On the trail of the next apartment.

So, Brent had found that place for us to move into.

And then the owners decided not to rent it. They want to sell instead.

We still had almost two months to find a place, but those months go quickly. I contacted the property manager of the first apartment we lived in when we got here, and he did indeed have an unfurnished apartment available for a somewhat reasonable price. Brent's friend was looking into an apartment for us elsewhere, so I told our original property manager that we could let him know by Monday. He said that was fine.

On Saturday, we knew the other place wasn't going to work out, so I emailed our guy and said we'd take it! We enjoyed the apartment the first time, loved the location, and were excited to move back there.

He told me he just signed a contract on it the day before.

I was shocked that he hadn't bothered to give us the first right of refusal, considering he told me we had until Monday, but he must have his reasons. At any rate, it left us scrambling.

And we're still scrambling. We're supposed to move out on August 15 and we have nowhere to go.

Apartment hunting is tricky. Not only do you need to find the right apartment in the right location for the right price, like you do anywhere, WE, as foreigners, also need to find one with a landlord that will let us rent without having a co-signer and without giving them a six-month deposit (which, we've heard, tends to disappear).

Backtrack: not really nowhere. We do have friends here with a large apartment who told us we can move in if we don't find anything. This will be nice -- we're good friends who really enjoy spending time with each other, and we've stayed together before for up to two weeks and it has worked out great. They also have a dog with whom Max can play, which will be nice for him and us, and they're in a great location. Plus, it helps them out with their rent and takes the pressure off of us to find something.

But. Then we have to move twice. And these times, we've got furniture.