Finding home

I am so mad at the likes of CSA who have literally ruined the real estate market in Kuwait. These companies are willing to pay KD 600 per month for 2 bedroom accommodations for their employees (passing the exorbitant amount on to the US Government/US tax payers) and it is ruining the local economy. Damn foreigners!

CSA’s contract is up in October 2009, and I hope that whoever is re-bidding will consider the fact that 1) there is no need to pay that amount of money; and 2) perhaps you don’t need to get an almost complete staff of high-paid Westerners (many of whom don’t even have a lot of work to do and would like to do more). Where is the ethical responsibility?

Back to the problems in our local real estate market.

I’m going to see shitholes at KD 400 per month. It is ridiculous. Some of these places still have squat toilets and I can’t even tell you how bad they smell when you walk in. For that, you pay prime real estate prices. I walked into one last night and I immediately sensed that someone had been murdered in the apartment; it was the kind of place where the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. As my friend said, “Look, they have 2 doors to the apartment; an extra one so that you can run out the back when the police come to the front….” ICK.

WTF Kuwait!

I’m also extremely peeved about being labeled as a "morally-challenged" single woman. One real estate agent actually said, “Well, the owners don’t know what kind of people you would be bringing over…” Before I hung up IN HIS FACE, I said, “I’m a manager with a rather large company. I’ve been in Kuwait over 10 years. I’m not on a weekend trip down from Basra….” I thought that kind of mentality went out years ago in Kuwait. Are we suddenly so conservative?

So, I got online and found some marriage certificates I can download – just incase. If they want a piece of paper: BADA BING. Just like when I went to Malaysia on a trip I won and needed to be “married” to the guy who I was going with. Done.

I’m looking at some apartments in houses and what I want to know is – what is the owners’ name? I’m not going to just walk in and stay in someone’s apartment and they have a terrible reputation in Kuwait. If these loser real estate guys can ask ME for my personal information, damned if I’m not going to ask about the owners.

I can’t find a decent-sized apartment with a balcony. The balcony comes first and foremost because Desert Dawg has to have a retreat during the day when I’m at work. Either that, or I hire a live-in maid. Well, I wouldn’t go to that extreme. I enjoy the privacy of walkin around buck neked. Anyways, a large balcony gives me (at least) the impression that the apartment is airy.

I went to see a very nice 2 bedroom apartment last night in Mishrif. It was very pretty (at KD 360); however, it had several problems. First, the balcony was off the bedroom. It was very large, but I would have to have the door open so that Desert Dawg could get out and it would be hot. I could already sense that it would be a problem with the home owners. Next, there were bars on some of the windows. That freaks me out. Maybe I was a prisoner in a former existence. I just can’t do bars. The kitchen and bathroom weren’t great and the window in the living room was too small.

Okay, so I might be a little picky.

You know what you want. You know what kind of home will make you happy to live in. When I walked into my current apartment 11 years ago, I felt comfortable and happy.

They say that by about the 10th place you’ve looked at, you find one that you like. I have exceeded that number.

Let me just say that my FRIEND who has been taking me around to look at these places has been an angel. I don’t really know why he is doing it for me. I think we are mending fences. Life is very odd and ironic.

I am happy he is helping me, but at the same time, this is someone who I remember as a completely different person. Now, I look at him and I don’t see that person there. It is like I know him, but I don’t know him. It makes me sad. I want to shake him and say, “Say something! Do something! Let me know you are really you.” Maybe he’s not him anymore. Maybe people go through life experiences that change them. I just feel like I am looking at someone who isn’t that person anymore – kind of like a pod person now – and it makes me want to cry.

Sometimes I have a really hard time understanding (remembering) that people don’t always think like you do. That maybe they change or are different. I’m the same and I just don’t get it.

Anyways, I’m really thankful for the help because even though I am now working with NINE realtors, none of them have been able to accomplish in a month what my FRIEND has in a day.