Being A Renter In A Foreign Country

I would like to preface: we like our landlady. Although some of conversations and communications have been... quirky... she is generally willing to work with us on things and responds relatively quickly when there are problems. We know we are really lucky to have a more laid-back landlady, and don't want the following to appear to be a big complaint. Try to view it as a statement of fact as well as an explanation of one way the renting business exchange is done outside the States.

The relationship between renters and landlords is rather different here in Kazakhstan. Based on ours and others' experiences I have come to the following conclusions:

Landlords come to see their apartment at random, and sometimes frequently.

Many of the unannounced/unscheduled visits by our landlady were in the first few months after we arrived. She would stop in and see how we were liking the apartment, or come by to pick up something she had left behind which she realized she needed (kind of awkward if we were using it...). Her visits were then, and are still, generally short-ish.

Of course, there are exceptions.

Our landlady (LL) is friends with some of the neighbors, especially one of the next-door neighbors. She likes to visit this friend, and if the friend isn't home when she arrives, she knocks on our door and wants to essentially "hang out" (and check things out) until she hears or believes the neighbor has returned. These are the times when I feel like she wants to be entertained. Chris has often been home (doing research) during these types of visits, which makes for a tough situation. She wants to talk about anything and everything under the sun, Chris is working, and I don't understand a word she says (okay, maybe I understand one or two words, but seriously, not enough to hold a conversation).

When we spoke to the other researchers from Chris' scholarship program we learned that one group of them (living together with a local) had at least weekly visits from their LL. The LL would walk through the apartment and tell them they needed to: sweep, vacuum, mop, dust, etc. etc. She also apparently kept a key to the apartment (not uncommon in the States) and there was at least one occasion in which one of the girls returned to the apartment and found it empty: except for the LL sitting in the kitchen drinking some (of their) tea. No joke.

Repairs in your dwelling may mean your landlord hangs out for a while.

There have been times when work has to be done in the apartment. We usually find out that landlady is coming the same day (at least there's a little notice, right?) the work is being done. LL often comes around the time of the appointment and if she or a friend isn't doing the work themselves, she waits in our apartment for the technician to come and do the work. LL generally hovers around the person doing the work, making sure the job is done correctly and well, so we don't usually have to cater to her much. The only glitch in this situation is that appointment times don't seem to be very firm here... A perfect example of this would be when the Rent-a-Husband came to change our bolt, install the screens, etc. He was supposed to come at about 1 p.m., so that's when LL arrived. Unfortunately, he didn't arrive until about 4 p.m. LL called him periodically, so we knew he was coming eventually, so she stayed and "hung out" the entire time. The work wasn't finished until about 5:30 p.m. To say that the visit was a little awkward and over-extended, might be an understatement.

Visits = Commentary

Regardless of the reason for her visit, when our LL stops in she likes to have a look around. She often notices some of our things which are unique to the area, and will talk with us about them. Early on she noticed our cloth diapers, diaper covers, the Moby carrier, our bouncer, etc. In our conversations we will tell her what the object is, and she often has questions about it's usefulness, durability, cost, etc. She often comments with her dis/approval of an item, her thoughts on how much we paid for it, etc. Recently, she has begun to ask for some of our things. We aren't using the bouncer any longer and when she was leaving from one of our last visits (Chris wasn't here) I was able to understand that she wondered about it and wanted it for her niece's baby. It's not available. She has also mentioned that she would like one of our snappis. On her last visit she kept complimenting a pen we had, which she used. It's a standard Bic type pen from a hotel. I'm starting to think/realize that the compliment comes before the request. I'd be happy to give her the pen, but we're rather short on writing utensils as it is...

Other frequent commentary is often related to how we are doing things. Windows should be shut, as wind is not good for a baby (a common/standard belief here). We are using too much detergent in our washer (causing LL's nose to run). One of her extended visits here was just after we were trying to put Baby down for a nap. Our attempt was unsuccessful which meant Baby was upset. LL took her from Chris and told him that he had "deeply offended" Baby.