Looked at an apartment today that had THIS view from the terraza… not bad! The apartment was nice too, but in the end the landlord didn’t want to remove the existing furniture (and I have my own) so we left it at that. However, we’ll be seeing the apartment next door to this one (same view!) on Monday and – maybe – something can be worked out re: furniture.

This whole moving thing has really been taking it out of me. It feels like I’ve been given a hard kick in the gut (and my heart) and I can barely breathe. Some people don’t mind moving. I even have a friend who, until buying a house, loved moving every 2-3 years to try out somewhere new. But not me. I really put down roots where I live, make it my own, make it my own home.

So these past couple of weeks, since the dread meeting with the landlords, have been hugely stressful. And then when they refused to replace the central heating/AC, coinciding with a massive heat wave, our living space was reduced to the living room with the inefficient split. Peter had to start sleeping on the sofa since his room upstairs was unbearable, and my bedroom wasn’t much better. THEN the water heater broke down and for over a week now we have been living here without any hot water at all. Can you imagine? Again, the landlords are refusing to pay for anything.

We are paying for a 3-bedroom apartment but are now living here like refugees, huddled in in the living room during the day in order to work, though even with the split turned on full-blast it only cools the room down to 28º. Nights are just awful with the heat, so neither of us can sleep, and now there is no hot water. So we have to take cold showers and boil water to wash our dishes. This is not right. It’s actually taking a toll on my health and well-being.

I seriously do not understand these people. We have done nothing wrong. We have lived quietly in this apartment for 6.5 years, we keep it nice and clean, we take care of small repairs, and I have always paid my rent on time, without fail. So I honestly don’t understand why they are doing this to us. After the water heater broke I was told that I was “breaking everything in the house” and that they had no legal duty to repair anything. WTF? Even if they didn’t have a legal duty (which they actually do have) what about their moral duty? Why would anyone subject their tenants to this?

And anyhow, how on earth can you even break a water heater?? Or a central heating/AC system for that matter? All I’ve ever done is turn them on or off. And then one day they stopped working. I’ve been told the apartment was restored in 1992, so you can do the math. Both of these machines are 25 years old, and clearly have just died of old age. Unfortunately for me, they died during my tenancy.

BUT… to get back to that photo up there. A view from a possible new home. And perhaps also a new viewpoint, point of view, whatever… which is what I want to think. That all this will (eventually) be a positive change in my life. The whole “hating to move” thing has held me back before. It was probably time to move on from here when things were getting bad just over a year ago. But now I’m definitely moving on. Wish me luck!

I’ll miss this street view when I move, but I won’t miss anything else. These past few months have been a nightmare. Last straw is now having to live here without any hot water. So if anyone knows of a nice 2-bedroom place in the casco antiguo in Sevilla, please let me know.