We are finally in our own apartment. The walls have been painted, most of the boxes have been unpacked, and after 7 months of sharing beds, the boys each have their own. After 4 and a half years, we are finally eating off our own plates, and sleeping on our own sheets. As we unpacked the boxes, it was like Christmas as we pulled stuff out that we’d forgotten about. The boys are playing with toys they haven’t played with for 4.5 years.
We have a really large den, and four small bedrooms, so we put all the boys in one bedroom, and gave them the room next to it as a playroom. Toy boxes line the wall, and a refrigerator box has become a fort.
We have been given 4 beds with foam mattresses, a 6.5 kg washing machine (which JP just told me she loves because she can wash one large load and be done), and we bought some wardrobes and a cupboard from the old furniture market. We’ve also been given a small TV set, so were able to hook up the VCR and watch some videos. Then this week I went out and bought a little DVD player. But our dining room table is still the dining room floor. We tried to find a used table, but instead are having one made with 6 chairs for under US$100…much cheaper than if we bought a new one.
Today, we went out to find a sofa and chairs, but couldn’t find anything good in our price range. We found a nice set “just like America’s,” but it was also US$1200, so we’re going to wait a bit, and continue to use the landlord’s wooden couch.
Before we came home, I told JP that I discovered a place that sells Tupperware, so she wanted to go. The Tupperware is way too expensive, so we didn’t get any, but we went into the store beside it, where we found things we’ve been looking for since we arrived 2 months ago. JP said, “This is the only grocery store I’m coming to.” I said, “It’s on the opposite side of town!” She said, “I don’t care. I can still come here once a month!”
We’re really enjoying the apartment, but once we moved in, we discovered some plumbing problems, however every time I went to fix them, I made it worse since the cheap faucets would literally break apart. We got everything fixed, and were quite happy until EJ and I woke up one morning and heard water running in the kitchen. We went there, and found no one, and I didn’t see anything until I looked under the sink. Water was leaking out at a pretty good rate, and when I touched the faucet with the hose leading up to the sink, it exploded sending water all over the kitchen floor. So I got dressed, went outside the gate to the hardware store, and bought a really good faucet, and everything is good again.