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from the book i-Land â A Double Irish & a Dutch – Chapter II – Arrival at Lower Baggot Street
Tuesday morning everything is ready, set and she takes off on her way to Dublin. After a half hour drive with the bus from the Airport Avoka arrives at Lower Baggot Street and walks the road along towards 99 Baggot Street where she has rented an apartment. Itâs a small room with a kitchen and small bedroom. She has rented the room for seven days, and then she needs to have found her own apartment. So, she immediately starts looking at draft.com, the Internet site everyone recommends for searching flats. She also lets the guy from the Indian outsource company as well as the guy from the agency know that sheâs arrived in Dublin now and also asks for her detailed starting date and the exact address, as that still has not been provided yet. The agency guy replies how pleased he is and immediately sends some links where Avoka has to fill in some information for the personnel department but also data safety sheets and so on. Like always the links didnât work and the agency guy asked for new links. While Avoka fills out the link the saving process stops and crashes and the whole mask looks more like it has been programmed very poorly. So, it takes ages to fill out the whole thing and Avoka already has a nose full and hopes this kind of disorganization wonât continue.
As the receptionist from the apartment has recommended, Avoka goes out to the supermarket down the road for shopping. She gets some drinks and breakfast stuff. On her way back, she eats at the Chinese next to the apartment, one of those restaurants in the basement. Thatâs how this whole street looks like, a typical traditional road with houses in brick and stone built around the 19th century or earlier with apartments, offices, little shops and restaurants. At 11 pm sheâs tired and returns to her apartment. Meanwhile she has received some confirmations for viewing apartments for the following day. She takes a shower in this little after build-in shower cabinet called bathroom and finally lies down in the bed. Opposite the apartment are construction works for a new hotel. Avoka thinks, Well, thatâs why the apartment was free or that special price of 400 ⏠a week. An apartment with construction work in the middle of the night and she hopes that this will then be the only noise she hears throughout the night. And there is the sms sound on her phone–Hunt! Wishing lovely dreams, a good night and lots of kisses. Avoka is not really pleased about the message as he had given the impression that he did not really want to meet her in real life and she had said that she wasnât interested in being a Whatsapp fantasy or that kind of thing. On one of the messages during the previous week she had sent a picture stating Dream it, wish it, do it. His reply was to tick âwish itâ and âdream itâ but for âdo itâ he had written âdonât knowâ. In addition, his messages had been very rare except from a phone conversation where he had explained one of his most struggling times when he had âaccidentallyâ had his âdick brokenâ. Not something Avoka would have asked to know. Not really. And now again he would continue just as before with his good night and good morning messages. Avoka was disappointed that when he had the chance to meet her he distanced and now that she was out of reach he continued the same thing. She wrote back, âWell, you love me from a distance, donât you?â followed by a âgood nightâ. A conversation started and he sent back a picture with a couple standing at the beach breaking up and a flash. The discussion continued he asked why she was so upset about him; he hadnât done anything different than before. Avoka explained which impression she had and she found these kissing, loving couple pictures not really appropriate when he wasnât interested and when he was interested in her she did not understand why he avoided meeting her. At the end of the day they found peace again but Avoka did not really understand what this whole thing was about. Why didnât he send all those Whatsapp messages to the woman he met in real, instead to her!
The next morning the weather looked friendly, which was unusual for Dublin, and Avoka started this sunny day with a breakfast in one of the coffee shops along Lower Baggot Street. She took a picture of her croissant and coffee including the view though the big shop window, capturing the morning business of lower Baggot Street and sending it with a beautiful morning wish to Hunt who instantly replied how this street reminded him of his time in England and how he loved this, following with a kiss and wishing a successful day. Avoka smiled, lifting up her eyes from the display, looking out of the shop window and then turning her head to the right. The guy next to her looked at her and then commented, âOh, itâs a beautiful day, today, isnât it?â Avoka replied, âYes, Iâm surprised. People always say the weather was so bad here but this really looks like summer.â The guy nods and replies, âYes, what people say, and whatâs real is not always the same isnât it? Where are you from?â Avoka replies, âIâm from Germany. I just moved here. Iâm starting to work for one of those Internet companies who are based here in Dublin and I have one week now for finding a flat.â The guy replies, âIâm Tim, nice to meet you. Oh, thatâs interesting. Iâve got a friend who just moved to Germany. I can ask her; maybe she knows someone who rents a flat here. Iâll just write her an email if you like, I put your email in the âccâ so she can reply to you straight away, if thatâs okay for you? I know how insane the housing business is here, especially in Dublin.â Avoka enters her email into his smartphone straight into the âccâ field. This guy is really friendly, actually, compared to the Irish people she had met in Cork, who were rather unfriendly and never wanted to know anything and never had a right answer when for example Avoka had asked for directions like where the post office was or any other queries. She also introduced herself and the guy told that he was presently working on a new company and was about to launch a card similar to a credit card but actually not for people to spend money but save money. He explained how people use credit cards and this card would allow people to save money. It would work like this: Every time they made a purchase they could decide if they would like to round up and put the difference in their saving account, an idea that probably would animate people who loved shopping to make savings. He also explained that he was looking for a good finance person. Avoka explained that her new job now was in online advertising, something that would be very interesting to get some insights in and probably a good way for him to reach his audience. So they also exchanged numbers. Tim was saying, âYou are a very clever person; you immediately grasp the concept and think a step further. Iâm originally a mathematician; that was my field of study but I like this creative part creating an innovative company, thatâs what really excites me.â Avoka was impressed and they kept the conversation going. He explained he was stuck with business plan and needed a really, tough financial guy which was hard to get. She suggested Tim why he would not go for one of those financial companies who could do the job for him. He liked her idea and Avoka looked for one of the top financial companies here in Ireland who were involved in that kind of business consulting. One of them was actually based in Cork that matched all relevant criteria. Tim immediately called the company and got involved in a discussion for more than the next thirty minutes. Avoka continued to look for available flats. At eleven oâclock she had to leave to catch one of her viewing appointments. She tapped at Timâs shoulder and they agreed to stay in contact.
An hour later Avoka had had her first viewing in the South of the city and could not have been more disappointed. From the outside, it looked nice in one of those areas with old town houses in a very nice street. In front were already about twenty people waiting when the viewing started. The apartment was on the ground floor, a bedsit with a small bathroom, a kitchen row, which was so dirty that no one ever would use it for cooking, a bed and with the five people inside the room was more than full. There was hardly any space to move around. Everyone entering the room with excitement and great expectation immediately turned his face frowning, rolling their eyes, not positively surprised that someone really offered something shabby like this for a price of over seven hundred euro. The room might had a size of twelve square meters. One guy asked the real estate agent what the size of the room was and he immediately answered, âAbout twenty-fiveâ. One of the viewers was just rolling his eyes again and answering, âNo, never, maybe half of it.â This was ridiculous if one would calculate the square meter price this probably came up to seventy euro per square meter for a flat that looked like trash. No one signed up for taking this thing any further.
Avoka had about two hours for her next viewing on the other side of the city, the North Circular Road. This time she would best go with no expectation at all. That was the best attitude here.
Finally arrived at the North Circular Road, Avoka walked up from road number 210 towards 236 a typical Dublin road with Victorian terrace houses. Usually, she liked the houses with those colored doors. But with increasing numbers, the niveau of the area was decreasing. Number 236 had an open door, one in blue. Avoka walked up the stairs and the real estate agent welcomed her immediately and led towards the basement. The two walked through the cellar, the agent saying, “Here can be stored stuff, for example, your suitcases or bike. This flat is in the basement; we redecorated this part. I know it’s not so friendly walking through the basement to get to your home but have a look here.” He opened the door and the room was one long tube with a long window front; at the end of the room was the bathroom. The view was into the backyard which was not really taken care of and any of the other occupants would walk by. It also seemed to be very difficult to be heated and that was a really, important part here in Dublin. It was nicely decorated but for Avoka this was a no-go; she had the feeling that after staying for an hour in this flat she would feel like the ceiling was coming down, not a comfortable place for her and certainly not for that amount of money, of 900 âŹ. The agent kept on talking how he had made his first money with a construction job in Germany and didn’t want to stop. So Avoka simply explained she was not interested. She was speechless what people offered here for that amount of money, they were asking, and she was wondering, if she would find anything appropriate at all. Checking for hotels was a similar devastating act; the prices started with 80 âŹ/night for hostels and very popular was to offer hostel dorms, where people would stay with up to 12 people in one room. Avoka could not imagine staying with absolute foreign people in a room at night and wondered who would go for that, especially when you have all your luggage with you, including all important documents and other personal valuable belongings like you do when you move to another country. She came back to her apartment, frustrated and worrying that she might not find a permanent accommodation. She had three more days left. She wrote to the agent who had arranged the transfer about the flat situation, who came back with the hostel suggestion that this would be a great place to stay. Avoka only shook her head, thinking, sleeping with 12 people in one room, a great place to stay. No way! Again, she was going through this popular daft.ie with all those offers but when you call they would always tell you the flat had already been taken. She found one new offer which looked really appealing. A room in a nice Victorian house styled with a light blue sofa and dark wooden furniture, newly decorated. She called the guy, who said the viewing would be on Saturday 1300 o’clock and Avoka agreed. Tired and frustrated, she went to bed and as every night a good night message and a kiss popped up from Hunt. She somehow got upset that now that she was in Ireland again, Hunt took up this daily communication per Whatsapp but when he had the chance to meet her he kept it low. So she wrote back asking why he kept sending her those messages if he didn’t want to see her. Again, he replied with a picture showing a couple in despair. He also wrote, âOh, I see you are out of sorts with me.â Avoka replied with a yes. And she tried to explain to him that she did not like that kind of communication when he had no intention to meet her. And this whole thing went on for another thirty minutes till they finally had agreed to a good night with a sweet kiss. But Avoka was thinking, when he prefers to see others, then, why the hell, he doesn’t write those messages with them. She really, only liked to write those messages and exchange her thoughts with someone who really cared and would also like to meet her in real life. She did not need that kind of thing.
Saturday morning, Avoka has filled another form for the Indian company and signs that she accepts all the differences made offered to the employees that are employed directly with the Internet guru she was going to work for and the employees that were coming from a third party, as she was the second kind of employee. She also filled some employee information on the Indian company site that she now is employed with and it takes ages. The loading time takes so long and when saving it often crashes and needs to reload again. Frustrated and turned off she thinks, Oh my God, in what old fashioned way is this application programmed and this is the company giving technical support? Like the shoemaker always wearing the worst shoes himself. Finally finished, she gets out of her apartment, going for a coffee at Nero’s, her favorite coffee shop here in Dublin. She also takes a Belgian twist for breakfast, then checks daft.ie again for flats. But nothing new is coming up or at least nothing anyone would like to pay for. She sends a picture of her breakfast to Hunt, wishing him a good morning and he replies with a kiss, wishing her good luck for the flat. Avoka still has time before taking the bus to her flat viewing and walks down the road towards a cash machine to get money for the bus, when one of the guys from the corner office tells her that today the busses are all on strike. Avoka asks, “Seriously?” The guy answers, “Yes, it’s unbelievable but there is not one bus going from here.” Avoka, surprised, takes the money from the cash machine for one of the taxis. On her way through the city they drive through the areas with all those brick houses. She asks the driver about the area around Phonix Park Phibsborough, âHow is this area, is it a good living area?â The driver replies, “Well, yes, the part here is okay for living, there are many families living around the area; farther down the road it becomes less nice to live in.” They arrive at the little dead end road and Avoka gets off. The houses look nice and are also built in the Victorian style. Avoka walks towards number 6 where people are working in the front yard. She is half an hour earlier than originally appointed. A guy standing in the corridor waves her in, calling, âItâs okay she come in I will show the rooms.â Everything looks really new refurnished, beautifully white walls and lovely decorated rooms. The guy, Michael, starts with the flat on the top floor for viewing, a lovely two bedroom-flat and Avoka is surprised how they really made the optimum with those flats, as it probably wasn’t easy to build well-refurnished flats in such an old building. All flats are decorated with a white Ikea kitchen, a dark wooden floor and also modern cupboards and a comfortable, modern light-blue sofa that can be turned into a bed. The top floor and the ground floor flat include those beautiful rounded glass fronts. Avoka was now thinking about the top floor, which was a two bedroom flat, and the flat on the second floor, one for 900 Euro, the other for 700 Euro. Avoka is thinking about the heating costs, as they all were equipped with electric heating and as she did not know how things would go on she thinks to keep the fixed cost as low as possible would be better for now. She could go for a proper flat later on when everything has been settled. So, she agrees to the flat on the second floor. At 1245 more interests join the viewing and within five minutes all flats are gone. Avoka is happy about the room despite it is a very small room but it is nicely refurnished, everything was working and new and in a good quality. Still, it was much money for a room of this size but the condition was worth it and she was relaxed now that she had found somewhere to stay at least.
Read the whole story on Amazon Kindle, get the ebook I-land: a double Irish and a Dutch here.
Natalie Hush 