Moving to who knows where

We found out that we're moving out of our apartment by the end of the month. The place we're living isn't ours, exactly. It's an ACME apartment that they've had for some time and last month the owners of the apartment building decided that they're not renewing the lease at the end of December. I guess they're going to knock our apartment down and put a parking lot here. So, it's up to ACME to find us a new place to live. For the most part, we'll miss the place we're in. The building is safe, they usually run the generator when the power is out, and the location is close to ACME as well as the main road in town so it's easy to get around. I won't miss being alongside the trash river, though, and it will be cool to move someplace new in the city.

A word here about renting in Kinshasa. From what I've been hearing from people, it's very difficult to find a place to rent in this city. Apartments and houses go very quickly and when you do find a place that you like, you have to put down a cash deposit of at least three months' rent, if not more. With rents starting upwards of $1000, that's a lot of cash to be laying out as a deposit. You also never know what kind of place you're really getting. When you're checking out an apartment the landlord will tell you that there's a working generator and the guards never sleep on the job, but I'm sure they'd tell you that they'll wash your clothes and massage your feet every day when you come home if it means you'll take the place. Landlords seem to have an unsavory reputation in this town. I've heard horror stories about things going unrepaired for weeks at a time, or tenants paying for repairs themselves since the landlords won't do it.

The fact that ACME is finding us a new place to live makes our lives easier as we don't have to deal with all the things I just listed. However, it's a little weird to know that we're moving somewhere in a few weeks but we have no idea where we're going or what it's going to be like.

The move is a bit more stressful because in all likelihood we're headed on vacation in less than two weeks. After six months, ACME generously provides a R&R (that's rest and relaxation for you non-military types) to employees stationed in Kinshasa. We're given a week in the city of Nairobi with room and board, and we can apply the cost of a flight to Nairobi, room, and board towards a trip somewhere else. My wife and I were originally planning to take our R&R in late January, but we've moved it up to late December since she'll probably be traveling for work in late January, a lot of our friends in town will be gone for Christmas, and we could use a break from life in Kinshasa.

After some debate, we settled on a trip to Tanzania where we'll spend a week near Arusha, going on safari and doing some hiking, and then a week on the island of Zanzibar. The decision to make the trip is a little last-minute so we're scrambling to find hotels and flights and with it being the holidays it won't be any easier, but I think we'll be able to pull it off.

Otherwise, life continues on as normal, or as normal as it can possibly be for us here in Kinshasa. The rainy season continues, the potholes get bigger, and I for one would welcome a few inches of snow.