studio of woe

This is the studio I currently live in. It's on the 6th floor of an apartment building on campus.

It gives me a place to sleep, bathe, and stash my stuff. Other than that, though, there are many inconveniences to living here. For starters, it's located between the undergrad dorms, has paper-thin walls, and is two blocks from my parking garage. Worse, is how living here limits my diet. Because my studio lacks a real kitchen-- it has no stovetop or oven-- I can't cook fresh, hot meals. Can't cook at all, in fact. I have a microwave, but microwave meals-- although "hot"-- they hardly qualify as fresh or healthy, and I rarely use it.

Basically, I subsist on cold food that doesn't have to be cooked. Sandwiches and salads pretty much dominate my daily menu. Other than that, I have to make do with a variety of fruits and vegetables, as well as dry goods that don't require refrigeration, such as granola bars, crackers, and cereals. What with all the eating of grains, nuts, raw fruits and veggies, I often feel like a farm animal of some sort.

  Food that doesn't have to be cooked doesn't mean it doesn't have to be prepared, however.

I still have to wash the produce I buy and then cut it up into daily portions. Herein lies another problem. 

The only sink in my studio is the small one in the bathroom. Because my studio space is so narrow and the bathroom door opens outwards, I constantly have to open and shut the door to get from the sink to the countertop and vice-versa. It's such a hassle.

The sink also poses a problem when it comes time to wash dishes. Because it's so small, you can only wash one cup at a time-- a regular sized plate can't even fit under the faucet in its entirety.

Washing dishes here is truly an exercise in frustration. After a week or so of this, in desperation I went so far as to use the bathtub to wash my dishes. 

But that didn't last long-- bending over the tub gave me a sore back.

So, I boxed up my silverware and headed out to buy paper plates and plastic utensils. Certainly not the best things in the world, but it sure beats doing the dishes.

So, that's what my food situation is like. As for sleeping surrounded by those paper-thin walls...

Well, that's another issue entirely, but I won't go into it. I'm just glad I'll be moving the hell out of here after the semester ends in mid-December. I can't wait for my day of deliverance...