BEWARE! A graphic and possibly offensive post!

After a lot of prayer and then confirmation (from our landlord telling us he can’t lower the rent to a reasonable amount), Justin and I have decided to continue our search for a new apartment in the city.  Some of the areas we are wanting to live would be considered pretty sketchy.  Today we looked at an AMAZING apartment.  This place was literally my dream apartment.  It was basically like a huge studio with beams showing, huge windows that reached to the extra high ceilings and two bedrooms off the main room.  It was almost as if someone made a warehouse into an apartment.  Very artsy!  The building is from the 17th century and has a narrow staircase that does not have a lift.  It is only on the second floor, so I feel as though I could manage a baby up and down. 

So on to the interesting part of my story that is graphic and possibly offensive.  STOP READING NOW IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE, but honestly, I am just telling the truth here.  So read on if you aren’t offended by PG-13. 

Here is my story of what we experienced as we walked up to the apartment we were about to see:

I do have to say that walking there I got a bit freaked.  Not scared, but like, OH DEE (my childhood way of saying OH DEAR!).  RIGHT outside the front entry way were prostitutes and right across the street is a huge black sign that says "p*ssy".  Oh yeah.  Later on when we were leaving the apartment, Justin and I were joking around that when we gave directions to our place that we would just say, "look for the big black sign that says p*ssy and then take a left when you get to the woman in the red nighty with her nipple showing."  No joke, there was a woman with her nipple showing in a red nighty.  Ew.  (Sorry this may be offensive, but these are just the facts of life when living in a European city).  But seriously, dream apartment.  And for all you fearful Americans (I used to be one too!), we have heard the neighborhood is actually pretty safe.  I know it seems strange, but it is different than America.  The ONLY problem is that rent is too much.  It is 135 euros (172 dollars) over our budget per month.  So basically, unless our support raising takes a turn for the better, it isn’t going to happen.  Sad.  It would honestly be the BEST place to hold ministry events and on top of that, what an amazing opportunity to be able to love these women EVERYDAY!  I can’t help but think that these women need someone in their life that cares more about them as a person, than what they can do with their bodies. 

I just can’t seem to get the apartment out of my head, even though it is out of our budget and in a strange neighborhood, my heart feels a little tug there.  I guess we will see what happens!  Don’t you think this is where Jesus would live though?  I do!