I thought apartment hunting was tiring in Los Angeles, it's even more frustrating in Dehradun. Ankur has been trying at least two weeks to find apartments for me to look at, so I could decided which apartment would be best. However, what I thought was a pretty basic list has proved difficult to find. I wanted an apartment that had the following:
- furnished
- two bedrooms
- a kitchen
- western toilet
- within walking distance of shops and restaurants
The most difficult has been the furnished part. Then when Ankur finds a potential apartment he or someone from the office has visited first to make sure it is in good shape. Once it's approved for me to look it, Ankur talks with the landlord one more time. This is when the apartments generally get crossed off the list. Apparently, there are many ways to say "we don't want to rent to a foreigner". The reasons I heard went from the more subtle we want to rent to a local government official to let us think about it. Let me be clear to, I won't be renting the apartment, Bamko India will be entering the lease, I will just be staying there. However, that didn't seem to matter.
Finally yesterday, there were a few willing to let a foreigner stay. I looked at one, two, and three bedrooms unfurnished (we'll figure out where I sleep later), and at one and three bedrooms furnished. We shortlisted two and now I'm crossing my fingers that the landlords don't change their minds. One will require a little fixing, but the landlord said it shouldn't be a problem.
Hopefully I will be in my apartment by next weekend and be able to cook my own food. I'll post pictures as soon as I can. I am really looking forward to being out of the hotel and into an apartment. That will really make me feel like I'm here to stay instead of just visiting. I'll be able to settle in, have a point to reference to orient myself to the city, and really start exploring.
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