Garbage Bags and Grunge

This morning we woke up to find Sarah hadn’t paid the internet bill and our internet was shut off. This apartment is such a strange experience- but we’ve taken it in stride. We had this big “we have to keep the apartment cleaner” talk initiated by Sarah two weeks ago, lets set up a schedule for the garbage etc. I think Sylvain and I can take responsibility for the dishes- we cook everyday and don’t always wash up right away. Plus, he has this habit of taking like 6 spoons out instead of using the one in front of him- and during the day we both consume 3 or 4 cups of tea/coffee I usually use the same cup (one I brought from home) but no matter how hard I try to train him to use the same one all day long, he hasn’t adjusted; on the other hand I decided since I cook, it’s up to Sylvain to clean- but that was setting unrealistic expectations. So since I’m home more often I started to take the cleaning a little more seriously- no one in the apartment is very good at cleaning up. Sarah doesn’t do any - which is why she hired someone- but she doesn’t cook and just orders pizza for the most part. Valentin is pretty crap- he cleans his dishes when he gets to it but doesn’t make much of a mess because he’s a dude and doesn’t really cook- so frying a steak or making pasta is about as creative as he gets- but he completely avoids taking out the trash.

 

So we had decided to make a schedule- during this meeting two weeks ago I didn’t understand more than 15% of what was being said but I knew after living at the Whitehorse in London, we would live in a shit hole if we didn’t get more organized and hold each other accountable…Valentin ran to his room and got a paper for the schedule but none was ever made…until this morning when I noticed for the last two weeks I’d been taking out the garbage. So I made the schedule and I anticipate we will be better at holding each other accountable…

Two things I love about living here- the farmer’s market across the street- the vegetables and fruit tend not to be the freshest- what can I say, I don’t care about blemishes, but I’m still American and we’ somehow manage to have our fruit and veg looking just picked when it’s market time- if you aren’t choosy certain veg can be a bit wilted. Still the convenience is unmistakable and I’ve become a regular so they know me, and it’s established me in the neighborhood. The other thing is this ridiculous radio station that plays all 80’s mas musica menos palabras! But it’s not all Madonna and Michael Jackson- it’s obscure 80’s music that you forgot you loved and if I’m ever waxing lyrical about my childhood in this blog- it’s probably because the radio was on and I heard a song that had been a favorite when I was 7.