A few things have gone on in the last couple of days. I have not had an internet modem to connect me at all, so I've been unable to report on my life.
I was house hopping for a few days. Three days here, three days there. Basically, just looking for a place and trying not to make too much of a burden for anyone. And after about 4 weeks of living out of a suitcase, I can officially tell you that I am looking forward to unpacking somewhere, for once. No more wrinkled clothing. No more lost items in the large caverns of the suitcases. No more wheeling around my crap just for a good night's rest.
Before I get to it, I have to just note how absolutely twitterpated I am by the birds here. I know I've mentioned it before, but the birds here are really truly wonderful. Their songs are so bright and lovely, and I love waking up to their music in the morning. I am also always amazed at the new birds I've seen! A few days ago I saw electric blue birds with yellow chests. And today while walking to the street, I saw a little tiny bird probably no more than 2.5" tall and with a brick red coloring. Teeny tiny!
Tuesday night I hung out with a wonderful woman from Singapore named Kiran. I was meeting up with her after work, but I saw the menacing clouds quickly approaching. Motos, from what I understand, are basically a forbidden to take in the rain time, partly because of the muddy roads that are slippery when wet, and partly because the motos are a bit precarious in the first place. So I grabbed a moto while I saw the brewing dark clouds above me, and I felt a sort of musical montage coming up in my future.
And we drove! Fast, attempting to beat the rain on the highway. I was going pretty far away, and I could feel pellets of rain slap my leg while we sped along to get to the restaurant where I'd meet Kiran. It seemed, oddly enough, to no longer stir and brew once I got off of the moto.
So, Kiran and I hung out at an outdoor space for a bar of some type. And we drank cooking wine and chewed on goat brochettes. And chatted for a long time. It was great. She's very interesting and fun, and very much someone who tells you how it is, like it is. She even offered to me her old laptop and modem, since I'm found wanting. But I wanted to get to Jane's place at a decent hour. When I got to her apartment, the electricity went out. It kept going on and off all night, only the "off" periods seemed longer than the "on" periods. There was this in-between period where the light bulbs kind of glowed a bit - it was rather creepy, actually. TIA.
Yesterday was a holiday, National Heroes Day. Which meant I didn't have to go to work (YEAH!), and all other shops opened up later in the day (Oh no!). But it was also the day Denise and I moved into our new, beautiful house in Kagugu. We already had a roommate - an Indian guy named Harsh who is fresh out of LSE - but Denise called me in the AM and told me that she had another guy who wanted to fill out our foursome. Another older Indian guy who works in security, Mr.Al. You know what? It lowers the rent, so I'm definitely okay with that.
So we moved into the new digs, and I joyfully unpacked my bags into the armoire in my room. My room! It's wonderful to say that, now. And we all bonded a bit. Mr.Al drove us around in the car so we could get some food and water bits. And we went to go eat at Mr.Chips. Mr.Chips is a local burger joint that was started by some Canadian dude, and is absolutely delicious AND CHEAP! Cheap cheap cheap. Soooo tasty....
So we did that yesterday. And I slept like a little squirrel hibernating in the oak tree.
Sadly, though, we woke up to cold water and low water pressure. And when I waited for any random moto to come get us, I was suddenly surrounded by little children. The whole street was busy, and they seemed in awe of a Mzungu in their area. I was even pinched by a little boy, which made me jump.
Just one of those days, I guess?
I was house hopping for a few days. Three days here, three days there. Basically, just looking for a place and trying not to make too much of a burden for anyone. And after about 4 weeks of living out of a suitcase, I can officially tell you that I am looking forward to unpacking somewhere, for once. No more wrinkled clothing. No more lost items in the large caverns of the suitcases. No more wheeling around my crap just for a good night's rest.
Before I get to it, I have to just note how absolutely twitterpated I am by the birds here. I know I've mentioned it before, but the birds here are really truly wonderful. Their songs are so bright and lovely, and I love waking up to their music in the morning. I am also always amazed at the new birds I've seen! A few days ago I saw electric blue birds with yellow chests. And today while walking to the street, I saw a little tiny bird probably no more than 2.5" tall and with a brick red coloring. Teeny tiny!
Tuesday night I hung out with a wonderful woman from Singapore named Kiran. I was meeting up with her after work, but I saw the menacing clouds quickly approaching. Motos, from what I understand, are basically a forbidden to take in the rain time, partly because of the muddy roads that are slippery when wet, and partly because the motos are a bit precarious in the first place. So I grabbed a moto while I saw the brewing dark clouds above me, and I felt a sort of musical montage coming up in my future.
And we drove! Fast, attempting to beat the rain on the highway. I was going pretty far away, and I could feel pellets of rain slap my leg while we sped along to get to the restaurant where I'd meet Kiran. It seemed, oddly enough, to no longer stir and brew once I got off of the moto.
So, Kiran and I hung out at an outdoor space for a bar of some type. And we drank cooking wine and chewed on goat brochettes. And chatted for a long time. It was great. She's very interesting and fun, and very much someone who tells you how it is, like it is. She even offered to me her old laptop and modem, since I'm found wanting. But I wanted to get to Jane's place at a decent hour. When I got to her apartment, the electricity went out. It kept going on and off all night, only the "off" periods seemed longer than the "on" periods. There was this in-between period where the light bulbs kind of glowed a bit - it was rather creepy, actually. TIA.
Yesterday was a holiday, National Heroes Day. Which meant I didn't have to go to work (YEAH!), and all other shops opened up later in the day (Oh no!). But it was also the day Denise and I moved into our new, beautiful house in Kagugu. We already had a roommate - an Indian guy named Harsh who is fresh out of LSE - but Denise called me in the AM and told me that she had another guy who wanted to fill out our foursome. Another older Indian guy who works in security, Mr.Al. You know what? It lowers the rent, so I'm definitely okay with that.
So we moved into the new digs, and I joyfully unpacked my bags into the armoire in my room. My room! It's wonderful to say that, now. And we all bonded a bit. Mr.Al drove us around in the car so we could get some food and water bits. And we went to go eat at Mr.Chips. Mr.Chips is a local burger joint that was started by some Canadian dude, and is absolutely delicious AND CHEAP! Cheap cheap cheap. Soooo tasty....
So we did that yesterday. And I slept like a little squirrel hibernating in the oak tree.
Sadly, though, we woke up to cold water and low water pressure. And when I waited for any random moto to come get us, I was suddenly surrounded by little children. The whole street was busy, and they seemed in awe of a Mzungu in their area. I was even pinched by a little boy, which made me jump.
Just one of those days, I guess?
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