom with the bathroom to the right.  On the left hand side is the living room, followed by the dining room, kitchen, an alcove that opens into the second bedroom, a bathroom and the open bedroom/den, then my bedroom.  The apartment extends the length of the building, with my bedroom looking out the back and the living room looking out the front.

By the way, this is what my living room window looks like:
 

Not everything is better about this apartment.  The open bedroom is not big enough to do my taiji in (though the living room has enough space), there is not enough cabinet space (and what there is, is poorly designed) in the kitchen, and the kitchen window looks out to a white wall about 20 feet away.  I’m going to miss watching the kids play in the street while I am washing dishes.  

But I am not complaining.  Pretty much everything is newer here (the shower is so much better, as is the water pressure), it’s light and airy, and in the evenings I can sit on my living room couch and look at this:
 

Nope, no complaints at all!