Monday, April 7, 2014

It's been awhile / Housing limbo in Abidjan

I have been gone for a bit. Sorry!   In my defense, work got super busy, I moved out of my temporary place, and have been waiting for my wire transfer from a French bank account to pay my deposit on my new place.  Also, our furniture deal seems to have fallen through.

Housing limbo is no fun! Avoid it by coming to Abidjan with enough cash for a deposit or with an Ivorian Bank account.  Some banks (I'm at SGBCI) are allowing folks to open them before they even get here. It may not work for everyone, but it's worth a try.  Had I known things would be this tough, I definitely would have investigated this option before coming.

I am also discovering the joys of trying to get electricity and water in my place...  It seems like the landlord should do it, something the realtor neglected to tell us, so we've been running around for the past couple of days trying to get that done.

I've come to realize that there are lots of resources within my company to help with my move; I've just been quite bad at making the most of them.  I'd seriously suggest you use every tool at your disposal when it comes to coming or settling here.  Abidjan is a place where ignorance can be costly.    

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please feel free to comment