Mi Apartamento

     This is my 50th post! I'm so excited :)

     So, instead of inviting everyone over for dinner, I'm just going to offer you a internet tour of my house! I didn't think you'd mind. The drive to get here is kind of a pain! haha
     I live in a part of Macas called La Loma, which is just out of the business district and mostly has houses and apartments. The school rents out this second floor apartment to use as a female volunteer house. It's a four bedroom, two and a half bath, rather large apartment, and is very nice, but very different from any US apartment I've ever lived in or seen.
     We have a large living room, complete with a nice matched living room suite they bought when the old tenant moved out. Sorry, but no TV. No one's ever thought about buying one and installing cable, and to be honest, I don't miss it. I watched a little in Quito, and the commercials are just as annoying in Spanish. If I do need a fix, I brought some DVDs.
     On one side of the living room is a half bath, and on the other we have a dining room separating the living room and the kitchen. We also use that as sort of an office because that's where the printer/copier/scanner happens to live, and no one actually has a desk. Ecuadorians are sort of sparing on furniture/decorations.
     The kitchen is very very small. It has a normal refrigerator, tiny butane powered stove (you actually hook the stove to a butane tank), a one basin sink, small counter, and small pantry shelf.
     Our 'laundry room' is the fun part. Our washer and dryer are actually sitting on the balcony of the apartment. They have plastic slipcovers to keep them out of the rain. The dryer is run off butane too, so if the tank runs out, you don't dry many clothes. Fun times.
     Laura's bedroom is just off the dining room, kind of tucked away behind the kitchen. If you go down the hallway past the living room, you get to the other three bedrooms.
 
    In our apartment, my part consists of a large room with an attached bathroom. My room has two bunkbeds (I only use the bottom of one), a dresser, a Tupperware cart I just bought to use as a nightstand, a small closet rod/shelf, and two walls of windows (The windows aren't very insulated, so that takes getting used to, as it’s very loud here even on the second floor. I can sometimes sit in my room and it’s as loud as if I’m in the middle of the street). My bathroom is the most strange to me. The sink, tub, and commode are a very nice navy, haha. I have a tiny medicine cabinet and a small Tupperware storage tower, and my tub has no faucet, but an electric showerhead. Yes, you read that right. They don’t do water heaters here, they just heat the water as it comes out of the showerhead. It’s very finicky, and probably one of the top five things on my ‘biggest adjustment’ list.

    General things about the apartment: just about every room is some shade of yellow, peach, or orange. They're very popular colors here. My room, for example, has yellow walls and peach accents. The bathrooms are all done in blue or blue.
     We don't have air conditioner, and neither does anyone else. Well, no, I've seen one air conditioner. It's in the computer lab at the upper school, so the computers keep cool and working properly. Actually, I've missed heating more than a/c. The weather is very variable. It may be hot in the morning and chilly by afternoon or vice versa. However, since I've been here it's been more chilly. Much depends on the clouds and rain that day.
     To keep cool and ventilated in the apartments, there are windows in every room, even the inner rooms. They're up closer to the ceiling, and you leave them open most of the time. We actually leave our small outside bathroom windows open most of the time too, and our large windows open if we're home and it's nice out.

Pictures!

I borrowed this pic from Laura, just 'cause I didn't feel like going outside with a camera and feeling all 'gringo' haha. This is our apartment...the second floor, anyway! My room is the window off the balcony.

Our mega security door...

Our other door...seriously, it takes up to three different keys to get into the house.

The living room...and part of the air conditioning - the giant window.

The kitchen. No hot water, and no dishwasher either, unless you count Laura and me!

Our stove and it's gas tank

The pantry. Aren't we all nice and organized? We're very proud of ourselves.

The laundry room....enough said.

My room! See the Barbie dreamhouse nightstand? haha

My bed. Nobody sleeps on top. I just didn't like having a plain old mattress up there, so I prettied it up.

You can kind of see how the two-walls-of-windows works. Great air conditioner, bad for when you need quiet! Hence....the fan!

The lovely navy sink, and munchkin size medicine cabinet/mirror. Tall people, beware. It's mounted at exactly my face height. Ecuadorians are generally very short people.

The even more lovely mixed navy/periwinkle toilet. The others are either periwinkle or navy as well. Also, it's a push-button flush.

My improvised storage. I also have a small Tupperware cart.

The famous electric showerhead. Touch the wires while the water is on and you get a little jolt.

One of the Global office workers informed Dad that in Africa they're called 'widowmakers'. Thanks, I needed that in my head every time I want to shower! haha

The closet...no walls, just in the corner.

The Barbie Dreamhouse nightstand. I thought it deserved it's own picture...ain't it purty?

I bought these my first day here. I needed SOMETHING that wasn't orange or yellow on the walls!


Hope you enjoyed your tour! Come again soon!