Choose Your Own Apartment

Ever read one of those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books where you get to decide the outcome for the characters? If you should decide to read on, you will embark on just such a journey- an adventure of adrenaline and intrigue in Rachel's search for the perfect Moroccan home. Take the time to read this extensive and almost completely true story, and see if you can fare as well as me....

INTRODUCTION
Rachel was alone and homeless in Rabat. She had arrived, bright eyed and ready for adventure, only days before and she was anxious to find an apartment to call her own. For the time being, she had the fortune of staying with the warmest and loveliest women in all of Morocco, Liza and Anna. They had long ago been in Rachel’s position and they welcomed her to stay in their salon until she could procure adequate housing.

Rachel’s situation was limited by a number of factors. She was searching for a place for 2 or more people, and her future roommates were all in Fes until mid-October. She was hoping to find somewhere that they could all live together, but if there was only space for 2, then it would be she and Jess. They got along great and had similar notions about what made a perfect apartment.

The other issues included money, time, and location. Money- they didn’t have a lot of it and wanted to find somewhere for 2000 dirhams or less per month. Time- while her hostesses where magnanimous, Rachel wanted to stop living out of her suitcase as soon as possible. Location- it would be best if the apartment were within walking distance of the old medina but still somewhere in the ville nouvelle. And it couldn’t be a sketchy, dangerous area either.

CHAPTER 1- Going it Alone

Many foreigners had been in the same situation as Rachel previously, and they had offered her tips on where to get started. She could choose one of the following (choose one and proceed to the section with that heading):

a) Online Advertisements

b) Bulletin Boards

c) Go to a Simsar

d) Walk Door to Door

Bulletin Boards: Several organizations in Rabat had places for people to post openings for rent. The Moroccan-American Commission, l’Institute Francaise, the Goethe Institute, the Center for Cross-Cultural Learning…all had fliers advertising fabulous apartments! Rachel was excited that she had these leads. She called a number of promising locations, but many had no answer, were disconnected, or were way too expensive. She found one or two that she could go see that week, but when she went they were not always what had been advertised. Sometimes 4 bedrooms in writing doesn’t turn out to be 4 bedrooms in reality. And when it says “furnished”, the term is loose. So none of the bulletin board ads proved to be cost-effective options. Now what should she try?

a) Online Advertisements

b) Go to a Simsar

c) Walk Door to Door

d) (if you have exhausted all of these options, go to Chapter 2)

Online Advertisements: Rachel turned to an online service called “Maroc Annonce” to see what was available in Rabat. Several places seemed promising, with tales of multi-bedroom, furnished apartments in just the right area for just the right price. But most of these were either lying or already rented out. She called at least 2 dozen places with the help of her dear friend, Mehdi. They finally found one that sounded great and were impressed with what they saw when the man agreed to meet them. But it turned out, after getting very excited and making plans to sign a lease, the advertisement had been placed by a Simsar! Go directly to the section “Go to a Simsar”.

Go to a Simsar: Simsars are like Moroccan real estate agents. Instead of having apartment complexes with leasing offices, the spaces are owned individually and rented out as such. Simsars match the renters with the rentees and they take a huge cut. In one case, a simsar asked Rachel for the equivalent of $800 as a fee for finding her an apartment! Rachel declined that ridiculous deal and decided to see if a friend of a friend who was a simsar in the old medina might be a better bet. But he informed her that there was nothing available in his area. So simsars suck. They are sometimes useless and it’s almost worse if they’re helpful, because then they might rip you off. It wasn’t really even a question of whether Rachel wanted to use a simsar. She simply couldn’t afford it. Now what should she try?

a) Online Advertisements

b) Bulletin Boards

c) Walk Door to Door

d) (if you have exhausted all of these options, go to Chapter 2)

Walk Door to Door: Rachel had heard that sometimes you could literally just walk by an apartment you liked and stop to ask if anything was available. She decided to try this. It was embarrassing at first, knocking on strangers’ doors and asking for the concierge. Or even just saying, “Hi, I’m looking for an apartment. Do you know if there are any available here?” But most of her door-to-door encounters were very pleasant and people were anxious to help. Yet somehow all of the nicer buildings were too expensive and the older buildings had proprietors who weren’t anxious to lease to her. Plus it was very tiresome and the language barriers were wearing Rachel down. She decided this wasn’t the most effective use of her time, and wanted to try another method that might be more productive. What should she try this time?

a) Online Advertisements

b) Bulletin Boards

c) Go to a Simsar

d) (if you have exhausted all of these options, go to Chapter 2)

CHAPTER 2- Foreign Aid

The apartment hunt was not going so well. Rachel had spent almost all of her free time thinking about and actively searching for a new home, to no avail. Although she had a warm and wonderful temporary home with Liza and Anna, Rachel was itching to get settled in her own place. But her limitations were perhaps too stringent. She would either have to get some outside help or modify her expectations. What should she do?

a) Agree to an expensive place

b) Refuse to stop trying

c) Get help from a friend

Agree to an expensive place: Rachel had had enough. She gave up the search and agreed to a well furnished, very comfortable place in a nice area of town. It’s good that she was comfortable there, because she never got to leave the house. Since all of her grant money was spent on rent, she couldn’t travel, shop, or even get a coffee with friends. She took the bus to interesting places at first, but quickly realized the 60 cents each way fare was too much for her budget. So she started walking everywhere, but the blisters slowly wore her feet into swollen nubbins. Since she didn’t have any money for new shoes, Rachel succumbed to an existence within her four walls alone. But the furniture was nice, the wi-fi was reliable and she didn’t have to take care of anything herself. Plus, if she turned off the television, Rachel could hear the honking of traffic and shouting in the streets which let her know she was still in Morocco. You chose the wrong one, game over.

Refuse to stop trying: Rachel couldn’t bear the thought of sacrificing her dreams of finding the perfect place on her own. So she kept on looking…and looking…and looking… One day she was forced to accept the only place that fit all of her requirements without getting any help. It was a cardboard box in the corner of the old medina. It was a spacious box, but her two bags wouldn’t quite fit so she had to add on a box in the back. It got very cold at night, but Rachel quickly learned from the other street people how to cover herself with old breadcrumbs and fishbones to keep warm. She was worried at first that it would be a dangerous choice, but she was kept safe by a few one-eyed medina cats that circled her “house”. That and the fact that word got around not to mess with her after she shanked a kid who tried to steal the jacket she put on the roof as rain gear. That was the end of her apartment search. And her life. Wrong choice, loser.

Get help from a friend: It was clear to Rachel that she needed some help. As soon as her friend Mehdi got involved, the process pushed forward with remarkable speed. It was incredible how he could communicate with other Moroccans with such ease! Particularly on the telephone, the device that seemed to translate everything Rachel tried to spit out in French and Arabic to complete gibberish. Mehdi had never looked for an apartment like this before, but he was a real pro.

They met every morning and Mehdi sacrificed precious sleep time until one day he had a real lead: a friend of a friend of a friend knew of a place in l’Ocean, Rachel’s ideal neighborhood. They said it was a two-bedroom and the price was right. So Mehdi set up a rendezvous. Rachel got together with Najib (the friend whose friend knew of the place) and Mehdi and they waited on the street corner for this Yassine person. Rachel was repeatedly informed that she should stay quiet while the Moroccans did the negotiating: she could ruin everything if she opened her mouth.

When Yassine pulled up, the three piled into his van and he explained that they wouldn’t actually be able to go in the apartment, but he could drive them by and show them where it was. Great. Very helpful. Rachel was not amused. What should she do now?

a) Cancel the expedition

b) Roll with the punches

Cancel the expedition: WRONG CHOICE! What were you thinking? Yes, this apartment hunt sucks but throwing in the towel will get you nowhere. Sheesh. Go back and try again.

Roll with the punches: That’s right, what choice did she have, really? So Rachel went along for the ride and eventually Yassine tracked down a small-scale simsar who was able to take them to an apartment that very night. Rachel kept her mouth shut, as instructed, while the hoard of Moroccan men slowly increased in size and intensity. They all trucked up to the apartment and took a look around. But of course, it was night and there was no electricity since nobody lived there, so the look was more of a feel.

Rachel liked what she was able to see with the flash of her camera but kept all her good thoughts to herself while the men discussed rent, fees, necessary documentation, etc. They all thanked the concierge and simsar and dragged Rachel to another point where they would again stand around and talk and haggle about other apartments and prices and all the usual. Rachel was informed she would come back the next day to see another place for comparison. Okie doke.

To make a long story short(er), Rachel was informed she would return for another rendezvous several times as people failed to show up, plans were changed, cars needed repair, hagglers reached a stalemate and on and on. Throughout it all, Rachel primarily just stood. The discussions were all focused on how she would spend her time, her money and the next year of her life, yet she sometimes felt invisible, rarely consulted or even acknowledged. She realized that this was in some ways a sign of respect, but it mostly annoyed her. Rachel learned to swallow her culture shock and keep her eyes on the prize: a gorgeous apartment to call her own.

CHAPTER 3- The End!

After trips to the notary public, changing electric bills into her name, exhausting all of her elbow grease on scrubbing toilets and tubs, and haggling for beds and a couch at a furniture market, Rachel is now living in a wonderful two bedroom apartment in L’Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean whooshes and roars from the balcony and the bedroom windows and Rachel has lights, hot water and a new lock to call her own. She may never leave, not just because she loves it, but because Rachel NEVER wants to go through this process again. Although it was fascinating and challenging and she wouldn’t take it back for anything, Rachel is finished. She is happy and settled and ready for guests:)