My living space...for E.B.

Having made several posts yesterday I had not intended to post again until next week, but I have had a request from E.B. to write a post about my apartment with photos, so here goes…

When you first enter my building through the red iron doors, you take a very small, old elevator to the top floor from where you walk up 2 more flights. There you find my cozy little flat at the very top of the building. It is unclear if these last 2 floors were an afterthought to the building itself, but I do like being at the top as I can see out over the expanse of mud and blocks that surround me, and have a great view of the neighborhoods gangs of stray dogs that occupy the space below.

Doors to get into the place

Inside the scarey elevator

A view of the scarey elevator

One very good thing is that the walls and floors seem fairly thick, so with the exception of being able to hear the elevator creeking and clanking all night long, the only neighbors I hear are either coming and going on the stairs, or the small baby who sleeps in the apartment next to me, who I do hear crying at night, but not too loudly. The floors in my flat are tile, some of it very nice, and a few tiny throw rugs. This is fine for me, but unfortunate for the people below who I can only imagine must hear me walking and dropping things more than they would like.

The flat itself is nicely renovated, but sparsely furnished, with blank walls, and window coverings that resemble the thickness and coverage of cheap toilet paper. I have managed to create more coverage in the main bedroom by adding extra “toilet paper” panels, so I can get that room fairly dark. The upshot is that there is a lot of light and many windows, which I like very much. Also lacking seems to be electrical outlets. There are like 4 outlets for the whole apartment. But I have solved this problem by getting a few power strips.

Once inside, I have a large living area with a TV (but no cable, so only a few channels in the local language, which is useful for practicing listening, but not as useful for mindless entertainment). Also in this living area there is a couch and chair, both of which are pieced together from various other pieces of furniture and held together with what appears to be large staples. The couch pulls out into a rickety double bed, outfitted with a “mattress” that is about ½ inch thick (but the guests that came last weekend did sleep on it, and did not seem to have sustained any injury, which is promising).

My living room area

My piecemeal couch - note the different colors from different pieces of furniture

View of neighborhood from the living room window (on a rainy day)

Behind the living room furniture is the part of the flat I hate…the “table”/workspace. This consists of a small, round, wicker patio table with 2 wicker patio chairs. My computer takes up the entire space with no room for books or anything else. I have looked into getting a desk, but it is not cheap. I have however asked my landlord if he could bring something a little larger when he comes to collect the rent next week…so here’s hoping! One person did suggest that I wrangle local Roma to come and build me a table, but that somehow does not seem like the best idea for me at this point.

Also in this part is the main heater (electric) and the apartment’s only mirror. So this part is also my “vanity” space. I may try to get another mirror as there is, oddly enough, a mirror shop at the bottom of the stairs. There is also a longer wicker bench which is currently serving as a sort of bookshelf/work stuff storage space. Cluttered and unattractive though it is, I only have myself to impress at this point, so I am fine with it.

Behind this part is the kitchen space. Here you have a really nice tile floor that looks like stone, while ceramic tile walls and black faux-marble counter tops – all and all pretty nice looking. There is a huge counter space, nice cabinet space, a very tiny stove and oven and a small fridge about twice the size of a dorm fridge. Luckily this fridge also has a small freezer space (with one ice tray!) so I can buy some frozen veggies and avoid the mean ladies in the grocery store’s fresh veggie section! (When the weather gets nicer I will buy my veggies from the open-air market.)

The kitchen also contains my washing machine (for which I am very grateful!). [For those not familiar with the Euro-typical laundry situation, there is no clothes dryer. You hang-dry your clothes. For houses with a bathtub there is often a rack that you hoist above the tub once you’ve hung your wet clothes. For houses without a tub you use a large free standing drying rack and hang your clothes. I have lived in only one Euro-flat with a dryer, so I think the hang drying system is most common.]

View of my "workspace" and living room from kitchen

My kitchen appliances

View of my kitchen and "workspace"

view from my kitchen window - this pink building is is bad shape!

The pink building looks a lot nicer on a sunny day!

Off the living area is the larger bedroom, which is the one I sleep in, is outfitted with a large closet space, an electric heater and an actual bed which seems to be queen sized! NOTE: this is NOT the typical Euro-bed with 2 smaller beds pushed together that I have grown accustomed to here, but is an actual large sized bed! Lumpy and misshapen though it is, I am happy with it, and have many blankets and pillows to aid in a good night’s sleep. This is probably my favorite room in the house, even though the blank walls and emptiness of the space made me feel a little depressed in the beginning. I now like this room a lot because of the way the red curtains make the room glow. I also found a bright green comforter for this room which brightens it up considerably.

My room :-)

My bathroom is rather small, but quite clean and cute. There is a nice tile floor in here as well, with a clean, new stand-up shower, and lovely green ceramic tiled walls. The mirror in the bathroom is placed for someone much taller than I, and I can see from about my nose up. There is also a shaving mirror, but I cannot even see the top of my head in that mirror! My favorite feature of the bathroom is the purple hippos on the shower floor that are the slip guards – so cute! My least favorite part is the big step-up into the shower, the metal lip of which has given me more than one bloody toe already!

My shower/bathroom

My tub hippos

Finally, next to the bathroom you have the smaller bedroom – the one I like to call the Kermit the Frog room. I use this room for hanging my laundry and ironing and changing my clothes when I get out of the shower (as it is right next to the bathroom). This room is very tiny, but is a fine space for overnight guests as it is private and not right next to the living room or the larger bedroom. So why do I call it the Kermit room? I am pretty sure that the bed in this room was made for Kermit the Frog! It may be the smallest adult bed I have ever seen! In terms of length it is probably long enough for most adults, but the width is much smaller than a standard single bed in the US – reminding me of the width of a bus seat.

Kermit the frog bed

For the time I am here and for myself (and even one other muppet sized person) the flat is an excellent size, with a nice layout and a good shape. I love it that it is on the top floor, and while the neighborhood is one of the least attractive I have seen here in Belgrade, it is an excellent location and while locals think it is too expensive, by our standards the price is good. Though I wish there was a balcony, and a better workspace, everything else about the place is just fine with me. When I think about the fact that this sized flat would be for an entire family, I feel claustrophobic just imagining it! But that is the American way! We like our space!

So that’s it! My little home! Enjoy the pics and if you come visit, the Kermit room is yours!

Thanks for reading...and I promise no more posts until next week!