Monday, January 23, 2012

New Place

Sometime during the Christmas vacation I decided that I wanted to move out once and for all. After the break I started looking for a new apartment (at the time one that would accommodate Gaya) and soon found one that was way out of my price range :) The Peace Corps came and checked it last week and I will only have to pay a little out of pocket which is nice. After packing up all of my things and having one teacher and two of the fourth year students help me move I was all set.
I love this new place infinitely more than I can say. I forgot what it was like to be independent. To not have to worry about whether or not the gate would be locked at the seemingly normal time of 7pm. To not have to sit there as the smell of fish permeates every inch of the house. To not have to listen to two young boys fighting and then inevitably crying when one of them gets into trouble. This new place is my sanctuary. Only I get to say what happens here, when it happens, or if it even happens at all. (Well me and the ghost that I'm pretty sure I have)

This new place is only two rooms but it's all tile and I have an actual shower which is invaluable here to a volunteer. I also have a remote control aircon in my room and a ceiling fan (a dangerous combination I know). It's quiet and everyone there is used to having foreigners live there for short times so they speak a little English and are friendly but at the same time respectful of independence and privacy.
The first night is the worst (as with any place). I was sleeping on the floor (having not yet traveled to the big city to buy foam) and around 3 in the morning I heard the unmistakable CRASH of glass breaking...Quickly thinking to myself, I only have one glass thing and that was on the other side of the counter tops, far away from where it could have easily fallen and broke...So either I have a ghost who likes to throw glass or someone is breaking into the apartment...and if that's the case I'm going to lay here in my bedroom and wait for them to leave (my bedroom door is solid with 3 locks and a window with steel along the outside. When I woke up though it was just the glass on the floor....I'm going to say it's a ghost instead of rat...they're less frightening.
Other than that everything is going well. I started a small fire last night by trying to make popcorn on the stove top and heating the oil too quickly....but my mom taught me never to put water on an oil fire and it quickly extinguished itself...no big deal. I'm excited to have more visitors come and hang in the wonderful wonderful nothing that is Kabankalan.

Let the visitation begin!

No comments:

Post a Comment