While the apartment looked decent at first glance, and has plenty of space - probably about 180 square meters and three bedrooms - many of its features just did not make me feel comfortable.
Yes this post will be a free ranting one - so skip it if reading complains is not your thing.
Details in the unit were at first putting me off.
A full side of the unit is having no windows. Well, there are openings, things to allow the air in, but not way for me to see anything outside - and as a visual, it is often frustrating to hear noises and conversations occurring a few meters down, yet not be able to see anything. The capoira gathering, the school fairs, the recess, the garbage truck, the call of some vendors. All of this remains sounds without images.
Then there is the very limited kitchen equipment, the lack of washing machine, and the fact that the place was rented to us really dirty. I spent the first night cleaning it.
An other element of disappointment for me has been the general low level of quality of things in the unit. Again, if I had imagined that Brazil is "emerging" from so low, or if I had imagined something near Africa, there would have been no upset. But in fact I have lived in much worst places before - in India, in Liberia, in Senegal, in Congo. Yet arriving from China, with all the things that we had there, our landing in Brasilia has been feeling more like a sharp downgrade.
Here is a photo of Emmanuel eating in our kitchen. I hated the place so much that I did not take pictures of it.
So a few days after our arrival, the sink got blocked. Upon looking under the sink, I realized that the pipes are all made of flexible thin plastic tubes of a very really narrow shape - explaining why they clogged quickly. The brother of the owner came to fix it almost right away.
A few days later, the freezer started to beep and to unfroze. This model has a digital thermometer, showing us the slow rise of degrees. As we had brought with us about 15 kg of French cheeses (then frozen), it was really urgent to get this fixed. Again, a few visits of owner's brother followed by a repair person, the appliance was fixed and our cheeses saved.
Then slowly we started to find a smell of gaz. At times it felt more obvious, at other times, not so much. At one point I decided to leave the windows open, just in case, to make sure the air would never get too saturated. A few days later, it was just too much. Again, a few visits from the now very friendly owner's bro, followed by a few more visits of some specialist. The stove was the problem, with a burner completely broken, leaking gas. It was changed for a new one.
But it was not enough, the installation was problematic, and gas was still leaking. So the guy from reception came to fix it. By this time, I forgone the owner's bro, and figure we needed a more efficient action.
Then a few days later, while reading a story to Noam, I heard the noise of something falling. I went back to the kitchen, unable to notice anything different from when I left it a few minutes earlier. Only later did I realized that a few tiles in the washroom had fallen down on their own.
At least by then I knew we were going to leave - our lease was signed. What a relief!
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