and then there was one

31 december 2009

this is no barbie dream house.

Arriving at my site last night, in the dark, after a 12 hour roadtrip across country, we approached Kagogo with much anticipation. Rumor has it there's a lake over there, and you can hardly see, but somewhere in the distance volcanos stand watch over the surrounding area - the only noticeable geography I hear you'll find if you try to googleearth this place.

Director Johnson met us at the road and brought us over the slippery grassy fields and muddy paths to my house.

"This is your house, all yours."

A house all to myself. Not too big, like the other 5 or 6 bed room homes my fellow volunteers were given earlier in the day. No, this is a 2 bedroom with an open livingroom/dining room area. The living room even has a wall that sits on an angle, not quite a square. Thank goodness. I've never been a fan of squares.

So I pick my bedroom, have a bed moved in and lay out some floor mats.

After dinner at my director's home where his children sat with big eyes, as if they'd seen a ghost (which was nearly true), or pretended to sleep on the couch, to avoid their father's encouragment to come introduce themselves to me, I came home, locked up and settled in for my first night alone in my first house as a young adult.

Alone, or so I thought.

I woke at 1:30 when my bladder alerted me it was time to go.

Back to bed.

At 3:30, the buzzing of mosquitos far too close to my head stirred me.

Then I noticed it, what is that? A radio?

Why is it so loud?

Yesterday my director explained that I'm actually living in a duplex. I share a wall with my neighbors.

Wait, what is that other noise??

A cell phone?

That doesn't sound like my ringtone, but it's so loud..

it must be my phone.

Oya.

Then it begins,

a conversation between my new neighbor - whom I have yet to meet face to face, but who apparantly likes to listen to the radio on full blast and hold uncomfortably long phone conversations (of which I can hear every word) at 4 in the morning.

Wonderful.

I get out of bed, thinking that maybe it would be better if I slept in the other bedroom, a bit farther from this shared wall. On my way through the dining room I see it.

An 8-legged beast.

All in all, maybe the size of a extra large golf ball with a body no smaller than a quarter. The biggest spider I have ever seen somewhere other than a glass jar or in an exibit, behind thick, thick glass at the zoo.

I will forever sleep under my mosquiot net, I promised myself then.

Oh, and there's his litlte friend.. or maybe teammate, in the group - scare Nicole outta this place.

I hurridly carried my bedding and pillows into the next bedroom, hung my mosquito net, and climbed in.

The distance helped to drown out the noise of my nocturnal neighbor and I slowly drifted into dreams of team spider creeping into my suitcase and bed and trunk and any other place where they'd give me a good scare.

Promptly at 6:30 this morning, after a night far too short - and far too interrupted! - for someone who has just spent 12 hours riding up and around mountains on a sorry excuse for roads, Mr. Rooster cock-a-doodle-doos right outside my window.

Has the sun risen?

Thank you for letting me know.

But he continues.

An alarm clock with no snooze.

So now it is 7:01am, December 31st, 2009.

Here I sit, under that same yellow mosquito net that kept me safe in Nyanza, afraid to get out of bed.

I hate spiders,

but I haven't taken a proper shower in too long - that is an understatement.

Turns out everything at my school runs on solar power, which can't handle an electric hot plate, looks like it's a good thing I bought that charcoal stove as well. I am just hoping that I will still be able to get away with using my electric tea kettle, I'd like to think that the days of cold bucket baths are far behind me.

Guess I should venture out, see the school, the lake, the volcanos.. all those things that made me excited to be here.. before I met my surprise roommates.

Here we go.

Sweede, who's got some major swager himself - and who worked as George Bush's driver during his 2008 visit, personally delivered 4 PCVs.

Points off in the distance, to any given mountain.

"you see that mountain?"

yes

"we go there"

nice house. too big. 6 rooms, 1 people?

too big!

"i think we're gonna need bigger boots"

save the best for last

I think this is their vacation

this is our life