This remark was made by my first visitor while here in Exotic Research City, and it was in reaction to my living conditions here. So I thought I'd reflect, and maybe see if my experience was typical.
I should preface this by saying that, in Grit City, I live in a fairly nice 500 sq. ft. 1 BR bungalow, which I rent, in a walkable neighborhood about 4 miles from campus. I have wood floors. I have sunlight. I don't share walls. It's nothing fancy, but it's certainly pleasant.
Here in Exotic Research City, I rent an apartment. I say "apartment," but I really think what I have is a 19th c. New York immigrant coldwater flat. It's a 5th-floor walkup, in the rear of the building, so almost no light whatsoever, 150 square feet or so, only cold water in the sink taps. There's a heater for the shower, so if I want to wash my dishes in hot water, I fill a shallow plastic tub from the tap in the shower, then carry it to the sink and mix it with the cold.** Downstairs there is a couple with a three year-old and a baby, living in the same sized space. Next door my single male neighbor, about my age, has a constant, deep, troubling cough that sounds like he's choking and makes me glad of my decision to quit smoking (again) a couple months ago. The apartment comes equipped with a washing machine, but I hang my laundry on the roof (which I'm right under). For this, I pay about $1000 a month. Exotic Research City ain't cheap.
my delightful downstairs neighbor, who always greets me when I arrive home for lunchI also walk to all my archives within 15 minutes. My neighborhood is a mix of young, mostly male immigrants, and hipster/hippies. One of the city's major markets is down the stairs and 3 minutes away, so I can get there before the ladies with their shopping trolleys do. The neighborhood is gritty in places, but there is also History – the second-oldest church in the city is around the corner and two minutes away. From my rooftop, I can see the cathedral (and its attendant cranes) in one direction, and a monument of modern architecture in the other, while listening to the sound of kids playing soccer and young tough teenagers giving each other shit in the park below.
It's neither glamorous nor tranquil. But here, it's home.
**This was what prompted my visitor's incredulity.
10 comments:
Sounds glamorous to me. In that "keepin' it real" kind of way.
I don't know where in Europe you are (I suppose you are somewhere in continental Europe?), but as someone who has moved from south Europe to north Europe and now ended up in Ireland, I have to say that Irish (and I suppose Anglo-Saxon in general) perception of how much space people need to live in is very different from continental Europe (where you might be?). In continental Europe, a 50m2 appartment is quite enough for one person or even a couple with a kid or two, while in Ireland, it is difficult to even find any appartment that isn't at least twice the size of that. Indeed, the places where I lived in south/north European cities could easily fit into the living room of my Irish appartment. Irish are always very surprised that someone could survive in such a small space, but that is the norm there. So it is very very country dependent and perhaps your visitor (American?) has the same kind of perception as Irish do?
Same with height of buildings: 5th, 6th, 7th floor appartments are totally normal for south/north Europe and almost unheard of here in Ireland.
Sounds similar to some of the apartments I had in Paris. I lived there for more than a year. The smallest was maybe 8'x12' with a shower and sink inside that, the toilet down the hall but all my own. I had hot water, a single bed, a table and a mini-fridge, hotplate and kitchen sink which took all the space except for the path between them. Great neighborhood, easy connections to bus, metro.
I had a big window, through which I could hear the hooker downstairs doing CB sex for clients and during the summer, sounds from her studette left no doubt as to the nature of her visitors. I also got lots of light and a tree to look at. Across the hall, in a similar sized place, the guy had lived there for 15+ years - and he and the other four studettes on the wing shared their toilette down the hall. Rent was about $600/month off the books. I was lucky to get it, and was grateful for it. My friends were horrified by the conditions.
Crap. I lived in Paris for a couple of years - the apartment I describe I lived in for a year.....
Notorious (and Belle)--this is the kind of apartment that you'll enjoy telling charming stories about for the rest of your lives! Actually, you tell a charming story about it now, without the benefit of notstalgia.
I'm with you--why spend dough on a pad when the point of going to Exotic Research City is to be researching, or enjoying urban outdoor life. There's plenty of time for you to stay inside and live on the internets when you return from your trip. (I once lived in a $600/month studio apt. in Chicago, with a camping pad, one table, one chair, a clock radio, and a French Press coffee pot. What more did I really need?)
Sounds awesome!
I'm a born and raised Exotic-Research-City-er. Your description sounds exactly like the place I used to live right after I graduated. It was much cheaper then though, and I could get by with a $500 monthly paycheck. The neighborhood sure has changed in the last twenty years...
I too have paid through the nose to live in a tiny Parisian apartment, although I've been lucky that all of my stays have been charmingly small and well-equipped. But I was recently talking to a Parisian who was *scandalized* by the rent I'd been paying (which is very much in line with what all researchers I know pay) and how much landlords overcharge researchers and other short-term tenants. The exchange made it even harder for me to feel good about the sum I'm planning on handing over this summer!
Bookbag -- Don't feel too bad. Here in Exotic Research City, there are regulations as to how long you can lease an apartment for -- and the minimum is two years. "Vacation rentals" are an entirely different class, so you're paying for an entirely different product.
At least, that's what I keep telling myself.
(Plus, it's way cheaper than a hotel!)
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