Welcome to my humble abode…

Well I have officially been in Mbarara for more than a week and I am finally getting used to my living situation. I thought I would take you for a tour as it certainly isn’t a home many of you will have lived in. I would say my house is what most middle to upper-middle class families live in. The very first thing that will strike you is the bright green wall on the veranda. Which I love. Kind of that shock you need to get going for the day! Ha ha ha!

When I first walked in the house I was a little worried. The first place I saw was the bathroom.
Complete with a seatless toilet…

At least it ends the age old battle between men and women and I am not sad because I win….seat is ALWAYS up. I was then was taken to my bedroom which has quite a musty odour along with the primitive key seen below ( I was thinking that maybe I was going to be living in a treasure chest!). Turns out that there was a serious termite infestation, hence the smell, but had been removed. You can see the evidence still on my wall.

When I went to open the curtains and open the windows…turns out I have a lot of bars on my windows that are tied closed with telephone wire….I feel really safe! LOL!

After the hanging of a few pictures (thanks to the Fun Tac from Grandma) and my mosquito net, it started to feel like home.

Then there is the kitchen which I described to you before but here are some pictures to better show you. As I said we have a little kitchen sink which only has cold water. Here is Hilda washing dishes. There is also one table and a cupboard which has very few groceries(I recently added g-nut butter and some "Digestive" cookies to the cupboard which come in handy). We have no fridge so we can’t keep anything perishable and end up shopping most days. And of course the small charcoal fire stove/pot that sits in the middle of the kitchen. Here is Carol cooking supper on the charcoal burner. We also boil water on here so that it is drinkable.

Now if you are like me…after the tour you are asking….”Where is your shower?”. Well I did and Hilda replied “It’s in the bathroom.” to which I replied “Ohhhh, it was behind the door?”. Nope it was there…you saw it too in that first picture of the bathroom.

Just a little spout coming off the wall. I usually end up washing pretty much the entire bathroom in the process. And of course we only get cold water….I used to do this little dance where I would run in and the run out, rolling my eyes into the back of my head and pep-talking "you can do it!" but now I am pretty used to the cold water and even kind of enjoy it. It’s a great way to wake up in the morning.

So if any of you want to come visit I have a refreshing shower and plenty of room on my floor for you.

On a side note: This morning a woman came to our house to get water as she doesn't have any (for whatever reason) and she was carrying her baby and wearing this nice long dress with a perfect hole cut our of it for breastfeeding. Not quite what you expect to be standing on your doorstep first thing in the morning. Ohhhhh Uganda....