Chez Rose Part Deux

28 August 2008

Chez Rose Part Deux

I left you all on quite a cliffhanger with my previous blog about my living situation (see 26/8 Chez Rose). On our first day in Lomé, right after the administrative meeting, my Ewé classmate M came up to me to tell me to “go find [our APCD (Assistant Peace Corps Country Director)] I only know this much: your house wasn’t ready so they’re putting you in a different one”
What! My brain reeled. In the midst of trying to find my way to my bank account, pick up my supplies from the med unit, and get back to the hotel for dinner – I also had to search my way through the PC compound trying to find my APCD.
I got lost, the bus to the bank left without me, but I did get my med supplies and some dinner.
Long story short – they didn’t finish the work on the original house. Color me unsurprised.
Instead I have a quite lovely and finished house right next to one of the many churches in the village. When we arrived (in a rather roundabout fashion due to the bridge being out between Tsevié and Mission Tové) they were still cleaning and putting on fresh paint. The house is now a marvelous shade of bright robin’s egg blue with just a hint of green. If I had a 64 box of crayons I could tell you the exact shade, but for now that will have to suffice.
I have an indoor shower area (tiled bit with a drain where I can splash away with my bucket), indoor toilet (bucket flush), a main room, large bedroom, kitchen, and spare room! Sweet! Plus a lovely little roofed terrace out front. The house has also already been wired to use a generator. There are light fixtures in every room. I’m not sure whether the generator is still there, but it would be lovely to be able to charge up my electronics when I need it. There is, however, a certain amount of pride I take in being able to say that I live without electricity or running water. And if I have to go to Tsevié or Lomé to charge my appliances, that will encourage me to get out biking more often.
So, my house is unexpectedly awesome and I’m getting settled in. It’s rather hard to unpack when there aren’t shelves, drawers or hangers to store those unpacked goods. But I’ll be visiting my local menuisier (carpenter) ASAP to get some furniture going. (And get some wood and materials to build some things myself!)

Current reading: The Ultimate French Review and Practice by David M. Stillman, Ronni L. Gordon