Village Life

Here are some pictures of my new house:

This bed was left behind by the military men who lived here before me, my landlady warned me not to use it so here it sits in my extra bedroom

My real bedroom/the only room I go in during winter

My backyard, outhouse on the left and the potato field on the right

This dog follows me everywhere, even into my school!

I love living by myself, but there are definitely some problems with my new living arrangements.   The houses in my area do not get water and have to go by car to get it.  I have to give empty jugs to my neighbor and I only get water when he decides to go get water.  I don’t have enough to take a bucket bath or wash my clothes so I do all of that at another pcv’s apartment in Noyemberyan. 

I moved out of my host family’s house to have privacy.  For the first few weeks at my new house I did, but now my neighbors have hired people to plant potatoes for them in my backyard.  These new workers can see clearly into my window and I have to walk past them to get to my outhouse. Awkward. They also use my outhouse and leave traces behind… It’s disgusting.

In other news, I spontaneously decided to go on a vacation to Portugal with 2 other volunteers at the end of April. Next week I'll let you know how our poetry competition goes!