No.4

Okay. You'll be pleased to know I've finished throwing my toys out the pram. Still feeling irrationally irritable, but the bone-crushing tiredness started to lift a little after lunch and I no longer feel like the answer to every question is to sob loudly and pull the covers over my head.

Just completed a six-hour house hunting marathon with IC.

Little heads-up here people. There's two factors to renting a house:

1. You wish to rent your property to a tenant.
2. A tenant wishes to rent a property from you.

Both of these require a key.

We turned up at three houses today that we couldn't look inside of because no one thought to bring a key! Houses advertised on the city e-list, so presumably not short on viewers.

Take this one for example. Stunning view of the city centre...

But this was as close as we got to looking around.

Quarter of an hour spent painting a vivid picture of the interior in Kinyarwanda just isn't really the same as opening the freakin' door and letting people inside. 

Then we headed out to Kacyiru (I think?). Uphill at the Sonatubes roundabout, first left by Rainbow Hotel sign, just keep going. I'd never been down that end of town before and it was gorgeous. Beautiful, quiet, pretty area. 

Almost died laughing when we saw the apartments, though. Brand new build. Tiled and everything.

The problem?

An en-suite room you could not physically fit a bed in. You could hardly fit three people (me, IC, and the agent he was trying to chat up). It was comical, especially as the agent looked highly affronted and didn't seem to see (or refused to admit) what the problem was. 

Still, had a lovely lunch of chapati kandi ibishyimbo (chapati and beans). Three plates of beans, a pile of chapatis, one pint of ikivuguto and a bottle of water for £1.50! Can't remember ever eating that cheaply. Was a lovely place, too. Small bar with a gorgeous garden. Kacyiru Dairy or something.

Then saw a place behind RDB for £150! It was fascinating. Completely unlivable in. Well, from what we could see from the outside, as they couldn't find the keys. It was right on the main road, no garden, tiny little place with another house right behind. But the possibilities that ran through my head were endless. It was the perfect location for an art gallery or a small theatre. 

Went to see another place for £300. Same problem as the one for £250 - it was tiny. Tiny, dark and depressing. There were four of us in there and we had to squeeze around each other. The rooms were like cupboards. Even if you could build a bed small enough to put in there, you'd never be able to lie down flat. Permanent foetal position. I'm gobsmaked anyone would pay over £90 for it. 

But everyone's trying their luck with house prices here at the moment. It's not far off UK prices sometimes. People seem to think you can throw together any old shoebox and someone will pay a fortune. I guess someone must be paying a fortune, otherwise they wouldn't keep charging it.

Next, we viewed a two-bedroom luxury apartment which is likely to be finished in a few weeks.

Random picture of a baby goat.

Luxury apartment.

Still being completed.

Hot shower!!!

Stunning rooftop view.

(panoramic, click to enlarge)

Another random goat.

Studio apartments for around $600, two-bedroom fully furnished and all-inclusive apartments for around $1,000. Swimming pool and gym. It was very impressive. If you have that kind of money to burn, I strongly suggest going for a look round. It's right opposite USAID Land Rights, down the road from RDB. Enquiries to Rubare: rubareconcessa@yahoo.fr / 0788300025 

I was truly starting to despair. Everything we'd seen in my price range was simply appalling. Everything I liked was well out of my budget. Was there no affordable, quality housing in Kigali?

The gods took mercy upon us. Turned up to view another uninspiring hovel. I gazed around glumly as IC made the 'hmmm, uh-huh' noises required of polite prospective tenants. As we were leaving, the lady suddenly said "Or there's this one, next door..."

Cue heavenly choirs as the gate swung back to reveal a secluded three-bedroomed house at the bottom of a garden, with a guard hut for Damascene and running (cold) water!

"Is it an apartment?" I whispered.

"No. It's the whole house."

My face turned to stone. I remembered everything IC taught me - all the mistakes I made when I rented a place off him. I hid my enthusiasm behind noncommittal shrugs. I nodded occasionally, but let them get on with negotiations in Kinya whilst I stared, expressionless, at the floors or the ceiling. I bordered on rude. 

At one point IC asked me whether I thought the walls needed repainting a different colour. My lip jutted, my heartbeat raced - was this a genuine question, or some ploy to reduce the rent? 

"No..." I said, eyes narrowing. "I think the paint is okay?"

It had actually been a genuine question, and he laughed so hard when I told him why I hadn't answered him properly. 

It is not as grand as this place. Nowhere is as grand as this place. It is a mansion, and I have loved living here. But this new house has more bedrooms, it's quiet and secluded, and it's over £100 cheaper. 

This time I am determined to rent one of the rooms out. Possibly to IC, but I don't know if that's a fantastic idea. It felt like we were a married couple today, off on our house hunting adventure, but moving in with friends is always tricky. People you love, you can't always live with. We'll see.

The problems are that there's not really a proper kitchen, just a traditional cook hut. But I can remedy that by bringing a table, freezer, gas, water butt and bowls into the main room and creating an open plan kitchen. I've had one before. Sadly there's no view of Kigali. Plus it's unfurnished, which also means I need to buy beds, a freezer and a gas cooker. Initially a little more cash, but the landlady told me she'll buy it all off me if I leave. There's also only one bathroom, and it's fairly small. But because there's constant running water, I'm planning to splash out on an electric shower head. A hot shower! Haven't had one of those in six months!

We adjourned to Mille Collines for a well earned beer.

Traditional agaseke baskets.
Peace Baskets.

As we were leaving, IC got a call to see one more house just down the road. Knackered, but willing, we went. IC preferred it to the last one and tried to talk me into it. Larger bathroom, still three bedrooms, dedicated kitchen and only about £200. I flatly refused though. On first glance, it was nice. But no garden. It has a view, but that view is of the main highway through Kigali. It's surrounded by a city sound that I find depressing. It was all concrete and tiles, whereas the other one was garden and greenary.

So, I'm signing the contract on Friday.

That's that done.

Just need to organise moving assistance and sign that Country Directorship tomorrow. 

I feel like a weight has been taken off. I was panicking, that was all. Not having house security is horrible. You can cope with most things so long as you have a lovely quiet place to come home to, where you can close the gate on the world.

I'm truly hoping Damascene will choose to come with me. He is the most trustworthy and terrifyingly fit guard I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I would feel much safer with him around. But I've told IC not to pressure him. It's entirely his choice. If he doesn't want to relocate, I'll probably still hire him to come clean the house and do my laundry twice a week. 

So, I feel a bit better about things now. House sorted. At least some employment, even if it's not as much as I'd like. Just want to curl up in bed and stay there for a few days. It's LL's graduation tomorrow. I feel like a complete shit, but I probably won't go. Need to let myself recover from whatever bundle of blah this has been. 

I wonder what the world will look like in August?