Alone in Little Arabia - Tue, 2008-05-20 13:16 By Amira
Karim’s been crashing at a friends place for the past three weeks after him and his housemates were asked to move out by the home owner rendering him homeless. So for the past weeks in between studying and exams we’ve been apartment hunting. For someone who is in effect homeless he’s one picky guy. After looking at house shares he’s now opted to live alone. He needs a place, he says, where he wont be distracted and the best way to not be distracted is to live alone. He also wants to remain in central London so that he doesn’t have to pay the earth for travel expenses but it means he’ll have to pay the earth for renting. And he’s also looking for a long term rental because in September inshallah he’ll be starting his PhD which will last for up to three to four years. He doesn’t mind dipping into his savings from when he worked at the World Bank and he’s planning on working as an assistant to a professor while he’s working on his PhD.
We’ve been to see at least 6 places now. With everyone he’s found faults. Well actually can’t really hold it against him. One flat we went to see the people living above seemed to be having a party at 2 in the afternoon. Another one we saw that was in South Kensington we heard a dog howling away from next door and the third we were met by a strange old woman who waddled into the apartment with us and asked us questions about where we were from and then looked absolutely horrified when we said we were Arab, she literally ran out of the apartment, then as we were leaving we could here her praying from behind the closed door that we wont like the apartment: “please God get them away, get them awaaaay! Let them not like that flat oh Lord…you do not like that flat…do you hear? You do not like that flat!” I was almost rolling on the floor laughing in utter hysterics. Inshallah the next one we see will be the one, with no partying next door neighbours, no howling dogs and no crazy old women!
Karim’s been crashing at a friends place for the past three weeks after him and his housemates were asked to move out by the home owner rendering him homeless. So for the past weeks in between studying and exams we’ve been apartment hunting. For someone who is in effect homeless he’s one picky guy. After looking at house shares he’s now opted to live alone. He needs a place, he says, where he wont be distracted and the best way to not be distracted is to live alone. He also wants to remain in central London so that he doesn’t have to pay the earth for travel expenses but it means he’ll have to pay the earth for renting. And he’s also looking for a long term rental because in September inshallah he’ll be starting his PhD which will last for up to three to four years. He doesn’t mind dipping into his savings from when he worked at the World Bank and he’s planning on working as an assistant to a professor while he’s working on his PhD.
We’ve been to see at least 6 places now. With everyone he’s found faults. Well actually can’t really hold it against him. One flat we went to see the people living above seemed to be having a party at 2 in the afternoon. Another one we saw that was in South Kensington we heard a dog howling away from next door and the third we were met by a strange old woman who waddled into the apartment with us and asked us questions about where we were from and then looked absolutely horrified when we said we were Arab, she literally ran out of the apartment, then as we were leaving we could here her praying from behind the closed door that we wont like the apartment: “please God get them away, get them awaaaay! Let them not like that flat oh Lord…you do not like that flat…do you hear? You do not like that flat!” I was almost rolling on the floor laughing in utter hysterics. Inshallah the next one we see will be the one, with no partying next door neighbours, no howling dogs and no crazy old women!
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