17 August 2007
If you’re looking for excitement and adventure this particular entry may not be for you. In fact, this is probably the most domestic you’re going to find me on paper. So consider yourself warned.
The reason for all this talk and forewarning of blandness is: I MOVED!!! Yes, the purple house seen earlier in the year is no longer where Alexis, Casey and I can be found. (Just don’t tell our kids… we’d like to keep a bit of anonymity for now.) We’ve been looking for a new place for a while because our former landlord decided to sell, but the move took place rather quickly. In no less than 1.5 days we went from cramped into a 2 bedroom house with a nice yard to a roomy 3 bedroom number above one of the shops in town. I despise moving house, but it’s nice having it all out of the way.
So. The new place. Someone will have to give Google Earth a shot at locating it given the cross streets of Libertina Amathila Ave. & Hendrik Witbooi Str.—I’ve generously provided a picture for you. Kaptein Hendrik Witbooi was kind of a bad-ass in Namibian history, having supplied the Germans with as much guerrilla warfare as they could handle while they were running the place (or something like that). I’m sure Libertina Amathila is a person of importance as well, although I have no idea in what way. Anyway, looking out over the balcony at their names on a sign placed rather artistically has become one of my favorite activities on our small terrace.
My absolute favorite part about being here, however, is having a room of my own. Now, I was never much bothered about my situation at the last place (I am a volunteer teacher after all, and a lucky one at that), but it is nice to have a place where I can retire, shut the door and read/listen to music when I crave peace and quiet. The girls were also generous enough to give me the master bedroom with en suite bathroom. I almost feel like a grown-up now! The room is pretty big and made even more so by my lack of furniture. There are only a bed and small bookcase to go along with my half-unpacked suitcases. The bathroom is nice. Our last shower was one of those trickle-trickle numbers and this one pleasantly removes an entire layer of skin with its steamy blast… I love it.
The living area is also spacious and not quite furnished. We’re still working on getting some couches and chairs to fill the place up a bit—and give us a somewhere to sit. So far there haven’t been any fistfights over the papisan chair, but eventually there are bound to be. I’ve been content to sit in another crazy hippie chair we’ve got—one that apparently helps with posture—but Alexis keeps laughing at me whenever she walks into the room and sees me sitting in it, reading.
The kitchen inspires dreams for us. The last one we had was terribly small. Two people could hardly fit in there. Let alone three. This one is big enough to accommodate a team of hungry scavengers. Alexis has a houseguest from Canada visiting, so that along with her parents being in town means Casey and I have been on our own for dinner. We’ve put the kitchen’s capability to hold both of us to the test a few times over the past week and it has passed with flying colors. One of our board members, Vera, gave us heaps of stuff for the house, not the least of which is our very own microwave! I can’t wait to grab some microwave popcorn for my next DVD watching session… mmmm.
A couple of drawbacks have made it slightly less than ideal, but in no way unpleasant. First, our cat. Well, more like Lexy and Casey’s cat. He’s used to being able to roam free—in and out—and now he’s stuck permanently in the flat. Luckily he’s a master of the litter box. (I’d pack him a lunch and send him on his merry way if that weren’t the case.) But he does miss being free. His meowing can attest to that. The other thing is our front door doesn’t latch. That’s a fixable problem, but for the moment it’s slightly irritating. We have to lock the door by key upon entering and leaving. This is made infuriating by the lock which chooses not to work for 3-5 minutes at a time. It’s funny to listen to someone else jingling their keys trying to jimmy the lock open (even better when you can look down the hall and see it happening), but no so much when it happens to me. Must get that sorted out soon. Otherwise, I’ll have to get on some kind of blood pressure medication.
The last thing to say about the new digs is how close to town we are. It’s amazing. Now before we weren’t exactly stranded, being15 minutes from town center, but now the walk is more like 3 minutes. It’s already worked out for me a few times that someone texts about meeting up and I’m out the door and seated in a café in under 5 minutes ordering a cappuccino. Sounds like a tough life, hey? I’m telling you: being a martyr for development is rough work, but someone’s got to do it.
