When we first arrived in Bahrain, we spent our first week in a hotel which I was determined to get out of quickly. Two reasons, the first being we pay out of pocket and then get reimbursed and second, I wanted a place that was ours and to give the shipping company a final address. So while Stephen was off to work making the money, I set out in our rental car to find a place to live. Thankfully, I had a friend to tag along with me. I drove around calling all the numbers posted for rent to see what was available. I have since learned that if the sign is up permanently you might want to rethink signing a lease there. Just food for thought. We thought we wanted to stay in Juffair, the city in which the base is located, as it makes it easier to walk to base and you are close to American Alley (restaurants). So when Yvonne and I found this one flat, we thought it was perfect - remember the title of this blog? Looks can be deceiving well they are! It was on the 1st floor (which means 2nd in the US) as ground floor is the true 1st floor here. BUT there is an elevator so on those days you have too many groceries or you worked out and your legs ache too much - take the elevator built for one (at least it isn't the box of death - a story for later). I took Stephen back to the flat to see if he liked it or not. And again, it seemed absolutely perfect. Three bedrooms all en-suite, living room and dining room combined with a table to seat 10! The downside in the spacious kitchen was the European style electric stove - that alone should have told me NO! And I have since learned I will not settle for a small stove when I know there are much bigger and better out there. It was nice and quiet and close to base - a 20 minute walk, and the landlord agreed to leave or take out any furniture that we did not need or want once ours arrived.
The first night we were there I woke up to a strange sound. At first I thought a baby was crying, then after completely waking up I then realized what that all too familiar noise was - a ROOSTER CROWING! Did I mention it was 4 am??? Apparently, one thing they failed to mention was they had a rooster downstairs. You get used to it eventually, or at least you tell yourself you do, not sure I ever did. Then came the noises. Apparently when they built this flat they failed to properly insulate. You could hear everything from a pin drop to a chair being moved across the entire room (they did this several times a day).... it was unnerving! After having quite enough, I got our lease and looked it over AHA! There was a 30 day termination clause by either the landlord or us. All we had to do was give a 30 day notice and we were out of the contract. Hallelujah, we are out of here! Stephen told me to find a place and then we could give our notice, which I then expressed NO, give our notice and rest assured I WILL find us a place! We had time before our household goods were to arrive.
So I contacted two realtors because they only show you the ones they have agreements with and got to work. We realized that staying in Juffair was going to difficult if we wanted a villa. My want list was simple - a big oven, American washer and dryer, two master bedrooms, and a little garden. You see, we decided to go in with another family here and share a villa, getting more for our money. So I got busy and set up appointments. We looked at villas - all over the island and could not find one that suited everything on our list. One day I just so happened to be poking around on Facebook and found a post by a military family on base about a villa that was available. We made arrangements to drive out to see it that evening and fell in love! All bedrooms are en-suites (bathroom in the bedroom), two kitchens, big and spacious, a nice size pool and a garden area with a two car garage! Did I mention two kitchens?? If you know me or Celeste, we love to cook and bake - this house was perfect!
We have been living here now for two months and love it! It has two living areas and enough room for their furniture and ours. The laundry room is on the third floor but it isn't too bad. And everyone delivers to us, even our favorite little Turkish restaurant in A'ali at Ramli Mall. Even the drive to work is not terrible and we are only about 20 minutes away!