My House

Here's the outside of my house. Isn't it lovely?

I actually live on a family compound of a kgosi (chief) of Machaneng who passed away a few years ago. The compound is pretty big. It is located conveniently next to a General Dealer shop and another General Dealer shop located just a minute walk towards the main tarred road. There is the main house that my landlord (the kgosi's wife) and her two granddaughters live in (one is 20 and the other is 7). Then there are three huts, two of which are occupied by a man who works for the Wildlife Department in Machaneng, and Maggie who works for the Agriculture Department. There are 2 more huts and two other smaller buildings that are unoccupied at the moment, and there is my house. It’s a nice place to live. I feel very safe because no one messes with a kgosi's family and the General Dealer's light is always shining on my house. I have running water (no hot water) and electricity. My mom sent me a bag shower so for the past week I have enjoyed warm showers. That is one thing I have learned since being here: Never underestimate the greatness of a hot shower! Sometimes the water in my village will run out so I have to keep extra water stored in buckets and bottles just in case. So far I've only had to go half a day without running water. Every once in awhile the electricity will go out too. When this happens I just get out my flashlights and candles and entertain myself by reading by the candle light. This hasn't happened yet since I have gotten to site (it happened during my site visit though).

In the front of my house there are a couple of trees. This past Thursday (July 1st) Botswana celebrated Sir Seretse Khama Day so I got the day off of work. This holiday is to celebrate the 1st president of Botswana. I decided to enjoy my day off by relaxing in my hammock and reading. I don't really have anywhere on my porch/ledge to hang up my hammock so I decided the two trees in front of my house was a great place to hang it. Boy did I cause a scene! After I put up my hammock and got in it I noticed a group of children gathering in front of our gate watching me. Because my house is located close to the tarred road and right next to the General Dealer, a lot of people go by my house. After a little bit of time they got up the courage to come inside the compound and talk to me. They were very interested in what this purple and blue thing I was lounging in was. I tried to explain what it was to them and let them try it out. All of them thought it was the greatest thing! So needless to say I didn't get much of my book read. Hopefully next time the hammock won't cause as much of a scene.

So no I don't live in a hut in the middle of nowhere with lions prowling about. Yes I have a toilet that flushes (although no toilet seat, for some reason most toilets here don't have seats on them) and I luckily don't have to use a pit latrine. When I first found out I was coming to Africa I pictured that I would be living in the middle of no where with no electricity or running water and living in a one room thatched hut. That's not the case, but I am perfectly ok with it. The only complaint I would have is I wish the walls would block out sound more. There is a main dirt road the goes right by my house. So there are constantly donkeys, cows, goats, dogs, cars blaring music, and children going by. This only really bothers me at night when I am trying to fall asleep, or in the morning when I am awoken before my alarm goes off. Maybe I should invest in some earplugs?