Moving House

When P and I came to Mayotte on August 15th 2011, we had only known for a short while that we - I, at any rate - would be moving at all. I remember searching the Internet for possible flats or flat shares, hunting all around the area of the island my school was in, preferably somewhere with electricity and running water, also preferably somewhere within walking distance of the school, just in case. There were two flats that sounded allright, the one I chose and another one which was already furnished but quite further away, a good three-quarters of an hour's walk from the school.

The flat we chose was in a white area, with everything nearby: two supermarkets, two banks, three restaurants, two driving schools and the odd shop. The only problem was that it was very exposed: as soon as we opened the shutter, you could see into our living room from a long way away. Which in France or England doesn't matter, but here is a real problem because of the number of forced entries and burglaries. So when our upstairs neighbour said she was moving back to France, I went straight to the housing agency and put my name down to take her flat as soon as she left.

 

She goes back to France on Tuesday, the same day as P. We had the flat from last Wednesday onwards, so we took things upstairs over two days and frantically cleaned the old flat so that it would be presentable. I now know that intensive cleaning is extremely tiring.

 

The new flat is a nice one. Slightly smaller than the first, but much better laid out, with a partition down the middle of the main room so that I can really have a living-room space and a work space. It doesn't face the same way, so it doesn't get the sun beating on the shutters all the time and is consequently much cooler, which is always an advantage here.

Everything is now in the new flat, but I still have to set up some shelves because there aren't the wonderful wall cupboards the other flat had. Therefore, there are still a few cardboard boxes, but I'm getting there!