So my place of residence, my lovely little apartment that I share with three other girls, feels like it should involve a long story or explanation. I feel like it is just one of those apartments that I’m going to remember because 1) this is probably the only time I am going to live in a foreign country, and 2) this will probably be my most memorable apartment (or at least I hope so) I will ever live in because…well…eh, you’ll see.
First off, I will start by saying that this really isn’t *that bad* of an apartment. It’s really not. We have shelter; it protects us from the rain and evil Italian bar patrons (continue with the stereotype I suppose). However, it protects us from little else.
It all starts at the front door. I’m not going to lie; this is a slightly terrifying front door. It is completely covered with graffiti. This door is so old and worn that we struggle every time we get to the apartment to actually get inside. But I can’t really deny that it has character because I will remember this door and my first impressions of it for the rest of my life. (I’m not going to post a picture of it because I am still living here, and I really don’t need to give away where I live to people I don’t know who stumble across this blog, do I?)
Then, we must continue down this dark hallway that really chooses for itself if it wants to turn the light on when we flip the switch regardless of our own opinions. We do have a terrace that shares a tiny courtyard with the rest of the building, although it is almost impossible to actually utilize because it serves as the entrance for our neighbor’s apartment.
The Whos and Whats of my Italian Apartment
- The kitchen is probably the smallest one I have ever used. It has two cabinets. TWO! It also has a gas-powered stovetop which I have finally mastered as well as an oven whose door does not open entirely because of the doorframe in its way.
+ Our wireless internet, PC, and television all work smashingly. We have a huge flat-screen mounted on the wall. It takes away from the Italian charm, but it is still the most epic TV I will probably see in Italy.
- It takes an arm, a leg, and a bit of luck to get a hot shower for longer than 5 minutes. We are slowly mastering it. Also, there is constantly a puddle of water on the floor by the shower…constantly… even after we clean it up with our very sad mop.
- My roommates and I feel like we live on the loudest street in Rome. You can hear people’s conversation oh-so-clearly from the street into our bedroom. I bought ear plugs because on Friday and Saturday nights, it is nearly impossible to get to sleep until 3 in the morning.
+ I think my room with its double door entry and shuttered windows is fantastic and very urban. The paint job is also nice and warm, although its attempt to make the apartment feel larger fails miserably.
- Our side table next to our lonely couch is just the seat of a chair whose back was broken off. Took us three days to realize this.
- Rome has a really complicated recycling system because they recently decided that they were destroying the world so they wanted to reverse that effect. I applaud the effort, but still…I think trash day 4 times a week is overkill. Every other day, the trash man will come and pick up that type of trash for the day. But you need to have it in a certain color bag...by 8 in the morning (and not the night before). Rumor has it that you will get severely berated for doing it wrong. Woo.
- The other bedroom (that I do not occupy) has one outlet. One…there are no double outlets in Rome like there are in America. One outlet.
Other than all that stuff... :) It’s actually quite a charming place. I feel like I live in the middle of Rome, which is honestly the whole point of this. You can't say I won't remember my first international apartment!
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