House hunting

Jade and I spent the weekend house hunting.

Though I have been thus far very comfy in my wee home above the office, it is not intended to be a permanent home, and as there are quite a few other volunteers, consultants, and 'friends of GHAP' passing through in the next months, we are trying to get out of the way. We would ideally love to find another traditional style wooden Thai house to live in. We decided to look together because so many folks here are short-timers that they don't get houses, or it is a pain to try and furnish one with someone who is leaving, and all of the other long-termers already have a place to live... So, live alone, live with someone who will leave soon, or live with Jade. Easy decision given that we get along quite well, have found each other easy to live with, and neither want to pay the full cost of setting up a house.

House hunting here is tricky. There is not newspaper full of listing, no craigslist. Mostly, its word of mouth. We tapped out our expat connections rather quickly (only two houses available known by that crew, one too expensive, and one way outside of town - too far for us). So we turned to our (limited) Burmese connections - we asked MahLee the masseuse, Jo Jo and Ton Ton at the tea shop, the gas guy, the office landlord, the pool manager, and went to a couple of furniture stores for good measure. Each 'connection' had at lease one place to tell us about or show us, so I guess it was a good strategy. (Props to Jade for finding out how to say 'two bedrooms' 'electricity' 'hot water' 'deposit' and 'lease' in Burmese!).

Thus far we've seen a few potentials, but nothing stellar, and nothing wooden. All of the newer homes are concrete. The top of the list is a townhouse in the Muslim area (which we like, as it is where the pool is, where our favorite tea shop is to go for breakfast, near the day market, and not too far from work). It is new, in excellent condition, and HUGE. Maybe too big... But its a little far (it is on the Far end of the Muslim area) and expensive (relatively, of course), and not very private (the balcony and living room both open onto a very bustling neighborhood street, not so much traffic as much as People! Lots and loud!). My favorite is a little part wood place that is actually above the house where the pool manager lives. It has a fabulous porch, loads of lush vegetation all around, and is about a 8 second commute to the pool, and 47 seconds to the tea shop. However, it is one bedroom, and there isn't really a kitchen. There is a sink on the porch, and a shelf hanging off the porch were we could put a burner. I think we could work out some counter area on the porch, and there is plenty of room inside for food storage and a fridge, but there isn't really a way to create two bedrooms (it is two rooms total, and a small bath), and we would both really like to have some private space (while I'm into house sharing, the days of room sharing are over..). It is a little too expensive for one, and as there are No other expats in that area, and my Burmese is still nascent, I'd rather not live alone quite yet.

So, the search continues. Jade is eager to just find _something_ and move. She arrived a month before me, and I think is feeling ready to be settled. I, however, still feel like I'm getting a lay of the real estate options, and would like to take my time. If I have to buy a fridge, stove, and furniture, I probably won't be moving for a while....