My House

Now that I’ve actually moved in and am starting to feel settled into my new home, I can speak a bit more about it. (And post a few pictures)

My new home for the next two years lies amongst a row of primary school teacher’s houses between Gwanga Primary and Secondary Schools. My house is quite cozy with one open sitting room and three smaller bedrooms or storage rooms. I have a front and back door with sliding locks and bolts on each. In total there are four windows throughout, one in each of the four rooms, each with their own sliding locks as well. The entire house is made of red brick and has an old yet durable tin roof atop it. Directly across from my back door there is an outdoor kitchen with a small room for bathing attached to one side. This small building is made of red brick as well but has a thatched straw roof. Unfortunately, as of now my kitchen lets in quite a bit of rain which is making it a bit hard to store dried firewood inside, but I’ll manage. My chimbudzi (outdoor toilet/pit latrine) can be found at the very back of my yard. It’s newly dug, has a concrete floor, brick walls, and a thatched straw roof. This reminds me to mention that most of the doorways in the village homes I’ve been in, mine included, are unusually short. I’m quite sure all of my doorways are barely over 5ft tall. After hitting my head many, many, MANY times, I’ve started to grow accustomed to ducking upon entering rooms.

My entire backyard is enclosed by a sturdy straw fence, held together by limbs from my now slightly mangled large tree. I’m extremely happy about my fence; it’s nearly 6ft tall and provides me with a bit of privacy as well as a sense of security. Speaking of security, I have hired a night watchman who comes to sit in front of my house every night from 5pm til 5am. It’s not that I don’t feel safe in my area, but my headteacher, Mr. Kangulu, recommended that I hire a watchman and truthfully he knows much better than I do. Plus, hiring someone is a good way for me to put more money into the community. I don’t actually know his name, I just refer to him with a respectful Chichewan word for old man, because he is in fact quite old but very, very nice. He sweeps my yard each morning as well as splits my firewood, all without me asking him to do so. I think that we will get along quite well and I do feel safer with him outside at night.

As far as my backyard goes, there are two trees and a lot of red dirt and rocks. Unfortunately, I don’t know the names of the trees, but I definitely intend to find out. The larger of the two is a good 40ft tall which will come in handy in keeping my yard and future garden a bit shaded.

The view behind my house is absolutely incredible. It’s almost a shame to have the fence blocking it (almost). Everywhere you look there’s nothing but green; large pastures, a variety of shrubs, fields and trees as well as large hills in the background. It’s very picturesque, much like something you’d find in nature magazine or wall calendar.

As far as the inside goes, I haven’t much in terms of furniture but I can have more made if I wish. I’m using the backroom as my bedroom and inside I have a bed with a new mattress as well as a small table to keep my clothes, etc. upon. The other back room will be used for storage of my water buckets, pans, bike, etc. By the way, as far as drawing water goes, I've been filling my buckets each morning from the running tap outside my head teacher's home. It's cleaner and closer than the bore hole, so I'm very fortunate to be able to use it.

In the front of my house, there is one additional "bedroom" which again I'm just using for storage for now (maybe for potential visitors in the future?) Then there is a larger sitting room in which I have a place-I-put-everything sort of table, four chairs, and an additional tiny table as well. I've hung a chitenje on the wall to decorate for now and hopefully will be able to do more to make it feel like a home in the future.

Yes, my house is a bit of a fixer-upper. I have a few holes in my roof, which are being patched. Some additional plastering and painting that needs to be done and a few other minor things as well. I have to sweep every day, sometimes more than once and definitely won't be keeping anything on the floor. I frequently find many small friends (ants, crickets, spiders, etc.) and may or may not have a bit of a termite problem brewing in my front room.

Osadandaula (don't worry) I'm happy, safe and looking forward to making my little house a home.