The Flat, Part One

I've realized that if I wait until I've written about everything I want to, you all won't get an update until the end of April or so! So I'll post in chunks, in accordance with what I am able to write each day or week, and leave you hanging until the next entry because my storytelling is not at at all linear or even in manageable chapters!

Here is what I managed to write last night...

Today Ricardo and I finally moved into our new flat, only 12 days after the original date the landlady was supposed to hand over the keys. Although supremely frustrating at times, this flat was well worth the wait…and what a wait it was!

Ricardo found this apartment while I was at the Nia intensive in Cape Town. It was the first and only flat we looked at, and the one that we ended up renting – such luck is practically unheard of here in Maputo – but something inside me just knew it would work out this way. To paraphrase one of my favourite authors, Paulo Coelho, “When you wish for something with all your heart, the whole universe conspires for things to work out.”

I can’t think of anything I want more at this moment than to put down roots with Ricardo in Maputo. Being a 21st Century Nomad is certainly fun and full of adventures, but it’s a lifestyle that can leave a girl lonely and disconnected in the long run. Many things lately – from my community living time in Chimoio to the Nia intensive last month – have led me to the conclusion that settling down is just what I need right now. Mind, body, and spirit are all shouting out for me to stay in one place and enjoy a slower, more stable life.

So to that end, Rico and I set up an appointment to visit this flat as soon as I got back from Cape Town at the end of February. The apartment is located downtown in a pretty upscale neighbourhood called Polana and is 4 blocks from the ocean and near several restaurants and shops. The building itself is pretty drab and in dire need of some paint and a couple of structural repairs, but it is quite sturdy (it survived the earthquake!) and has 24-hour security guards in the front, so I can’t complain. Most buildings in Maputo look as if they took several direct hits during the country’s civil war, so it’s pretty standard that a nice apartment would have a horrid exterior. The building is also directly across the street from one of the coolest architectural sites in Maputo, an abandoned old Portuguese mansion called Vila Algarve that is covered in blue and white tile murals, so that adds a lot of character to the place.

Our flat is on the 3rd floor (technically the 4th – people here count the ground floor as level zero) and there is no elevator, so we get a really good workout huffing it up the stairs, but that’s good because both Rico and I are pretty out of shape at the moment.

The first time we visited the flat it was total chaos. The place was being inhabited by our landlord Dona Flávia and her, like, 15 school-aged children. There was barely room to walk around the flat because it was so full of gaudy furniture and kids running around. The worst part was the living room – Dona Flávia had, in good upper-middle-class Mozambican taste, furnished the room with a horrid set of black sofas imported from South Africa that had a pattern that looked as if the cosmos had suddenly gotten ill and spewed planets and nebulae on the dark velour. This sofa set dominated the whole room, but every spare space was filled with clutter. My favourite, in addition to the seating choice of course, was a huge fake-wood clock with plastic roses glued at each hour mark and gold lettering across the front that proudly announced, “High Class Quartz Clock.” Needless to say, I was a bit overwhelmed.

Despite the tacky furnishings and plethora of teenagers in the flat when we visited, Rico and I were able to recognize that behind it all lay a fabulous opportunity. Three bedrooms, lots of natural light, wooden floors, and the perfect location. We squeezed each other’s hands in silent approval, then sat down to negotiate with Dona Flávia. She originally wanted US$ 500 per month for the flat, but we were able to bring her down to US$ 450...

Oh, the suspense!! I'm sure it's just killing you!!!