building codes... landlords... who knew

Okay- yes, I am a bad blogger, I know, but life has been shear madness. I moved into an apartment that has been quite interesting. I honestly had no idea that places like this existed. I mean, I've seen the movies and heard horror stories about bad appartments, but I didnt really fully understand or appreciate what those poor people went through to live in those places... until now!! I was absolutely spoiled in my other city!! I dont want to scare you with the pictures, so I will merely do my best to describe the scene, as I found it.
Let me set the stage; I got off the train after a 13 hr train ride with my boss and a teammate. We came straight to my apartment, mostly because my boss wanted to see my reaction to the place they had found. I had been prewarned that it was in need of "some work" but the amount of work had been grossly understated. I walked in to find more dirt, grime, and growing things than I have EVER seen in my life! It was everywhere!! We took off our shoes, as is the custom over here, but quickly put them back on, as we realized that it just wasnt safe to walk around without them. I put on my brave face as I got the grand tour! First we came to the living room. Now, at first glance, not so bad, but then I began to look deeper. The furniture- well, you CAN sit on it, although I have not yet tried to do so. It is of a leopard/zebra pattern and paired with the brown and black and grey floor, it really gives the room a dingy, dank feel. I'm not sure if that is a style that is currently in fashion, but the landlord here is making it work.
Next, the bedroom... two beds, with bugs actually crawling out of the mattresess; two white leather couches which have definitely seen better days, and a wardrobe that might fall over any day. I think when the bugs came out of the mattress is the point at which I lost it. The tears just started to fall. Haha! Now it is funny now, but then, not so much! If I had only known what was behind door number three, I think I would have saved my tears for that door, because the worst was yet to come.
The kitchen.. now, in the West, and even more so here, the kitchen is the gathering place; the place where at least the women spend the greatest amount of time. I'm not a huge fan of cooking, but I do like my kitchen to be a place where I want to go, not a place where I am afraid to walk through the door. Anyway, I walked into the kitchen and found an empty room, except for a table that had stuff on it. At frist glance, I thought that the landlord had provided me with some dishes, as is customary here, but oh, I was wrong! He had left me his last meal- complete with old food and rotting milk. More bugs, no cabinets, a fridge that didnt work... ahh, I could go on, but I think you get the point. I had really had enough by this point, and walked to look at the bathroom. I was pleasantly surprised to see a modern bathroom- this room had actually been worked on at some point. The toilet room was the same way- new... at least I thought so- until I tried to go to the bathroom!
I finished going and tried to flush, but nothing would happen. So I checked to see if the water was turned on. It was, so I just figured that the pressure was down today, and that it wouldnt flush. I left my apartment because I just needed to get out of there, and returned a few hours later, armed with more cleaning supplies than an entire hotel staff uses! As I got closer to my building, I was met by a little boy. I had met him the night before, and he said, " There is a loud noise coming from your apartment!" I asked him if it was my dog and he responded that it wasnt; it was a bad noise. Well, sure enough, as I got closer to my door, I heard the noise- and yes, the little boy was right- it was a bad noise!! I ran into my apartment but was stopped suddenly when my ankles were covered in water! There was water everywhere- and the noise was getting louder. I flung open the tiolet room door only to get hit in the knees with a stream of water! Of course, the pipes burst! It was awesome! I had needed to mop, because the floor was so dirty, but because of the flooding, mopping wasnt necessary. i just poured bleach on the floor and let it work its magic!
I must admit, after that first day, I was ready to pack it up and go home, but things have gotten slightly better each day. I finally feel like this place can be a home, and I have even graduated from wearing shoes all the time to only wearing socks! But I have been able to see the sovereignty of God in all of this. I am surrounded by neighbors who invite me into their homes, allow me to practice Russian, and watch out for my place and for me. I have also found that local people are very willing to come into my house, because it is like theirs. My old place was very nice, and people were unwilling to come there; but here, there are no worries about that! And I've learned a valuable lesson about the realities of living in a foreign country!