My new apartment!

Even though I haven't found a job yet....(email me for the complete rant.....) I needed to move out of my host family's house. It seemed like most of the job opportunities would be in Quito, so on Sunday Josh and I went apartment hunting. The way this works here is you wake up around 7:30am on a Sunday and go to buy El Comercio (the newspaper) and start calling the extensive listings in the classifieds. Ten hours later we had an apartment (that's the short version of the story of course).

Our apartment is on a small quiet street centrally located in terms of the forty km stretch that is Quito, but a little bit out of the center, closer to the base of the Pichinca Volcano. It came fully furnished (the only type of apartment we were looking for). It has 3 bedrooms, an office, and 1.5 bathrooms. It came with everything you could need in the kitchen INCLUDING A STOVE TOP ESPRESSO MAKER :D !It is about 5 blocks from Supermaxi (the main supermarket) and of course the main street about a block over from us is full of small tiendas and fruit/veggie vendors. It is also a main bus line.

We were able to fix the internet and hot water in the first day, but we are still waiting for the fridge to be fixed (Ecuador time...)

my room

bathroom w/ shower (also padded toilet seat!)

dining room table (same room as living area)

living area

kitchen 

courtyard below (we are on the second floor)

our views from the terrace of the mountains (the peak is where the teleferiqo goes up)

the city below

We still don't have a running fridge, and last night we didn't have the gas connected to our stove, so our first meal here was salad, cheese, crackers, and salami, and some Argentinean wine, all accompanied by streaming Parks and Rec on Netflix.

It's a good deal, and my host family pre-approved the neighborhood for safety (which of course makes me feel better). We have an alarm system, and two metal doors, and all of that good stuff. There is a family that lives below us. Chelsea will be in the 3rd bedroom for a few weeks, and after that we are semi looking for a new roommate/considering renting out to travelers.

Now that I have a place to live, let the job hunt continue!!!