Settling In

I can't believe it's almost been a week since I moved into my own place here in Spooners. I kept meaning to update here with a video of the swearing in ceremony, but my computer and you tube just don't agree for some reason. So I put off posting cuz I thought I would just wait till I could figure it out. But that hasn't happened yet.

I have less of a regular schedule than I did during training, but that's fine with me. I can't believe I'm finally an official Peace Corps Volunteer, after SO long. And I'm loving it. I thought it would be really weird having my own place all to myself, cuz I've never lived completely on my own. I've always had roommates or lived at home. And everyone knows how I hate doing things alone. But I actually really like it. And I don't really feel alone because I've been busy. I actually am still waiting for a day to just chill at home and not do anything.

 

Here's some pictures of the my house, backyard, view, and neighborhood. There's some green onions, basil, chives (or Max- the caretaker just keeps saying herbs), soursop, sugar apple, breadfruit, passion fruit (SO excited about those)  and some other fruit either in my back yard or next door. I'll take pictures of the inside and post those once I have set up a little more.

I moved in on Saturday. I have dealt with a few roaches (killed a couple too, I'm learning), and there was a frog in my kitchen last night. I've bought some household items to set up (necessities like a FAN, can't live without one here). I've been around the neighborhood and have been getting to know more people. I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable about Spooners than before. Everyone has told me that as a single girl living on her own, Cayon isn't the best place. Actually, most people have had very harsh reactions. But Spooners is tucked away uphill and it's so communal. Everyone seems to look out for you, and I've been really careful. If I've ever taken the bus at night I just pay that extra dollar for them to drop me at my door instead, and the bus driver's are really awesome. A couple of them take me up to my house without charging extra.

My neighbor, Brenda, is really sweet. She's already had a sample of my baking because I didn't have gas until this morning (that was THE hardest part). So I had to go over to her house to bake for the SOS bonfire last week. Which was a lot of fun. I invited Tiffany and Will to join, and Alisa and Kelsey came too so it was kind of nice to have my PC people there too. I really want Will to meet locals our age, and I don't think he's going to meet a lot working at Saddler's Primary so I hope he comes to more of our events. I'm not worried about Tiffany meeting people, she's already fitting right in here. And it's always a good thing to have more participation in my organization. Yes, I just called it 'mine'.

There's been a lot of different projects and meetings and ideas floating around along with socializing and integrating this past week, I don't think I'll be able to fill you in on everything. So I'll just leave off at I will post more pictures and hopefully everything from swearing in soon.