Rose and Leon and Ago (and Ufea! meowww) are a supremely friendly bunch, who treated me with great kindness and respect during my 2 month stay. Kitchen conversations were lively and included anyone who happened to wander in (there are 3 rooms for guests in this house), but if I stayed in my room with the door shut all day, no one minded that either.

Harlem is (in my humble opinion) the best part of Manhattan. It is full of people who really live in and care about their community, and I definitely enjoyed exploring the area. St. Nicholas Park is very close and quite divine (that view down 135th!), and it's an easy 15 minute walk (or 5 minute bus) down to the main drag on 125th. Plus if you don't want to venture far, there are good restaurants/bodegas/a laundromat right in the same block. Pharmacy and groceries are also walkable, and Harlem Grown (a community urban farm) is only 2 blocks away, for friendship and fresh organic produce! The little pocket of bars and restaurants around 118th and Frederick Douglass is really really nice - a 20 minute walk. The house is very very conveniently located for public transit, a 5-min walk from the B/C, 2/3 and a whole host of busses. The room looks exactly like the photos. While it is quite loud with the window open, it falls almost silent with the window shut, so I had no trouble sleeping or studying here. The rule sheet you're handed on arrival seems a little intimidating, but Rose was open and communicative, so I didn't have any major problems during my stay.