Monday

Monday is a work day.

Usually on Mondays I work on my sermon for Thursday night or I create my Tuesday night English club lesson plans. During the school year I plan out Tuesday and Thursday English courses.

But today was a special Monday. I'm apartment hunting. David and Shannon return on Wednesday, and I need to be out of their apartment by then. Now, I have a back-up plan, but ideally I won't need to use it. Ideally I'll be in my own apartment by Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

So my friend Yura has been helping me. He's not a student and he doesn't work - so he has free time. Free time is more precious than oil was before the gulf spill, and having a friend who has two (2) days of free time is a gold mine! We went to the agency and got some leads to track down. The real estate agent tried to marry me off to either of her daughters. Rent a two-room apartment and get a free bride! What a slogan!

We went to three apartments. One was on the 5th and 3rd floor of a downtown building. Yes. You read that right. No, it doesn't make much more sense when you see it. The bathroom was on a balcony of the 3rd floor and the apartment was on the 5th floor.

One was a dungeon room in a bad part of town.

And the best option was a large, soviet style one-room apartment with no kitchen sink. It's a little bit pricier than I had intended (with utilities it will be about $250 a month), but unless I find something much better tomorrow - it will be my new home.

Wish me luck!