a peek inside the studio

my new house at the teacher's college can best be described as a studio apartment with a detached bathroom. much to my shock and pleasure, the place features nearly constant electricity and running water - a tap in the kitchen and a (cold) SHOWER for bathing. the only downside is that running water in uganda is no guarantee. there are water crises (shortages) nearly every week, so it is smart to be prepared with jerrycans full of backup h2o. also, running water by its very nature must travel great distances through many pipes, which are not necessarily clean. after a week of boiling and drinking my tap water, i concluded that i would be better off to find a borehole to supply fresh, clean water for drinking and cooking. so, once or twice a week, i set out with my jerrycans to fetch water. it's definitely worth the effort.

my "apartment" itself is tiny but really quite nice. as far as i know, it's not in line with peace corps policy for volunteer housing (i.e. we're supposed to have at least two rooms) but i am oddly comfortable in my small space here. the college doesn't really have anything else to offer, so i don't see a point in complaining. aside from the ever-present noise (radios, crying babies, loitering students, religious events at ALL HOURS, whistle-blowing cross country practices at 4am, footsteps right outside my windows,...), i feel quite happy with my home here. equipped with my guitar and/or my portable speakers, i'm not shy about returning the racket. nature will achieve a balance :)

here is the building where i live. the two right-most windows are mine.

a closer inspection reveals that...yes, i really do live in the sick bay. and yes, i think it is more than amusing that i got reinstated after medical separation only to get placed in a freaking sick bay upon my return.
wtf, peace corps, wtf.

let's have a look inside...

here is my bed, ethereally draped in mosquito netting. note that there is only about six inches of clearance at the foot of the bed - installation was a close call!

this window looks out onto tororo rock and, occasionally, a gang of turkeys. the giant cabinet was an amazing addition and greatly facilitates much-needed vertical storage.

on the left is my all-purpose table and on the right is a handy stackable plastic shelf in which i keep almost all of my clothes.

this is a peek inside my kitchen from the aforementioned all-purpose table. notice the sink and incredible full-length (and tall-person-friendly) counter, complete with many avocados (in uganda, they are called ovacados). i have been eating them daily in an effort to get fat. so far, it's not working.

here is a better view of my kitchen setup, which is simply awesome. i am able to easily cook pretty much anything i want (which i do 2-3 times a day). to fill in the cracks between meals, i snack on many bananas slathered in odi paste (which is an alarmingly tasty ugandan blend of sesame seeds and peanuts).