We'll Take Curtain #3, Bob

Hello, all! It's Aaron. Lauren is upstairs getting dry and warm because we spent the last 90 minutes running across town to check out the apartment in city center. Ireland graciously decided to show us its full weather spectrum in our first four days, giving sunny skies on Friday and torrential rain today. Anyway, we stepped approximately five feet into the apartment before we made our decision.

We'll be staying in the handicap-accessible apartment at Trinity Hall. You know, the one with the view.

Why? Well, the apartment in city center stunk. Literally. The smell was the vivid combination of litter box and ash tray. There was a strip of fly paper hanging above the door, which is at the top of three flights of stairs. The bathroom was filthy with cracked tile and peeling paint. The kitchen was tiny with hardly any counter space, and the bedroom barely fit the double bed. Oh, and if we wanted to use hot water, we would need to warm it with an electrical heater 15 minutes before use. Yeah, it was a dump in a bad part of town, one block from the elevated train tracks.

The apartment we've selected, however, is located on the Trinity Hall grounds on the top floor of a four story building (and it has a "lift" or elevator). It has huge windows, an enormous bathroom, sizable kitchen, and it's remarkably clean. We will need to use public transportation to get to school, but the shopping district ten minutes away (walking) is designed for college students and is therefore well-stocked. Lauren would call the neighborhood "cute," if that tells you anything. But seriously, it's nice here. The walk to the tram passes several huge houses behind ivy-covered walls, and a few ambassadors live next door.

So when we arrived in Dublin, only to hear that we wouldn't be staying where we wanted, we were initially disappointed, but excited to see what God had up His sleeve. In the end, we're staying in a much nicer apartment than our previously hoped-for apartment that has more space, a better view, an elevator and cleaner conditions at no extra cost. God is good, is He not?

We're both as happy as fleas in a kennel. I just spoke to Anne Marie about our decision, and she told me that we might not be able to move into our new place until the weekend because the "taps need to run and the heater needs to be cleaned." She said she'll see if she can't get us in there a bit sooner, and we'll talk to her again in the morning.

So there you have it. We're a bit closer to finally settling down, unpacking the suitcases and making our new home a home. If we need to wait a bit longer to get the new digs, that's gravy with us. That being said, I'm off to grab some tea and warm up my freezing feet. Cheers!