Home is where the start is

I finally have a place I can call home. Don't get me wrong - 'home' was definitely felt while living with tall uncle and yoga aunt for nearly six weeks, but now I have a place that I can call my own (or at least half of my own, seeing as I'm sharing it with Irish flatmate). And, contrary to my previous night's stay away from family (refer to the 'dream comes crashing' entry), my home is genuinely that - a home!

It's clear that Irish flatmate loves having a home as much as I do. She's done it up really nicely and even put little arty postcards on the wall and hung beady things from the lampshades. It makes me feel like I'm a grown-up woman living in a grown-up house. I'm even paying a grown-up rent of $330 a month, minus expenses (water and lights, generator, Internet, maid, cable TV).

Another plus is that I was welcomed home by the sound of birds chirping merrily outside my fifth-storey window. There's a wonderful tree within reach of my window, and it seems that many, many birds call it home. They even gave me my first 'good morning' in my new home - unfortunately it was at 5am and it was rather hard to ignore their loud bursts of joy and go back to sleep! Besides, the windows above my bed let so much sunlight in, that you feel you're wasting the best part of the day if you go back to sleep after the sun has risen. I know this philosophy won't last long, but at least I'm seeing the positive attributes of my very own room.

I'd love to invite you all to a cup of ahwe, but you're so very far away, so maybe you can just get an idea of where I live, and sip your coffee on your own couch, while imagining me on mine.

PS. I'm in Sassine if you do happen to be able to drop by.

View from the front door (the kitchen is to the left).

Kitchen with cool yellow tiles.

My bedroom from the door.

The bedroom window with the bird tree.

My bedroom from the bird tree window.

The very blue bathroom.

The diningroom that leads onto the lounge and balcony. This will also be my office.

The lounge that leads onto the diningroom and balcony.

The balcony.

View from the balcony.