"Independent Living: Take 1"

Alejandro was the most responsive to my housing inquiries, and we were able to quickly set up a meeting time for me to see his apartment. He's 29, a personal trainer (maybe he'd hook me up with a gym membership?) He even emailed photos. It looked great, and the location was good as well.





So, we met one evening. The first thing I noticed was that the living room was very...open. And white. It looked as though someone was moving out, and had already taken away most the boxes. The furniture in the photos was suddenly overwhelmed by the vast whiteness of the walls.

The room was nice enough. Although it advertised a private bathroom, I wasn't holding out for anything, and my lack of expectations seemed to be rewarded. The private "sort-of bathroom" (as he later referred to it) was the size of a small closet with a toilet. I doubted you could sit down and close the door, without getting your feet stuck under the door jamb.

However, the room was also occupied.

"A Venezuelan girl moved in a few days ago," he told me. "But I don't know how long she'll be staying. She could leave any day now. I also have another roommate. He's Argentine and goes to the university. He's been living here for five months, but I don't know how much longer he's planning on staying."

I was a little confused. We sat down to talk. We talked about our families, because that's always the first thing Argentines talk about. I told him about my parents and their jobs. He told me about his one brother who lived in a mental institution and his other brother who does that thing you always see in American movies--"he pushes a shopping cart in front of stores." He couldn't think of the English word for them...

Hmmm..."Does he work at the stores?" No. "Is he picking up garbage? Is he a garbage man?" (Maybe he didn't mean shopping cart literally.) No. After several more minutes, it finally hit me, "Is he homeless?" Yes! That was it! "He's homeless!" Fabulous. "Me, I'm the only one that's normal," Alejandro explained. Hmmm...

"So do you work at a gym nearby?" "No, no, I don't work at a gym. I sell HerbaLife products!" he told me proudly. "I'm learning English right now so that I can understand the training videos by Mark Hughes, the founder. He's amazing..." Alejandro continued to divulge some of the sales tips espoused by Mark Hughes.
Time to change the subject. "Can I see the kitchen?" It was small, with a mini-fridge. "We can buy a bigger one," he assured me. "They're not expensive. Divided by three of us, it'll only be about 50 dollars each." Just what I needed an investment in an Argentine fridge.

Finally, things had to come to an end. We agreed he'd let me know if a room was actually available in the near future. And I set off in hopes of greener pastures.