Thursday, September 20, 2012

Mi Casita

 
As a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama, you are required to live your first 2-3 months in country, during training, with a host family.  Then you must live your first 3 months in site with a host family as well.  After that you are free to rent a house and live alone. 

The community is required to have housing options, or help you build a house.  My community had 2 options for me.  One, was a cute, newly built house, however it was RIGHT next to the owner’s house.  I was warned against living in this house from day one, because it would be the same as living with a host family, no one would come pasear to my house, and the owner’s have bravo dogs (aka dogs that bite).  My second option is where the past volunteer lived, while living there he had his computer stolen and although there are bars on the windows now, many people didn’t like the idea of me living there alone.  Plus I would have had to build a shower and a latrine.  And, although there are pleanty of empty houses in the community, most are very far from the main road, and have no neighbors. 

In turn, I ended up staying with my host family.  However, I basically live alone.  My host family is a 74 year old woman, and her house is 3 buildings, and where I live, above one of the houses. 
 
Her kitchen is in the bottom part, and that is my little room/house above
 
The little building is an old store I believe, but now has 2 beds that she uses when family visits.  The bigger one is wear she sleeps.






 This is my "kitchen"

My desk, and also part of the kitchen


 


my bed, and you can see part of my closet

My porch
 
 
So the best part is that all of my furniture minus the one bookshelf my host mom gave me to me, as well as the gas tank, and pots, pans, utensils, cups, bowls, mugs etc.  Very sweet deal. As per usual the internet is not working so well and I can't upload anymore pictures, but this gives you a good idea of where I live.  I was trying to upload a picture of the backyard, shower and latrine, but I guess I'll leave that for another day.  


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