We are fully out of the temporary apartment and 100% in the new house! We have internet, though it's on the slow side. We have electricity and gas and running water. There are tenants on floors 1, 3 and 5 already; floor 4 has someone committed and LL was showing floor 2 today. Because the house is so nearly filled up, we are promised a generator "within two weeks." Power has been consistent here lately, but you never know when it will cut out and it's good to know that we won't be waiting months when outages happen.
We're 100% moved in, but not 100% finished. Some of our stuff has yet to be installed and some of it's still on a boat headed towards this continent. But all of our suitcases are here and most of them are unpacked.
On Saturday we went out for lunch and afterwards headed to the road in Cantonments where you go to buy bamboo and wicker furniture. A dozen craftsmen lay out their stock on the side of the street, right up to (and sometimes over) the sewer. Though I need to show pictures, I didn't have my camera with me because we both thought we were only going to lunch when we left the house.
However, I do have photos of the furniture we bought there! And I'll get pictures of the area, too. We'll have to go back to the guy who made them, because we don't like the fabric of the cushions. They were the only ones he had and he told us he'd make us cushion covers included in our price, if we bring him whatever fabric we want. It's a brown-based pattern with purple and orange hibiscus flowers.
Not the most desirable color. But anyway, you can now also see the full depth of our balcony. This one goes around the corner to the right for even more space.
On Sunday we went to Melcom (I wouldn't be surprised if the building was made in China... certainly 98% of the contents were!) and stocked up on curtain rods, curtains, shower curtains, kitchen appliances, and a whole lot of sundries we needed to start out a new household. We spent bundles of money, and Jens even had to go to an ATM midway through the checkout to get some more. To be fair, we'd wanted to use a credit card but the machine was broken.
Melcom's a funny "department" store, which stocks everything from furniture to kitchen appliances, has a grocery section, stationery, plastic flowers, upholstery, in-home saunas and bicycles... and also little booths that house other shops. Clothes, Sony, a local bookstore, and two "restaurants" are here, as well as a salon and - of all things - a dentist!
For a decent price, we knowingly compromised on quality but managed to get almost everything we need. I say decent - these things would have cost a third of what we paid in Melcom if we had been in the US or Europe. Now, we are waiting for the shipment, which has our couch, bookshelf, and shoe rack - we'll need another of those, looking at the pile of shoes we have unpacked - and still need to find and buy a dining table and chairs, plus more furniture for the balconies. Plants, too - we have plans for many, many plants. And I can't stop thinking how much I'd like the companionship of a cat... not one off the street, I'm thinking about an expat who leaves and doesn't take the cat with them. I missed my opportunity by a few days last week. Just gotta keep my eyes open and have the right timing! Though there was this really cute gray and white kitten I saw twice last week near the house... Hmm!
Hamentaschen made by me and Aimee last weekend - happy Purim, a week late!
--THE HOUSE--
This is the dining and living area, with the new furniture all in sight. We got these four pieces - a double papasan, two singles and a little table which is between the two singles - for 200 cedi (about €100).
Here is the full length of the room!
The spacious kitchen. Note the rice cooker. Not visible in photo: microwave, hot plate (for when the gas is out), toaster oven. (Did we go overboard on appliances?!)
View from the main balcony towards city centre. To the left of the tall palm tree (outside the frame) you can see Independence Square - a big parade ground. No bonus points for guessing what they celebrate there every year.
The master bedroom... clearly a work in progress! See the balcony? We're gonna put chairs on that, and more plants. A bed frame should be coming this weekend. Something simple, until we find a carpenter we like to make a gorgeous long-term one.
There are also two other bedrooms, a spare/storage room with washing machine and fridge, and a guest bathroom connected to the dining/living area. For a floorplan, check out
the landcouple's website.
There is still much to be done, like having the curtain rods installed and in some cases picking the curtains. There are tweaks everywhere (at the moment we have no water - more on that later - and there's still a leak in the second bathroom) but hey! I'm optimistic! This stuff just takes time, and now we have time. And more importantly, we have a place to sleep, cook, and live!
Our internet's been spotty today, so I"m posting this now, while it's back up. Working on a couple more posts in the meantime, for later!
