Living Quarters

When I got my shelves in my room a few months ago I mentioned that I would post pictures of my room after I had settled in, unpacked. MmaDiapo and I were talking yesterday about how small she thinks my room is... and how she's hoping to give me some more space when her new house is finished. Yeah, it's small... I would even go so far as to say it's tiny... but I love it. It's my space... and I've worked hard to make it a little retreat, a place that I enjoy being in. Did I mention it has the best bed, places to put my stuff, and pictures that make me smile on the walls? What more could you want? Enjoy the tour....

"Old" Room

This picture was taken at the beginning of December, about a week after I moved in. It was rainy season, my walls were leaking, and the best bed and I had yet to meet. That's my bath bucket in the foreground..some things just don't change!


Because I spent the first 3 months in the village in the house with my first (or second, depending on how you look at it) host mother I didn't buy much with my settling in allowance... besides a bazillion Jungle Bars (chocolate covered granola bars). My first big purchase for my room? An electric kettle to boil my drinking water and for tea! For 3 months I lived off of a diet of tuna, granola, granola bars, soy milk, peanut butter, pap, chicken, and, yes, ramen noodles. I am so glad I'm beyond those days. The backpack on the floor is the one I lived out of until I could unpack my "non- essentials" bag.

What my room looks like... NOW. To get the full feeling... pretend you're the hands of a clock and follow the pictures around.

My door is just to the left in the picture. There are 3 of my new shelves (they hold my food) and the cupboard MmaDiapo gave me that I use for all my hygiene stuff and my books, PC papers, the letters I've gotten since I've been here, and all the random stuff I'm not sure what to do with. A few items to note: the mop: very important when it comes to gettin' up all the water that I sloshed out of the bucket when taking my bath, OMO: the washing powder that has a way of being tough on your clothes... and your hands, iron: I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've come out of my room and people have asked, "You're going to work like THAT? Do you own an iron?", Gueydan Museum tote bag: important to represent where you come from!, very top of cupboard: storage area for all my grocery bags, books: I'm slowly making my way through all of these... PCV's like to share and we like to read.


This is what I see every morning when I wake up (notice my "Thank you for this life" paper). Items to note: my "closet": a bit of twine around the posts holding up my roof and I've rigged a place to hang my clothes, underneath closet: bucket storage area, purple yoga mat peaking out from behind my clothes, orange towel: AMAZING. quick dry!, my shelves: hold all of my clothes.


What you see when you open my door and stare straight ahead. Items to note: my purple fuzzy blanket thanks to PC, my map of South Africa (with everyone's sites documented), my Doctors Without Borders world map, the BEST bed!


All my pictures, my fridge, the chair I'm borrowing from MmaDiapo's kitchen. Items to note: handheld Yahtzee, Nalgene I bought in Estes Park with Texas sticker bought at Carlsbad Caverns, people I love, wire Acacia tree I bought by the taxi rank in Tzaneen, my cell phone, and three important books: Tao Teh Ching, Word Power Made Easy, and the journal I keep of things I don't want to forget about living in South Africa.


And last but not least... my kitchen. Items to note: my oven, blue bucket is for food, greenish bucket is for water, curtains are compliments of my family, cold drink bottle that needs to be returned, Cubs hat, tile floor, blue door, and Timbuk2 messenger bag that is TOUGH!