Finally a home!

We finally shifted into a rented apartment and it’s awesome. For the past 3 weeks on an average we had been viewing at least 2 flats daily and something just wasn’t right. Either the place was dingy or the area not safe or the rent too high. Let me tell you that most apartments here are built in the studio apartment model, where the kitchen is a tiny part of your sitting room and your bathroom is a just big enough for you to stand. It wouldn’t have been so bad if we hadn’t seen Shaiwal’s colleague’s flat which was in a new construction and was quite roomy. The problem was she was staying with a roommate and was paying double the rent so a better place, while we were looking for something as nice at half the rent. Well fate turned a kind eye on us and we found our place, the minute we saw it we fell in love and then immediately we gave an advance to hold the place.

However, even after paying the advance it took 8 days to finally process our tenancy application. Meanwhile, we continued our search on the offhand that we didn’t get the place. Slowly the memory of the apartment slipped from our minds, cant blame us coz we did after all see it only for 10 mins before deciding and we were going on viewing other apartments, so it kind of got all jumbled in our heads. As our application got approved and the day to move in approached a slight anxiety cropped up, was the apartment as good as we thought or did we just build up? Our home is good, in fact it’s better than good. Touchwood!

We have loads of storage space, lighting and amazing furniture. It’s completely furnished right to the cutlery and stuff. The letting agency took us through our tenancy agreement, which took half an hour, and then provided us with an inventory of the stuff and a pack of 100 photos. Photos you may ask, well those were of the flat taken in different angles to prove how it was while it was handed over to us and that was how it was expected to be given back. Quite professional I must say.

 

We moved in on Friday and it took me the better half of the day to actually set our stuff into it and clean everything. Didn’t realise that I was working in the cold till it was kind of late! What happened was that, when I entered the apartment, it felt warm coz outside it was so damn cold. In reality the apartment was cold as well coz the heating had been off for a long while now as it was empty. I was too busy doing my stuff to actually notice and then mid way my teeth started chattering. So then I got on to the business of finding my heating, the agency guys told me it would take 2 days to actually warm up the house and then I could set the heating on a timer basis to save up on my utility charges. That’s all and well AFTER 2 days, what about till then?

I put on 4 layers of warm clothes, took a warm shawl and snuggled on the sofa which I pulled up to the heater. I had closed all the doors coz I wanted at least that one room to be heated up. An hour or so later Shaiwal called up to check up on me and I was right about dozing off then, I knew the phone was ringing but I just wasn’t able to move myself quickly enough to get the phone. Shaiwal called again and by then I got to the phone but I wasn’t able to talk properly, I was gasping for air, my heartbeat was at scheumaker pace and I was shivering. I was suffocating and I couldn’t believe it!!! Where I was happily dozing off a lil while earlier a very minor activity had propelled me into a state of breathlessness! Well I am glad Shaiwal called me when he did, coz he made me walk out of the room and fresh air bought me back to normal. I opened the doors and finally found the right heating switches among the main switches. By evening the house was nice and toasty! :)

Saturday, I found where the council library is and well what do you know, its about 1 km from my home and being a member and borrowing books is absolutely free. Actually there are two libraries near my home; one is 1Km away and the other 2 kms away. The facilities here are amazing; the library has books even in Urdu, Hindi, Farsi, Bengali and Punjabi! You can search books online, reserve and mark your collection centre as any library in the city and the books shall reach there free of cost in a day’s time. There are books, audio cd’s, vcd’s and dvd’s available there, including language learning cd’s. Shaiwal and I went there with our tenancy agreement coz you need to give a proof of address, got our library cards done and I picked up a few books too. You can pick up 12 books at a time and keep them for 3 weeks. Made my day!!! :)

At the library we saw language courses being offered so I was wondering about joining for it, I would have liked that. Until I came home and after some research on Shaiwal’s part, we found out that there are 4 levels to language learning courses and at each level multiple sublevels and the charge you a bomb for each sublevel!! Almost 70,000 rupees to learn to say hi, hello, good morning in Spanish or German or Japanese or whichever language you choose!!! What a bummer?!

Friends came over for lunch and I managed to put out a spread of aloo palak, mixed vegetable dry dish and sambhar in a short time. Our friends are right now either staying on their own or in the hotel and so everyone was appreciative coz to get homemade Indian HOT food is a boon in this place. :) Was in the same spot for the last 3 weeks. My good deed for the day was done.

Today, we are going to Tesco to stock up for the week ahead. There is snow forecasted from Tuesday onwards and I for one don’t plan on going out anywhere. It’s so cold these days, yesterday we saw three different weather in a span of 8 hours. Scotland is supposedly famous for such weather changes. At first it was nice and sunny, suddenly it turned gloomy and raining and then evening it was freezing winds!!.

 

Guess, its been a few days since I updated my blog so I seem to have just gone on and on and on, haven’t I? Well, hope you liked the glimpse into my life. :)