Moved into Apartment

Now that I had ostensibly found work, I sought a place to live. I had been told to look for apartments around the Laureles Estadio neighborhood. It's close to public transportation, the terrain is flat– which makes walking around much easier, and the locals generally describe Laureles Estadio as tranquilo. For three consecutive days I walked around the neighborhood looking for signs in windows indicating that an apartment was available for rent.

I called the phone numbers in the ads and went to view apartments. I met with this agent from Santa Fe Real Estate, Guillermo. Unfortunately this photo doesn't capture his perpetual sneer.

While taking me for a tour of apartments, Guillermo tried at great length to evade me. He darted across 4 lanes of traffic without warning, he hopped onto a moving bus that a friend of his operates and whose fare he didn't have to pay (I managed to chase after Guillermo across the 4 lanes of traffic and catch the moving bus. But I had to pay the fare.) Before long I realized that I was being led on a wild goose chase. Guillermo didn't know the prices of any of the apartments, they weren't the same as the one's where I had seen signs displayed (few of them were even anywhere near the area where I was looking), and many of them were 3 and 4 bedroom apartments– not at all what I was looking for. So I told Guillermo that enough was enough and I'd call him tomorrow. Guillermo only shrugged (still while sneering.)

The next day, instead of calling Guillermo, I responded to this ad I'd seen:

I thought apartaestudio meant "studio apartment," but upon visiting the place I found out that what's being advertised is a bedroom in an apartment where two other people live. The apartment is in the Nueva Florida neighborhood (contained within Laureles Estadio,) it has 3 bedrooms, it's rented in the name of 26-year-old university student, Carlos, and it's also inhabited by 54-year-old Darrio, who rents a room, and 8-month-old labrador/greyhound mix, Lupe, who lives rent free. I agreed to move in.

Although 500,000 Colombian Pesos is an awful lot to pay, especially on an English teacher's salary– it's cheaper than staying in a hostel and much more luxurious. Also, there's nothing that even resembles a lease agreement here, so if next month I find something better, I'm not tied down. 

On Saturday it rained and I watched from the Balcony.

This is Carlos. In the last two days he built a wall around the apartment's dining area out of styrofoam, pvc pipe, and construction paper. Then he moved his bedroom into it and now he sleeps there. It reminds me of the informal settlements on the hills surrounding Medellín. I joked that the Metrocable, which was built to service the informal settlements, should have a station for his new room.

I learned that the reason he built and moved into this informal settlement was to make his former bedroom available for another roommate to move into– which she did last night. I'm not sure what her name is, I don't have a photo of her, but she's about middle age and I've heard her called Doña (Madame.) I am interested to see how well it's going to work having 4 people and a dog live in a 3 bedroom apartment...

This is Lupe. This morning she was hit by a car and now she's at a clinic. I don't understand much about her situation, but I'm told that she was almost killed. I hope she recovers soon!

Despite all the strange things involved with living in this apartment, knowing local Colombians offers a lot of advantages. There are connections to jobs (discussed below), and on Saturday night I was introduced to a number of Carlos' friends. One of them is a structural engineer. He drew pictures and explained how to design buildings that can withstand earthquakes and landslides.

Meanwhile my employment situation is ambiguous but hopeful. The institute that sends teachers to do 1-on-1 lessons says that they're willing only to give me substitute teaching opportunities; if a full-time teacher cancels, I'll be given maybe an hour's notice to prepare a lesson and travel to the client's residence. Then my effectiveness in teaching the lesson will be evaluated by the same criteria as the full-time teachers who have as much as a week's notice to teach a class. I'll have my work cut out for me!

I also found another English language institute in this neighborhood. Coincidentally a friend of a friend of Darrio, my new roommate, owns the chain of schools that this place belongs to, so yesterday I showed up with my hoja de vida (page of life; curriculum vitae) and later that day I assisted in teaching a group class on a volunteer basis. Then this morning I was called and told to come for an interview tomorrow.