“This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)”
Home is where I want to be
Pick me up and turn me round
I feel numb – born with a weak heart
I guess I must be having fun
The less we say about it the better
Make it up as we go along
Feet on the ground
Head in the sky
It’s ok I know nothing’s wrong… nothing
Hi yo I got plenty of time
Hi yo you got light in your eyes
And you’re standing here beside me
I love the passing of time
Never for money
Always for love
Cover up and say goodnight… say good night
Home – is where I want to be
But I guess I’m already there
I come home – she lifted up her wings
I guess that this must be the place
I can’t tell one from another
Did I find you, or you find me?
There was a time
Before we were born
If someone asks, this where I’ll be… where I’ll be
This is second time I have quoted Talking Heads at length.
Sometimes it’s a bit of a strain to come up with blog titles, and there are plenty of songs about Home, but this one muscled it’s way to the front. The lyrics seemed appropriate on many levels and it has a beautiful melody
So this a tour of my place. I have two rooms, a bathing stall, and a storage room. I failed to take “before” pictures. I am finished fixing the place up, with the exception of obtaining a spare mattress and mosquito net I can bring out of storage for rare overnight visitors.
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I am quite pleased with how it all came together, and it was fun planning it out. I had two carpenters build six different pieces for me. They didn’t always follow my specs as I drew them, sometimes adding unexpected flourishes I liked, sometimes not so much. They did follow my measurements, but some items are not quite level.
The first thing I did, after my bed frame was brought in (by bike remember?) was measure the floors for vinyl flooring. The majority of the buildings in Uganda, including my office, have smooth cement floors, like garage floors back home. Usually they are left bare, sometimes there are rugs on them. I don’t like the grey drab of them, and they get dusty, especially from shoes.. My floors had a red sheen painted on them. I noticed a similar sheen in a restaurant, but it was wearing off to the grey.
I was inspired by the vinyl floor my host family had in my room. Many shops sell this in 2 meter wide rolls with a variety of patterns. I needed 9.1 meters. These are smooth to sweep the ubiquitous red clay grains, and easy to squeegee and mop up liquids (invariably from pouring water out of the heavy Jerry cans). I used odd extra pieces to fill in gaps, and wound up cutting a large chunk out from under my bed. I even cut it to fit around the door frames. I really wanted to get patterns on the over lapping seams to line up perfectly, until I discovered the basic pattern is actually a rectangle by a slight amount. These floors tear easily, so I always move my chairs without scraping them across the vinyl. I walk on it barefoot, shower shoes or slippers. This flooring is what I am most proud of, thus the extended blathering about it.
Starting in my living/bed room, looking back toward my front double door. There are also windows in each room. Door and windows have bars behind the glass. Behind that, there are solid inside metal doors that latch. When the inside doors are open, they let in plenty of daylight. I close the inside doors and padlock the double door whenever I leave, even for a minute. The fabric on the wall says “Peace on Earth”.
This was built to hang my shirts and trousers. The carpenter added the shoe rack below. The shoe rack slopes a little, but the rest of it does not slope despite the way it looks. When it was delivered, my hangers did not fit over the rail. He thought I would put nails into the rail and hang hangers on the nails, which admittedly was similar to my home stay room. He came back and sawed the rail in half. There is another rail in the back.
I bought this four level TV stand to use for the rest of my clothes. I regret not using my carpenter. The papers above, in my “Peace Corps Corner”, are L to R : my Lasoga Proficiency Certificate; my personal invitation to the swearing in ceremony; my personalized welcome poster from training; a map of Uganda showing our Consolidation Points to gather during civil unrest or disasters (and the step before evacuation, if necessary); and a list of the wardens who would be communicating with us in such event. Peace Corps has Emergency Action Plans in every country. My niece was evacuated from of Bolivia this way.
My bed and desk. The only electric outlet in the room is on the wall behind the desk, so I use a power strip. The papers taped above are the names, phone numbers and email addresses of my fellow PCVs. Next to my desk is a fan I can move between my two rooms.
Going into the next room, the back wall with laundry basin and Jerry cans
This is my kitchen and dining area. The custom built piece is over 7 feet long, 2 feet wide, 4 feet high, with shelves a foot apart. It is very heavy. I assumed the carpenter would assemble it in the room as he did with my bed, but it came on a boda boda in one piece! I learned this too late, and wished I had seen it and taken a picture. The blue buckets in the back are a water sterilization system issued by the Peace Corps. Pour bore hole water in the top bucket, pass it through a Sawyer filter, and get clean water in the bottom bucket. No need to boil (except for tea, coffee and bucket bathing). Buckets hold a Jerry can worth (20 liters). The original bottom bucket had a spigot. However, it isn’t sealed well, and has a drip drip leak. Water was all over the floor the next morning (but easy to squeegee!). So I switched with my my bathing bucket and dip for water out of the top. In a splurge, which I think is justified, I bought the small refrigerator you see on the left. I drink a cold glass of brewed tea with dinner. I keep fruits and veggies fresh and protected from pests (a mouse and gecko have paid me brief visits) and keep leftovers from the extra large portions I get in restaurants in plastic containers I carry in my backpack. I bought frozen ground beef in Iganga yesterday, and it is thawing out for spaghetti and meat sauce one night and a hamburger the next. So nice to finally cook some American for myself. The table cloth is made from dress fabric, sown by a tailor (you will see her interesting picture in future post) The blue desk lamp on the table, with three brightness settings, was issued by Peace Corps and is solar powered. I charge it at work. There are frequent power outages here, so the lamp is handy. I bring it to bed for night reading too. I’m reading “The Book Thief” at the moment-excellent. A large road map of Uganda is on the wall. It was getting tattered so I retired it, and labeled it with the locations of all 45 volunteers.
This is my “Reminders of Home” area. Family photo on table, and on the wall is Jan’s memorial, and Colorado and Northglenn-Thornton Rotary Club Banners. The Colorado item was a gift at my going-away party to wear on my neck, but it’s too pretty to ruin with sweat and dirt
This vanity was originally my desk, but it came out too high. Perfect for this though. I had the carpenter lower the shelf, and now the whole thing tilts.
These were flip charts fellow fossil David made when we taught a youth group together. He was a graphic artist at home, and I couldn’t bear to throw them out. Eventually for repetitive lectures I will use rice sacks so they can be reused.
My bucket bathing area. Note the offending spigot. My carpenter put in a block with posts to hang my towel and undies to dry. It is culturally unacceptable to hang undies on the line outdoors.
I get a small storage room with its own door and padlock. I might not need that luggage for two years.
