On Owning an apartment in Egypt

Since there were not enough host families to go around and living in the dorms can be a real drag for a girl, there are 6 of us girls who live in apartments this year. I've been living in an apartment at school for the last three years, but like everything else, I had to learn the system here in Egypt.

Robyn found the apartment for us, through word of mouth. Our boab's son works at the salon nearby. We signed a lease for the extent of our program and put down a month's security deposit. Unlike in the United States, Rent, and the amount of the deposit is negotiable.

We moved in and had a couple of problems with the plumbing. Even though we are in a nice building, our water pressure is a little sketchy and unreliable. So, we had to communicate with our boab to get our washer and toilet fixed. Communicating with our boab can be challenging because he speaks very little English. However, this is a good experience. Actually, about 10 minutes ago, Hannah and I were trying to explain to his daughter that we want wireless internet (we have just one ethernet cable now) and it took a little talking around the subject and hand gesturing because we weren't sure of the word for "router," but we got there.

I was really worried mostly about how to pay our bills when we moved in. In America, you usually set up an account with the gas and electric company. In Egypt, no joking, people just show up at your door on random days to collect the rent/internet/gas/electric/water. It's a little strange, but it works. It's most frustrating when the gas guy shows up, because even though we speak Arabic with him, he's convinced we don't understand, so he usually stands outside our door shouting, "GAZ!!" until we figure out either a) it's time to pay the bill or b) he wants to read the meter in our kitchen.

I was actually very nervous about moving in to an apartment before we did because I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to handle taking care of everything. However, it's proved to be much easier than I thought, and very enjoyable. I'm learning to cook new food with the ingredients available close by, I learned how to unclog our sink first hand (ugh, try never to have to do that), and am learning a lot about social class from interacting with our boab/seeing other tenants interact with him.

One of my favorite parts of our apartment is it's awesome balcony where we can sit outside and do homework, smoke shisha, and people watch. I've included a few pictures of the view from our balcony.

The downside to living in an apartment is that I definitely do not get anywhere near the language practice that the girls in host families get. However, since I haven't lived with my own family for upwards of four years, I felt this was a better choice for me personally. Still, its hard because I know I definitely have to put the extra effort in for language practice while others get that experience just from their everyday living situation.