My New House

It occurred to me that the desensitizing process we go through as PCVs, although rather handy as a survival mechanism, really has its downside. Two specific instances come to mind.

Sometimes I get a glimpse and realize that whole days have gone by without me noticing what a beautiful country I’m in. What can I say—garbage in the road and river, sewage smells in my nose, horse and cow poop in my shoes, mosquitoes biting, days at a stretch without water… mud… oh the mud. I guess it’s easy to get caught up in the details.

You get, if not “used to,” jaded about how long it takes to get anything done here. One of the manifestations of this for me is that I feel like I’m not accomplishing much, even though I feel busy almost all the time. It must be said quite honestly that the definition of “getting things done” is quite different here than stateside. But I realized today when I bumped into a couple other volunteers in Santiago and told them what I’ve been up to that it really isn’t as if I’m sitting around “watching the mangoes ripen,” as they say. It felt good.

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In other news, I am happy to report that I have, after much anticipation, moved into my own house. There were a few stressful days to do with safety concerns my counterpart had and getting the electricity rigged up, but thankfully all have been worked out now. So, about the house (see more photos at the regular link).

The house is set on a high edge of the community and has excellent views from both front and back. There is a gate at the entrance, two mango trees (one of which has a hammock), several plantain trees, avocado, tamarind, mandarin and guava trees, and a garden than Dan started and I am going to try not to kill. The garden has cucumber, tomato, carrots, okra, spinach, lettuce, squash, melon, cilantro, dill, basil, beets, onions and more. Assuming I discover the green thumb in me, I should be able to eat a decent amount of vegetables, gracias a Dios.

The house is painted a cheery yellow and white. It is made of cement blocks and wood plans, with a zinc roof. The main house is divided into two rooms—a bedroom area and a living room/kitchen area. Attached to the back is a zinc-walled add-on with a jaguar (thatch) roof that I use for washing dishes and storage. Outside of the bedroom is a connected-but-outdoor shower, which, when there is water, provides a pretty decent experience. (I generally do have water, but this is the dry season and the aqueduct is low so they turn it off to ration consumption.) Out the other side of the house is the latrine. This isn’t so bad because it’s in pretty good shape, with a few caveats:

1: When you pee, some of it sneaks under the wall onto the floor. I’m looking into buying a can of caulk.

2: One of the floor boards is a little loose. I’m working on having it replaced so I don’t fall in the hole. That would be, well, unpleasant.

3: The bench is too high so I have to hop on and off to go. Aside from being annoying, this is worrisome because of #2 above. I am working on getting a step so I can reach more comfortably.

4: I pee in a bucket at night so I don’t have to go outside.

I cook on a tabletop gas stove, and keep all my food and dishes covered and sealed because of the ants, rats and cockroaches that are simply a fact of life here. (Remember earlier I mentioned becoming desensitized…) A neighbor brought me a mango the other day that I was really excited to eat for breakfast, but the rats beat me to it and I had to throw it out.

I did some grocery shopping yesterday in Puerto Plata, trying to get myself set up here. A few things I can’t do yet until I get the refrigerator purchased, but I’m making progress.

Anyhow, my new house is definitely a campo house in my campo community, but I’m certain we are going to get along just fine. I can’t wait for you to see it in real life! Did I mention how beautiful it is up here? Definitely worth the slightly hike-ish walk.