Apartment

I moved two days ago to an apartment with a single skinny window.

 A room with a view.

 Creeping on the neighbors.

So, a few words about living space: there is not much and privacy is kind of asking a lot. I can hear everybody's everything, including what's going on in the buildings surrounding mine. This is congestion on a new level.

The route from Sofitel to my apartment takes me past the British and US consulates, which are barbed-wired compounds and green uniformed guards stand around all bored-like, down a couple streets that are busy with motorbikes and then with people, turn off at the alley next to a dentist's office, go off through an even skinnier alley through a few twists and turns (the cab made good effort, nosing past parked motorbikes and scraping a planter before giving up and then I carried my suitcase), two gates, two doors, and a flight of stairs later I'm home sweet home.

Motorbikes and shoes are stored in the foyer. I'm not clear if the couch and TV are communal or the landlords' since they live in a room exactly the same as my own. I speculate as to whether they spread out and live in multiple rooms throughout the building since there are two kids. Spying story: everyone's pretty clear about the level of sharedness going on so when the little girl downstairs was scolded and started crying, they played some music over her so the rest of us wouldn't be disturbed.

The building is two rooms long, one room wide, and 10 winding stories up.

It may be small, but it's all mine.

I have to kind of lean around the flat screen to walk past the bed, which is bad news since I don't know where my body is in space and already have a nasty bruise on my shin from running into the bed frame.

It's a good thing there's no kitchen because look at the fridge. Actually, there is a kitchen on the top floor, but it's mostly for the landlord. She said I could cook occasionally if I wanted to and she keeps rice going most days, which I'm welcome to help myself to.

There's no hot water, but there are jacuzzi jets. And a bidet hose!

aAAHHHHHH! It crawled out of the bed and ran down my leg! And is still here after unpacking and a 45 minute walk to scope out dinner. I’m naming her Griselda because you think of a name for a surprise roommate.