Moving to Belfast

On Wednesday, 14^th of June, I accompanied Barbara to Belfast for my new accommodation. I was glad to see that I was on the familiar Ormeau Road. I had visited this part of the city on Monday to help at her rental property. She turned about three blocks before the Lagan River and followed Fitzroy to Dudley Ave. The flat was on the corner in a three-story brick building. It was exactly like every other connected house on the block: Bleak, brick and broken down. But hey!! It was my first apartment- you don’t land in a penthouse fresh in the rat race.

We deposited my things into room 2 and headed back into the city and parted ways. I visited a couple agencies and booked interviews for later. As my first interview was only 90 minutes away, I happily explored the city centre.

Following my interview I made a pathetic attempt to find my street again. With Barbara’s words of advice ringing in my head I quickly found a newspaper shop and purchased a city map. This directed me out of my aimless circle on Ormeau Avenue and correctly dumped me onto Ormeau Street.

Back at the flat I made a careful appraisal of my new place. Upon entering the front door a hall led you either left to flat A or up the stairs to Flat B. Flat A had L shaped hall, the short end with rooms 1 & 2 on the left and 3 on the right. The other end connected to a bathroom on the left and ended at a kitchen/sitting area.

Where the halls met at the door a giant poster hung. It was styled in the ‘1940s Gee wiz’ style and reads: “Breasts, helping men avoid eye contact since 1857.” The rest of the flat reminded me of Greene Hall in a happy sort of way. The fridge was well stocked with Budweiser and room 3 had a few nearly empty bottles of whiskey stashed.

In the kitchen, a Rat Pack poster hung above the ‘entertainment center’. This consisted of a number of eclectic electronics: a TV that only works when you stuck a knife into the gapping hole where the power button used to reside, a Ntl satellite box, four random remote controls, an old Nintendo and a off-brand DVD player.

There were piles of sticky dishes around the sink so I was glad to get to work washing them all. Apparently, these guys ate loads of Chinese food. Rice and gooey, sweet n sour sauce liberally coated the plates.

After surveying the bathroom I wondered if there were only three guys residing here. Along with six toothbrushes and bottles of body spray, I counted 13 razors. Maybe they were just really hairy?

My bedroom was the size of a grown man’s coffin 4.5 x 12. The two rooms were once a small living room with a central window. I unpacked my suitcases and plugged in my laptop. I was officially moved in.