Benvenuto! You may recognize this chair from my terrace. I had to reorganize
the furniture so that I could have 'a living room'.
Best part is I can take this chair out into my communal
terrace for sunbathing by day, and then relax with
a movie in my apt by night. Lawnware for Livingware,
the new home collection by E Beall
My dining room. I'm most proud of my reworking of this bookcase.
I was bummed my first night that you
could see the front door from the bed,
so I endeavoured to create some separation
by moving this guy to break up the room
and pinning some (architectural) fabric on
the back so that it wasn't see through. Total cost - 5 euro
My new kitchen has a full size fridge (gasp), and a dishwasher (gasp), a full oven, and 3 feet of
upper storage. Am I even in Italy anymore?
One thing this apartment has a plethora of is storage. Including many bookcases. One thing
Elizabeth has been good about not carrying with her -
books. So send photos and I will dedicate a shelf to you
My office/bedroom/closet. There's built in desk/storage area
next to a raised bed above storage drawers.
Multitasking work and sleep.
Please note bedcover is from 24 year old
boy tenant, this is not my decor choice
You may wonder why at 31, I've decide to regress/downsize/trade in an apartment with a terrace and an extra cottage for a college student's studio? I could tell you it's an effort to feel young again, but actually it all comes down to the money and Africa, like so many decisions in life.
My new dorm room is half of what I used to pay in rent, and given that I will be spending almost half of every month for the next four months in Sierra Leone, it doesn't make much sense to pay for an extra cottage. While I miss my fab terrace and my 150 plus stairs on my journey home, I don't miss the extra space (less to clean) and am loving my new neighborhood. I haven't counted the stairs yet, but I'm on the fourth floor so it could be close to 150.
A few things of note about my new abode:
-While my old place was charming, my new place is modern, architectural, and functional. Even though it's small, there's more storage than I could ever imagine - in the ceiling, in the floor, the bookshelves, everything has a spot with space for organizing to spare. Now I just have to control myself on filling up those extra spots.
-My old neighborhood was above the city center, full of greenery, and very residential without many shops or restaurants. I now live in the thick of the old meat packing/slaughterhouse district and in one block there are 4 grocery stores, 3 butchers, 5 shoe stores, 3 gelato shops, and a public market. I also live directly above a bakery = that food baby I promised you a year ago is finally on its way
-In my old place I really lived alone, in the sense that my entryway was even separate from the rest of the building so I had literally no interaction with the neighbors (unless you count listening to my neighbor practice opera). My new apartment is in an old communal building with shared courtyards and probably over 100 tenants - most of whom have lived here for 50 plus years, average age 70. I've been dreaming since I arrived in Italy of old people making me meatballs, and I now have the means to realize my dream
-Visiting hours are officially over unless you want to cuddle. Part of my rationale for my old place was that I could easily host visitors, and host visitors I did. I figured that most of you are not going to come BACK to Italy this year so I didn't need to keep extra space for you. I'm also now rid of the guilt of offering shelter to the homeless and am forced to say no to homeless Canadians, Spaniards, and the like. Of course you all are welcome, just let me know if you want to be the big spoon or the little spoon before you come.
-My landlord asked me to keep a low profile when moving in since she doesn't really want people to know she's subletting. I'm supposed to tell anyone who asks that I'm her son's (the tenant) girlfriend and that I'm staying here while he's studying abroad. One glitch - he's 24 and doesn't speak English. I'm still working on my story of how we met....
-So much for a low profile: On my first full weekend in my apartment, I went to pull in the laundry from the inner courtyard (directly outside my front door) and put a box in the doorway in case the door tried to slam shut. Well it slammed shut and pushed the box out of the way. I found myself shoeless, in my pajamas, with no bra on, locked outside my apartment. Hmm, what to do. I first had a flashback to my Spanish Harlem days, and then thought immediately how my appearance was going to go over. In the US it might be normal to sort of walk in your yard or on your patio in your pjs with no shoes - not in Italy. No shoes is unfathomable (remember its 75 and they're still in boots and puffy jackets). So I first decided to knock on my neighbors door to see if she could call the doorman - no doorman number, no internet, but she did invite me for pasta. I then waited in the stairwell for some more neighbors, definitely looking like a homeless degenerate. I came across a group of two elderly ladies and a middle aged man who I employed for help - their answer was putting a newspaper on the ground for me to stand on with my treacherous barefeet, and calling a locksmith and telling him how they had a hopeless barefoot American locked out on their hands - still no luck. Then the gentleman with the newspaper came up with the idea of an 'elasticce'. I'm still not sure what this is, but I followed him up to my place, where he subsequently whipped out a metro card (paper) and used it to somehow force open my door. I was a mix of utterly grateful and shocked at how easy this man can break into my house. Over the next hour, all four of my neighbors who I employed help from stopped by to check on me and offer me tips for not getting locked out again (including always wearing my keys in my housecoat, and never leaving the window open while opening the door). All of this = so much closer to meatballs
So in sum, living like I'm in my 20s with 80 year old neighbors and a padded bank account is better than I could have ever imagined.
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