My Living Quarters

UPDATE: I have moved in March 2014, see blog post here

Aside from settling in at work, my primary task upon arrival was finding adequate housing. My organization told me they would arrange temporary housing for a month but due to some mis-communication, they had me staying in a hotel for a few days. After the hotel, a co-worker was told to house me temporarily as she has a large four bedroom house though it was sparsely furnished. Although I appreciated her hosting me, it was a bit awkward of a situation and I was anxious to get a place of my own and finally unpack my bags.

I was a bit skeptical of most expats opinions on housing. Many expats demand housing equivalent to what they would find in Europe and although it is obviously comfortable, for me, it's somewhat unnecessary. The human resource manager at my organization was very helpful in making contacts for me and I also set to work inquiring among expats and checking message boards at local coffee shops.

What I found was pretty surprising and downright expensive. It appeared that long term residents to bought houses and then rented out the rooms. This makes sense seeing the high turnover of short term volunteers down here but after living by myself for the last five years, I wasn't particularly keen on having roommates again. Plus, it seemed very expensive; rooms in a house ranged from $300-400USD/month, excluding utilities. I was also shocked that most every house required hiring a security guard. Although I understand the need for safety, it seemed a bit colonial and bourgeois to me, especially after getting a feel for how safe Moshi is.

I joined a local online message board specifically for Moshi and found several other people looking for housing. Most of them read something along the lines of “Looking for a room, must have security, cleaning lady, laundry service, electricity, cooking and hot water”. Although those are all nice things to have, had I posted my requirements would have read something like “Looking for room, prefer electricity and running water”. I guess years of living in rural areas disconnected from electricity and water has made me very flexible.

In the end I got a place through my human resource manager as he presented “local options”. The place is in a large plot of land with three houses on the property. One house is the owner's, a sweet old widowed woman who speaks broken English. The other house is a small house used for volunteers from Norway. She apparently has some type of agreement with an organization to periodically host the volunteers. And our place is pretty much two rooms with a separate bathroom, kitchen, and laundry area. It is more than adequate for me and I prefer to live with a local in a somewhat communal setting than in a big house with a security guard. I won't lie, there is something about having a security guard that makes me feel extremely uncomfortable and I'd like to avoid it at all costs. 

View of the restroom area and our two rooms (to the left) and the kitchen (to the right). 

Bedroom..not a lot to say here. 

Sitting room. 

Wash area and backyard.

View of the entrance and other houses in the compound. 

Kitchen. 

Backyard. It's currently a mango plantation. 

A huge bonus is that the house comes furnished. This is nice not only for the fact that I'll save some cash but also for the mental strain of having to navigate a new city and negotiate for dozens of items. The only amenity that is missing is a refrigerator and although it would be nice, I've put purchasing it on the backburner until I can save some money. A reader asked me if it has a washer and dryer, which it doesn't, but hand washing and sun drying are no problem for me.

The house also has a flat rate for utilities and is a five minute walk from my work, both which are huge bonuses. It's about a half hour walk to town though only a two minute walk to the boda-boda (motorcycle taxi) stand. There are various shops in the area with all the fruit and vegetables that I would need. And best of all, it is cheap. The two rooms plus utilities comes out to $88USD/month. At this point I am still looking at other options (I have paid rent through December) but it's gonna take a pretty epic house to convince me to pay $300-400/month.

All in all, the housing situation is perfect, at least for the moment. The only major drawback is the fact that our neighbors have a chicken coop so the rooster can be quite disturbing, especially when it is confused and crowing at 3AM. Fortunately, it's not the first chicken coop that I've lived next to and I know these things just take a bit getting used to. Splurging on the extra room is great for relaxing but also perfect if you should chance to come down and visit!

View from outside my place looking east. 

View from outside my place looking west.