Either my internet is getting shakier at site, or I just no longer have the patience to blog. Honestly not a whole lot to report. Good times, good people, but I've said that all before. Right now things are a lot of the same. During the week I struggle to find productive things to do, and settle for spending time in the community, introducing myself to people, visiting my favorite store owners, etc. I am ready to post pictures of my home, and of course there is the promised but not yet delivered Thanksgiving day post. So...
My Home
I feel a little embarrassed posting these pictures. I'm not going to have much street cred left in the states once these get out. I, like many Peace Corps volunteers, envisioned a mud hut, sleeping bag, and cooking fire when I came here. I packed solar chargers, flashlights that get 30 hours of battery life, even the watch I picked out uses solar power. So as it turns out the Peace Corps has certain requirements that generally are better than many expect, and even then many organizations go above and beyond requirements to provide what they feel is a suitable accommodation for a distinguished guest. I can't emphasize enough how blessed I am. I have so much more than I need, in fact, I am able to live quite comfortably.So here is my place... mostly furnished now, with just a few purchases remaining.
Here is the front of my living room. It is small, but notice the Texas star in the window courtesy of the Jack II team at Fluor.
My living room is much too nice. All this furniture was made by my carpenter I found in the village.
My kitchen corner inside my living room. Dishes are cleaned in the basin under the stove unit, the gas stove provides for all my cooking needs, and the 20 liter water jugs on the right are hauled from a pump well about 200 yards from my door. Green jug is chlorinated drinking water, yellow jug is for cooking / cleaning.
This is my extra long kitchen counter unit. I'm getting used to keeping things that don't spoil and provide for basic cooking needs.
Here is the desk/chair in my room and bed. This was the only furniture that came with the place, although the extra bed shown in the next picture was provided by my organization a few weeks after I moved in.
Here is the wardrobe that is on the wall opposite my bed. Once again made by my awesome carpenter. It is certainly nice to have all my clothing out of suitcases after 3 months.
A view of my room from my desk area.
This is my bathing area. A small closet in my bedroom with a drain in the corner. I heat water on my stove and mix with the cool water in that jug to prepare my bucket baths. Eventually, I hope to build a gravity shower in here. The room was painted, but with water based paint, so it is quickly coming off the walls.
So that is pretty much my home. There is a stall and hole in the ground outside for ... well ... you know... but who wants to see that.
Thanksgiving
One of the greatest blessings I have had in Africa, so far, was being able to celebrate Thanksgiving dinner with friends from my training class. Mrs. Prouty, I know you read the blog, and just want to say thank you for your daughter. If the Rountree family is also reading... eh, you could have done worse, at least he has good taste in women.
To catch others up, two friends hosted the meal for about 13 volunteers from our training class. The meal was complete with amazing chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, enough stuffing to feed a small army, gravy, and for desert... APPLE PIE soup. We were all pretty spent after the meal but still got a game of baseball going in the front yard using a tubular piece of cardboard and a baseball made of duct tape.
It was simply an amazing day. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I had always believed the two Thanksgivings away from home would be the hardest days to be in the Peace Corps. I was shocked and overjoyed to find that it was one of the easiest days yet.
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