shifting

shifting - it means, "slide over and make room for me on that train bench" or, "scoot over" or, "moving to a new apartment" moving...only its always the verb "shift" here, and never "move"

and the Jerome Apartment girls are about to shift. The bottom line is that we're paying more for our flat than we wanted to. The cost of flats is on the rise in the part of town i live in. My rent for this flat is above what i'd budgeted - but stephanie looked at 9 different apartments before picking this one, and they all cost the same amount...so this place was above budget, but not a lot i could do about it. we've been thinking about trying to find a cheaper place...we checked our lease, and all we had to do was give 30 days notice....so timidly we decided to take the plunge and venture out into the land of finding a new flat (we figured worst case scenario we could beg our current landlord to let us stay and that he's probably say yes, cuase its easier for him to keep current tennants than to get new ones). at first everyone was saying the same thing...same price...lower is not possible...and then the cutest little place dropped into our laps.

its in the same neighborhood i live in now (so i can still walk to work, and i'm still close to the market). Its a christian family, and they have a house, and we'll be living in an upstairs flat. it a cute little yellow house, with a little balcony with potted plants all over. everything is half in this flat...half the size, half the bathrooms, the windows are half the size...and half the rent!

below us live Eric, his brother in law and sister, his niece, and his mom and dad...they were looking for some renters...and it was just a good fit. we were indecisive at first - a bit nervous about giving up our comforts...and our space here at Jerome, and for how this move would stretch us. I was excited, and nervous about the step toward simplicity that this move is, or at least seems to be - but in the end...they wanted us to move in as much as we wanted to move in. he even dropped the rent by $50.00 a month without us even asking!

in some ways we're a bit nervous about the move - the flat is small by American standards...but really its plenty big...and there will be some other minor inconveniences (there is a water tank to store water, but there is only water provided to fill the tank for an hour and a half a day. this isn't a problem at all, as long as you remember to fill the tank!..adjusting to a new place, getting things all settled ect).

right now eric, our new landlord is building a kitchen for us, and we should be moving at the beginning of may (when our 30 days notice is up) - he's even allowing us to move later...and to not start paying rent until then - what a blessing (and not the norm around here!)

bottom line, i feel like this move is going to be a huge blessing - and will maybe have some challenges too. i think we'll be watched out for and cared for by our landlord and his family. i think i'll be invited for tea more times that i can count. I think that i'll be able to engage in the culture in ways that are good, and perhaps hard at times.

so we're shifting. and i'm a little nervous...and VERY excited!