Home Sweet Hut

I moved into my new house a little over a week ago, and since then I've spent a lot of time getting it cleaned, organized, and decorated. Aside from a little flea problem, I really love my house. Now that it's a bit more set up it's starting to feel more like home.

This is the view from the front. The piles of brick are there because there used to be a puppy pen (full of fleas) on the front porch and it was recently demolished.

This is the view from sitting on the front porch. The thing on the left is my dish rack, and the thing on the right is my insaka, which can be used for cooking or chatting with guests or hanging out. Brad (the volunteer before me) left a hammock in there, but it was torn apart by some dogs so you can't sit in it.

To the right of my house you can see my neighbor, Ba Justina's house, and my mango tree.  To the left you can see my icimbusu (latrine) and my ulusasa (bathing shelter). Behind the house there is a clothesline.

Next we have the living room, which is nice and sunny during the daytime if I leave the door open. It's even big enough to store my bike inside. I have a couch, a bookshelf, and a chair that I bought from Brad. I hung maps of the world, Zambia, and the U.S. on the wall for decoration. My candle holders are empty beer and wine bottles, but I covered them in chitenge in an effort to make them look more like decorative candle holders and less like I just have empty beer bottles lying around.

Across from the couch you can see my awesome hut warming present from Mom and the space where I'll hang more pictures once I buy some more paper clips. The door on the right with the blue curtain leads to my bedroom and the door on the left is to the kitchen.

My bed takes up most of the space in my bedroom. It has a mosquito net of course, with a sheet over the top of the net to block dust that falls from the ceiling.

I have a hanging pocket thing where I store some of the things I use every day, and some shelves for other storage. My clothes are currently living in bags, but I went to see the carpenter the other day and he is going to make me a dresser. I also hung up all my shoes on the wall so critters don't climb in them as much, but it's still a good idea to shake them out before you stick your feet in them.

I cook over coals outside so the kitchen is really more of a storage room. I have a table, some shelves for food storage, and a bunch of other stuff that just didn't really fit anywhere else. The yellow containers are how I store my water.

Most of my food is inside of the black plastic bucket at the bottom of the picture, and on the green shelves I have some condiments, tea, canned goods, and cooking utensils. 

My table has a nice shelf underneath for storing dishes, and on top I keep my water filter. Above the table I have some hanging baskets for more storage.

I keep my spices on another shelf, and I have a bunch of other things like  laundry soap and extra plastic bags stored in bags hanging from the wall.

Last you can see my pots and pans hanging from hooks on a rope.  I also hung my empty suitcases up on the wall. Basically anything that can be off the ground should be to keep it safe from critters.