moving in: before and after

Before:


After:


We have a home! After a month of living out of backpacks and boxes, we are delighted to be domiciled. Our new 2 room apartment was our third choice, as the others didn’t work out – one landlord was out of town, and another was reluctant to rent to foreigners who might make expensive phone calls. Since we’re only here for 4 months we couldn’t afford to wait any longer.

Here is our new address: Tverskoi Tupik 6/8, apartment 136, Pecherskiy raion, Kyiv. Stop by if you’re in the neighborhood! It’s a ten minute walk from the Pecherskaya Metro station in a neighborhood of auto mechanics and students. The area around the metro is very posh, definitely ‘the high street’ as the Brits would say. New buildings, a fancy supermarket, a Moroccan restaurant and a 24/7 “coffee haus” with wi-fi. From there you go downhill, past the three banks, the well-worn Institute of Culture (a college), across a muddy field and down an alley to get to our new place. In the other direction, Amy’s office is a 15 minute walk down a steep hill past the auto shops.

Three great things about our apartment: it has a microwave, a dishwasher and two closets! Three unfortunate things: it’s on the ground floor next to the front door, which slams frequently; everything in the living room is brown; and unlike the two other places we tried to rent, it is not next to the botanical garden. No matter, it’s home and we’re here to stay. Briefly.