Well, that's another part of the problem; I had paid for the following dates-- November 16th, 2011 - December 16th 2011. Her actions would have been reasonable on December 17th, 2011-- or even December 16th, 2011 at 11:59PM-- but they were an infringement upon our agreement (and nefarious at best, to leave *food* in the middle of the floor once I told her I was arriving to pick up my deposit and give her the keys to the building and her front door-- as it was still cold once I got there minutes later-- so clearly she had only just done it to avoid having to answer for the money. NOTE: As I said before, this was after telling me that she wasn't leaving until the evening.)
So, if she had good reason for keeping the deposit, that obviously should have been explained to me-- but no such thing was ever said, and she specifically told me that the deposit would be returned on this date-- so, it was no fantasy of mine. Suddenly skipping town once it was time to collect, with no explanation, in a devious manner, says that her intentions were less than honorable. Again, she had ample opportunity to explain otherwise, particularly because we agreed that I would be leaving on that date, and I was home the day before. Obviously, she also has my cellphone number, my e-mail address, ETC.
And I think you have to read what I said about the contract again-- the problem wasn't being presented with a contract-- and actually Castellano is the official language of the country. But I do want to clarify something: I wanted to have a friend, a native Spanish speaker, come in and review the contract. She didn't want him to come over, which is fine. Once I told her what he found in the contract (among many issues), she says, and I quote, "Los colombianos no saben nada!" She also didn't provide an alternative translator, nor was she willing to make changes. Again, her belongs were not accessible to me, while I had no lock on my bedroom door-- she could have taken anything she liked if I hadn't taken my valuables with me every time I left the apartment.
Also, in 6 months, this is the first I've ever heard of a contract to rent a room-- not an entire apartment or house-- and the same is true for the native Argentines that I work and socialize with. Unfortunately, they have no idea how to handle this situation because they've never rented rooms, or been a non-citizen. So, PLEASE be careful and skeptical if presented with a contract just for renting a room, guys.
Best,
Asia
