Its been ages since I posted anything about the apartment. This is because between the completely destroying and rebuilding of the apartment they have been busy working on the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff. The stuff that really annoys me that I have to pay for as its ‘hidden’ money. Nobody will walk into the apartment and tell me, wow you really have spent a lot of money on re-piping the bathroom and completely re-wiring the electrical stuff in the walls. I know it’s the most important part, because if the pipes and electrical wires werent changed the whole apartment would most likely be blown to bits, and then ALL the money spent on the apartment would be a complete waste. Therefore I havent posted any photos, I mean I could post photos of the old wires and then the new ones but would anyone really care what they look like?
Then about two weeks ago we received the new front door. They changed the door which meant that I didn’t have the new key. It was very frustrating sitting on the outside of the apartment knowing that magical things were happening inside and I couldn’t see them happen. Anyways yesterday we managed to get a key to go inside. Magical it was indeed. They should be finished by next week. But I have now been in Egypt for 2 month interacting with Egyptians on a daily basis and all that comes out of their month concerning time is horse crap. Until today the only Egyptian person ive met that keeps his time promises is my boyfriend. He says 10 min, its 10 min… Either it’s because he knows how much I HATE waiting for things or it’s because he is a pilot and each minute he is late is deducted from his salary!
That could be a good idea for me to use… Every day that passes after the deadline that was set means I deduct 1000 LE from the final price… That will teach them to be on time. It could turn out pretty cheap for me too!
So the kitchen guy, let me tell you how amazing he is… The only thing missing in the apartment is painting, laying the floor and then I can move in. The basic furniture has been ordered and will arrive next week. So the kitchen guy told us the first day(one month ago!) that he would need one month to make the kitchen. So he came to the apartment about one month ago and measured everything. This was before the wall between the living room and kitchen was destroyed. He then told us he would need to come back and measure it again when the wall is removed. We called him and he came yesterday to measure. He said the kitchen would be finished one week from when he measured it the second time, which was yesterday. BUT yesterday he said he would need to come back AGAIN and measure when the walls have been painted!!!!!…
Ok I guess he wants the kitchen to fit perfectly but MY GOD, how much paint are they putting on the walls?! It’s not like 2 layers of paint is going to completely shift the measurements and the kitchen will not fit?! Anyways then he ALSO said that the kitchen would be delivered one week after the THIRD measurement. Then he said the table counter, which is granite, needs to be cut exactly to fit the kitchen…. ummmm DUH, doesn’t take a smart ass the figure that out… This will take another 8 days!!!! YES DAYS, NOT HOURS… How it takes 8 days to cut a piece of stone, I have no idea? I could cut it for him if he is unsure! So the total time for the kitchen to be finished from next week is 2 weeks! FUNNY, VERY FUNNY…. No I’m not annoyed… I’m not angry…. I have become immune to all the bullshit… All I said was: Amazing, thank you so much kitchen guy for not lying to our faces, and I’m so glad you finished the kitchen so fast!
The engineer that has COMPLETELY renovated the apartment, that is: change doors, destroy a wall, remove all tiles in kitchen and bathroom, re-pipe the kitchen and bathroom, make all the walls straight (yes they were bumpy!), rewire all the electrical points, paint the whole apartment, repaint windows, lay tiles in the kitchen, tile the whole bathroom… All this in about a month, and then the kitchen guy comes and tells me that to make a few boxes, fasten the doors and push the refrigerator and washing machine in place is going to take the same amount of time…
So im finally moving into my apartment next week, and so extremely excited. I STILL wont have hot water because of my best friend and most lovable person: KITCHEN GUY! The water heater will be attached when the kitchen arrives. So a few more weeks of VERY cold showers…
But now is the stressful part. Getting all the small stuff you need… I literally do not have anything for the apartment. I brought a BEAUTIFUL purple buddha from Norway! No Norway is not a buddhist country but for some reason they have a lot of beautiful buddhas there. Then I have 2 packets of serviettes (hahaha)…. Oh and I have a pink bread knife and a pink normal knife… But that’s it… I don’t even want to think about ALL the things I need, it makes my head feel like its going to explode.
But finally I can see the end is near… And ill be able to get out of this ‘finishing apartment’ mode. My boyfriend is also in this mode. The other day we were at a restaurant and while we were waiting for the food I started to check the finishing of the floor and walls. I started looking closer at the beautiful mosaic wall and noticed my boyfriend was staring at the tiles too. I looked at him and he looks at me and says the finishing is not that good and imagine how much all this mosaic must have cost… We went to an Indian restaurant and both of us commented on the wood ceiling. Everywhere I go im in a ‘must get ideas’ mode, checking the interior of shopping malls, restaurants, bathrooms… It’s very tiring.
So here are some pics of the nearly finished apartment…
Femieshe 