Some pictures at last!!
Since last Thursday I have been on the hunt for an apartment. Perhaps it is the 10 years of vegetarianism, but inner predator has yet to emerge in this process. All-in-all, it is quite an overwhelming experience, particularly since I really do not know the language, though I am quickly picking up apartment terms (masina de spalat - washing machine, baie - bathroom, etc) and food terms (libie - lavash/wrap, cas pan - fried cheese, ketchup - ketchup :) ). On top of the language difficulty (most of the landlords do not appear to speak English), it has been very hard to find someone willing to rent an apartment for just 4 months. Like in the United States where you almost always have to rent a place for 1 year, they prefer to rent for at least 6 months here. I am incredibly thankful that two members of the American Studies department at BBU have helped me by calling about apartments and coming with me to visit them. I definitely owe the two of them a beer for all of their time and effort. My friend Lauren and I have been a pretty good combination as well. Between the two of us we seem to be able to understand what people are saying and also make ourselves understood. So, now I will tell you a bit about the places I have seen.
Apartment 1:
Last Thursday I went to meet my contact in the American Studies department at BBU. She and her colleague immediately went out to purchase a copy of Piaza de la A la Z, which is a newspaper listing of available apartments in all of Transylvania, and started calling places that looked good. We actually got one visit set up for that very evening. It was in a very nice and safe neighborhood, about a 15 minute walk from BBU and the center. The place was nice and listed at 300 euros a month, plus utilities (about 150 euros per month in the winter because of gas for heating and then only about 60 euros in the spring and summer). But, it didn't have a washing maching or any of the cooking/eating utensils in the kitchen. The people in the department came with me and told me it was a great place.
This is the backyard of this place. Isn't it nice? Raspberry bushes and grapes and everything....
Of course, the owners only wanted to rent for the academic year - renting for a single semester is almost impossible here! They also wanted to know what I thought by the next day. With all of this pressure, I spent a feverish 24 hours emailing another Fulbrighter who is coming in the spring only, hoping that we might be able to switch off. This would make things infinitely easier, but she really wants to look at places herself. This is something I can understand because it is difficult to commit yourself to place and neighborhood that you have never seen, but it definitely makes things harder for me, and I am not sure she really understands how rare it is to find a place for less than 6 months.
This is the 2nd room (living room, other bedroom??). It has a door and sofa that can be turned into a bed:
Apartment 2:
On Sunday, I went with Lauren to see an apartment that she was looking at, and afterwards we stopped by a tourism office in the center of town. The person there was very helpful and helped us find some other apartments online and even called a few for us. He was able to set up a visit to one place. The person (actually a real estate agent) didn't speak any English, but Lauren and I managed to communicate with an odd mixture of Spanish and Romanian. The place looked very nice and was in a quiet, cute neighborhood ridiculously close to the university (like a 2 minute walk to where I teach!). This is something important to think about because I will be teaching from 6-8 in the evening and don't want to walk home far in the dark. I still wasn't completely sure and told him that I would let him know the next day.
The living room:
The kitchen:
The neighborhood - hilly but nice:
Apartment 3:
On Monday I again went out with Lauren while she signed her rent contract (lucky!). We were wandering around again, and I saw a sign for a real estate agent and decided to go in. The agent actually needed to rent her own apartment because she is moving to Italy (this means no commission - woo hoo!). The place was great, and I was really excited about it. It sounded like it was going to be 400 euros a month in rent, plus utilities. I told her that I would let her know the next day and pretty much decided to do it because I really liked the place. It was a mere block from Lauren's place and really close to the center and university.
The office:
The agent's office was in a little courtyard with all these grapevines, and it smelled like being in a bottle of welch's grape juice. This is the grape season here, and it is amazing. This is not a picture of that courtyard, but of another place with lots of grapes. Doesn't it look amazing? If only it was a scratch and sniff blog :)
I finally unearthed a picture that I took of the actual welch's grape juice courtyard:
One Tuesday I went back to the agent's office, but when she realized that I needed a signed and registered contract listing the full amount (something I need to get reimbursed and later on to get my resident/visa permit for staying more than 90 days), the price seemed to go up to 450 euros plus utilities. With 50 for water, electicity, internet and then another 100 for gas, this brought the total to right at 600 euros, which is the top amount we have to spend on rent and utilities. This just seemed like way too much to me. I told here that it was very expensive and that I wasn't really sure...and would let her know the next day (sound familiar?).
Apartment 4:
I was feeling very dejected after I left her place on Tuesday and decided to purchase the new version of the Piaza de la A la Z and went to the American Studies department for help. They, as before, started calling places for me. I decided to do the place up the steep hill, close to the school that I had seen on Sunday, but it was already gone. Things go super fast here because there are so many students - about 1/4 of the city's population and school just started. They called about 10 places that looked good, but everything was already gone. I did go with Raluca to see place. It was about the same walking distance as the first place but in a less cute neighborhood. It was in a big apartment building but a new one, not one of the old communist-era ones. It was very nice and new inside, and I would have gone with it, but the owner refused to do less than 6 months. That would be March, and I have to be in Bucharest by that time. Sadly, we headed away.....
Back to Apartment 3:
On Wednesday, I went back to the agent (the woman moving to Italy) who had the apartment that I really liked but thought was too expensive. I decided that if she would do 450 euros a month for rent, internet, water, and electricity and then I would pay the gas on top of that, that I would do it. Of course, I would have done it even if the rent alone was going to be 450 and everything else was on top since I had no other choice! Luckily, she agreed. I am soooo happy with this place, but I am holding my breath until it all works out. I am going tomorrow to sign the contract. She needs a deposity of the first month, plus half of the last month (675 euros), and I won't be able to move in until the 10th...possibly as soon as the 5th. Until I am actually there, I am not sure I will really believe it. She seems happy about it and so do I. She actually seemed very sad yesterday when I had said that I didn't think I could do it, so I am thinking and hoping that everything will work out!!!! It will come with all the kitchen stuff and everything in there - but not much bedding or towels since she will need to take those to Italy with her. She did say that her mother might have some things for me to use, and I believe Raluca might as well.
I took this picture of the stampile shop (they sell stamps - all receipts and everything get stamped here - it is crazy!) before I knew that I would be living in an apartment right behind this shop! How crazy is that??
Keep your fingers crossed for me that the little place behind the stampile shop works out for me!!
So, I have been writing this in a coffee shop on the Piaza Unirii (St. Michael's Plaza - also called the center), right near the university. It is 5pm, and my class is at 6pm tonight. I hope it goes well! But, back to the coffee shop. There are all these little coffee places and apparently wireless all around the center and the university. It is very nice and really not what I expected, but I guess more on that later.
This is a picture of Sr. Michael's church (a catholic church), which is the center of the Piaza Unirii. As you can tell, a few things are under construction, but it is still very nice:
To come:
- what romania has been like - suprises
- phone issues
- report on my first class (yikes!)
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