Home Improvement

I've made a few improvements to my house recently. I finally put together my Peace Corps oven. My neighbor and closest friend, Vola, came with me to the market to buy all the supplies. The venders were more inclined to give me the real price rather than the vazaha price (though Vola told me I was still getting ripped off). I was still satisfied. For example, the original price of my 38cm pot was 38,000ar (about $15) and I got it for 20,000ar (about $8), success! At one point Vola was bargaining for charcoal. I paid for what I thought was a small bag but ended up getting an entire rice goonie of charcoal! At least I can do a lot of baking before I have to buy more. I've baked brownies, banana bread, and quiche in the new oven (I offered to bring zucchini pie to Thanksgiving). I put the bowl of batter on two upside down cans on sand inside the pot over charcoal. The charcoal sits on a 'Gasy stove which looks like scrap metal cut into a square with slits for the ash to fall through. Everything takes about an hour to bake and I fan the charcoal every 15 minutes (I cut up the side gerry can to use as a fan). I'm happy to be baking again!

Since I needed the side of my gerry can to fan charcoal, I used the top and bottom for pots. I planted flowers, parsley, and cilantro. I was afraid to plant in the ground because the chickens might eat the seeds. I casually mentioned to a friend that I needed manure for my garden and he showed up with three buckets full! Nothing has sprouted yet but I'm still hopeful.

I asked a local carpenter to build a set of shelves that look identical to existing shelves in my kitchen. I need more space to prepare food and store dishes. He came over to take measurements and agree on a price. One week later he dropped off the supposed identical table. It ended up being shorter and longer than the other set. It seems he mixed up the length and width when building! No matter, I'm still very happy with my new furniture even if I have a little less leg room.

You know you're a PCV when:
-Pests include rats. bats, chickens, frogs, lizards, cockroaches...
-The pests of your house sound like the seven plagues of Egypt