Wow, it's been awhile. I just got internet set up in my apartment this afternoon. Yay!!!! There's nothing like having to wait for something to make you really appreciate it. Things I am really going to appreciate once I have them: a couch, chairs, a dresser (or as most people here say "chester drawers"). a tv, and the list could go on. It's good to live as a pauper though, for that very reason that you appreciate things more. And you learn what is essential and what's not.
So, let me back up. A little over 2 weeks ago, Tricia came with me to Monroe to apartment hunt. We ended up finding one that was even more reasonable than the one that didn't work out. It's $430 a month + electricity. There are cheaper around, but none were available at the time, and this is a 6 month lease. I was kind of leary about taking it because I was not able to see it first, but after taking the advice of Trish and some of the people in the program, I put the deposit down same day. Then last Wednesday I moved over. Once again, my lovely sister assisted me. And now if you don't care for detail, skip on down probably through the whole blog because this is for those who like myself like all the little details. The apartment is very spacious. My living room is the size of my entire apartment in Korea. Then there's a small dining room, galley kitchen directly across from the dining room, walk-in hall closet, decently sized bathroom, and a huge bedroom that's the size of the living room with two huge closets. Really this apartment would be ideal for two people, but I'll enjoy all this space. It is older. The wallpaper in the kitchen is some kind of floral/fruit pattern (not pretty) and in the bathroom it's a strange green and brown stripe wallpaper. This place has a very odd smell also. Faint cigarette smoke combined with the smell of ramen noodles or something like that. Whatever it is, it's not good, so I've been burning lots of candles. There are (or were--now there are two, but I'll get to that in a minute) three washaterias aka laundry rooms in the apartment complex. The complex total has 12 or 13 buildings, I think, with 8 or more apts in each building.
My two biggest concerns moving in were safety and varmints. So far, the area seems to be quite safe. The people seem nice. As far as pests go, well tonight I had to kill one. I had a gecko right inside the door. I was very sad to see that there are those here. Very sad. I got my fill of them in Abilene. Transparent bodies with beady little eyes. The thing wouldn't die. I think one of my neighbors was about to come see what was going on because I was making a lot of noise beating it with the broom. I've been assured that it's a matter of time until I have a roaches or a water bugs, but so far, so good on that note. I'll be glad when my bed gets here. That may not keep the things away from me, but somehow it just seems better.
And now for the story of the week. Saturday morning I got up to hit garage sales and hunt for furniture and spent the morning out around Monroe and West Monroe. Around 12:30 as I was arriving back to my apartment when I saw huge smoke coming from the area where I live. Just as I was getting there, the first fire truck was arriving. As I drove up I was sure that it was my building that was on fire and that somehow I was responsible. Why I thought that, I don't know, but I was sure that I had left some appliance on like the coffee maker or straightener and that I was responsible for the building burning down. As I got closer I saw that it wasn't my building, but that it was the building immediately next to the one that I live in. The fire was pretty big. A lot of fire trucks came. One of them used the really huge ladder (imagine the toy fire truck you played with as a kid) to get above the the fire and spray water down on the fire. I've never seen anything like it. The smoke was terrible. No one was hurt. I did hear that a few animals didn't make it. Apparently there were a lot of animals in that building. As they were getting the fire put out I was talking with a guy who was friends with a couple in that building. He said that they got all of their pets out except for their corn snake and a couple of fish. He said he wasn't too sad about the snake because the snake bit him once. For some reason, I had a bad feeling that the snake would escape its cage and end up on my front porch one day, but he described the tank and said there was no way it could escape. Once the fire was put out and they started seeing what they could recover from inside, I looked up, and here came the guy who lived there carrying his precious snake. Amazing! I don't know how that thing survived, but I had a feeling it would. The fish also survived! I feel really bad for these people. Only two of them out of the 8 residences that were destroyed had renter's insurance. Guess I need to check into that myself. They said the fire started from the pool pump right outside the building. It was incredible how fast it spread. On the bright side, crises like that tend to bond people together, so I met some of my neighbors that I would not have met otherwise. My next door neighbors are super nice and have told me that I'm now "part of the family". They look out for each other, so I'm now included. The mother of one of the guys who lived on the end of my building that burned a little decided to take advantage of the moment and have me meet her son. He was still looking stressed from the events, but she in front of several people made it known that he needed to meet this new prospect. Very awkward and hilarious. That plus the stress of the last little while made it hard not to laugh. They were still putting the fire out and she was trying to make sure her son didn't miss this golden opportunity. Everyone reacts differently under stress, that's for sure. This lady was also sure that when my parents heard about this fire that they would want to make me move right back to Idaho. Well, not exactly. That's not how our family works. :) So now, everytime I step outside my door, I smell what at first reminds me of a campfire, but then the smell of melted vinyl siding and wet rotting wood (we've had a lot of rain the last couple of days) hits me. Yeah, so now I've got a nice smell outside my apartment as well as inside. I found some pictures online if you want to see pictures of the fire/what my apt. looks like -- kind of -- minus all the smoke and fire. http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=DI&Date=20080809&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=808090806&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=1
And this has been my experience so far in Monroe. The people here are the friendliest, most warm people I have ever met in my life. I don't know how to respond to it very well.
As usual, I've written more than planned. Too verbose for my own good. And of course it doesn't help that I have no social interaction. School starts next week, so hopefully that will change soon. So long for now.