Monday, November 8, 2010

It’s Time to Celebrate…

It’s the middle of Diwali, we moved into our flat, and this is my 300th post!

Diwali, what’s that you ask?  It’s a five day festival that reminds me of both Christmas and the Fourth of July.  There are bright colored lights hanging from windows and buildings, people buy each other gifts and fireworks are being blown off late into the night, every night.  If you’re curious and would like a more accurate description, click ‘here’.

Speaking of Diwali and our new flat, here’s the entrance just outside the elevator.  Someone from the complex came and decorated with colorful powders and candles for the holiday. (The swastika symbol?  Nothing to do with Nazis.) 
So we finally moved into our flat and what an experience it has been thus far.  On our first night there was a thunder storm with rain so severe we found ourselves mopping up buckets of water that came cascading in through one of the windows.  If that wasn’t bad enough, the power went out.  Not knowing how long it would be before it came back on; we stumbled about with the glow from one small flashlight and managed to get our new sheets on the bed.  Right when we decided to call it a night, it came back on.

It was almost better being in total darkness because once I got a good look around it made my skin crawl.  In the whirl wind of trying to find a place to live and looking at so many flats, we really didn’t pay close attention to detail; and by detail, I mean dirt.  There are years of built up grease and gunk in the kitchen, and not just on the floors or walls, but inside the cabinets too.  I’m so glad we made them replace the refrigerator and cook top, at least those are clean. And it doesn't end there.  Every nook and cranny of this place needs to be scoured.

If you think I’m exaggerating, take a look.  This is a section of the tile on the wall in the kitchen.  Can you guess which one I scrubbed?
The floor before….
…and after.
Mark my words, by the time I’m done you’ll be able to eat off the floor…or at least be able to implement the 5 second rule.

Now if you’re not cringing along with me, let me end this post with something I saw the last day we were at the hotel.
What, not so bad?  Let me pan out a bit.
Namaste~

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Well, at least now you have something to do during the day.

Avitable said...

Were they cleaning the window or just committing suicide in a roundabout way?

Glad you finally found a flat!

Eva said...

Lceel took the words right out of my mouth! Happy scrubbing! (sorry about the leaking, power outages and dirt)

hello haha narf said...

can you get some help with the initial cleaning that needs to be done?

are there other flats on your floor or does the elevator not get used by others on your level?

i love the pretty floor decoration.

Blondefabulous said...

It may be dirty, but it's yours!!!! Glad you found a place to start out in.

Coal Miner's Granddaughter said...

So very glad you're moved in. Wish I could help with the bleach and toothbrush scrubbing. I live for that shit!

I can't find my blog said...

Congrats on both the apt. and the posts!

Expat No. 3699 said...

@ LceeL
I sure do. This stay-at-home housewife stuff is for the birds. Speaking of which, I need to get that pigeon poop cleaned off the terrace.

@ Avitable
LOL

@ Eva
They’re supposed to send someone out to caulk the window and I’ll eventually get rid of the dirt, but the power outages here seem to be daily. We do have a battery back up thingy that Paul got working. It works on some of the lights and fans…nothing in the kitchen, not even the refrigerator. Go figure.

@ hello haha narf
I can hire someone to clean, but I don’t think they’d do as thorough a job as I would. Plus I’m going home in less than two weeks and not coming back until after New Year’s so I think I’ll wait and see if I want to hire someone then.

@ Blondefabulous
It is indeed. Finally.

@ Coal Miner’s Granddaughter
I’ve got the bleach, but no extra toothbrushes. Numerous Scotch scrub pads, a screwdriver, a sharp knife and the tip of a potato peeler seem to be working miracles. I can be pretty anal when it comes to cleaning; must be the Polish in me!

@ Headless Mom
Thanks. I’m really happy to have a place to call home.

Anonymous said...

Dirt at least is fixable...glad you have your own place!