Apartment

After ten hours of winding mountain roads on the way back from Cali, the driver and I went straight to my new apartment (I had been staying with Lilia).  Marcela, my flatmate, is a 36-year-old artist, graphic designer, and human rights activist.  She'd just gotten back from a trip and was still clearing things out of my room, so I sat on the couch reading until my room was ready.

My apartment is awesome! Apparently some crazy architect lived here, and made a lot of modifications; none of the other apartments in our building have the thick tiled floor and chunky wooden island in the kitchen, nor the arched tops to the doorways.  It's also old; the sink in the bathroom doesn't work, so you either have to go out to the kitchen sink, or lean into the shower (which is also arched on the top and curved on the bottom).  The decor is appealingly artsy, including plenty of paintings on the walls.  My room is still pretty empty; I use a sheet pinned onto the doorframe of my balcony instead of a curtain, and will until the end of February.  I don't have a real bed yet, either- just a mattress on the floor.  It's not very comfortable.  The bedframe was supposed to make an appearance.... three days ago.  Marcela explained yesterday that when Colombians say "tomorrow" it doesn't actually mean "tomorrow."  I told her, thanks for the cultural lesson!  I have neat in-wall shelving, but nothing to put in it.  Marcela has given me free reign to scavenge the house for artisan crafts or knick knacks to fill up the space.  She also let me use a bunch of her art prints and some original pieces by her to brighten up the walls-- including a gorgeous poster she made with a portrait of Tina Modotti.

Marcela is awesome, and the few times we've had conversations about things other than the apartment,  I've been really grateful to have such an intelligent and interesting flatmate.  For those who can read Spanish, here is her blog: dosgallinas.blogspot.com

 

 My building

 The living room

 

 The living room

 

 It even has a fireplace... although it's rarely cold enough to use it.

 

 The view west from the living room balcony

 

The view northeast from the living room balcony.  See that church at the summit of the mountain?  It's Monserrate, and it's on my list of things to do very soon.  

 The kitchen

 

The kitchen, again

  

 Funky shower

  

 My bedroom.  That bed is NOT comfortable. 

 

I love the arched doortops!

 My favorite wall decor- a Marcela Vega original

 Close-up

 The view from the balcony in my room

 The laundry shed in our building's courtyard, as seen from my bedroom's balcony.