Home Sweet Home.
If you are a cockroach, that is.
Mel and I moved into our home just yesterday. There was a fiasco with the keys and we half expected never to get in, but we were pleasantly surprised to be in and unpacking by 11am. That's a lie actually - it was too dirty to unpack, so together with Drew (Winnipeg) and Natalie (UK) who all live within a block of us, we headed straight to Kamwala to shop. Kamwala is an area full of shops run by Indians, and you can find absolutely everything there, at what we have been told are undoubtedly the best prices in town (especially if you have a flare for bargaining). We picked up a broom, bucket, towels, pillows and a few other odds and ends before heading to Shoprite, the major grocery chain here, for more cleaning supplies and a few food items to tide us over for the next couple of days.
Upon arriving home we set out on a cleaning and water-boiling frenzy (this was so that we could get filtering water to have a supply on hand). It was made difficult by the fact that we had no running water for most of the time (and when we did it was only hot!), but one of our neighbours informed us of a tap downstairs that always has water, so we were able to manage by lugging buckets of water upstairs. In the cleaning process we swept up about 20 dead cockroaches, and I hoped that was the last I would see of them. We sprayed key areas with 'Doom' just in case, and went out for a drink. By the time we got back, 10 more had appeared, and subsequently died, and a few more were crawling around. I went to bed feeling very uneasy and woke up this morning to find 2 in my room and about 6 more in the kitchen... It's a cockroach kingdom, but hopefully they'll get tired of being killed off and look for a new place to live.
Today we did another shopping run, and slowly the place is taking shape. On Tuesday, Eric, an expat that has been here for a number of years and has now married a Zambian, is going to take us around to some places where we can get furniture, curtains and sheets made. A small BBQ for the balcony is also top of the list:) Eric has also offered to hook us up with a woman to clean and do laundry once a week. Normally I wouldn't be to keen on having a cleaning lady, but given how long it takes to wash everything by hand and keep an apartment clean in such a dusty place, I think I may cave.
Not much else to add at this point. I'm adjusting to life as a Mzungu (white girl) in Africa slowly but surely, and looking forward to everything to come in the next 6 months.
Mel and I moved into our home just yesterday. There was a fiasco with the keys and we half expected never to get in, but we were pleasantly surprised to be in and unpacking by 11am. That's a lie actually - it was too dirty to unpack, so together with Drew (Winnipeg) and Natalie (UK) who all live within a block of us, we headed straight to Kamwala to shop. Kamwala is an area full of shops run by Indians, and you can find absolutely everything there, at what we have been told are undoubtedly the best prices in town (especially if you have a flare for bargaining). We picked up a broom, bucket, towels, pillows and a few other odds and ends before heading to Shoprite, the major grocery chain here, for more cleaning supplies and a few food items to tide us over for the next couple of days.
Upon arriving home we set out on a cleaning and water-boiling frenzy (this was so that we could get filtering water to have a supply on hand). It was made difficult by the fact that we had no running water for most of the time (and when we did it was only hot!), but one of our neighbours informed us of a tap downstairs that always has water, so we were able to manage by lugging buckets of water upstairs. In the cleaning process we swept up about 20 dead cockroaches, and I hoped that was the last I would see of them. We sprayed key areas with 'Doom' just in case, and went out for a drink. By the time we got back, 10 more had appeared, and subsequently died, and a few more were crawling around. I went to bed feeling very uneasy and woke up this morning to find 2 in my room and about 6 more in the kitchen... It's a cockroach kingdom, but hopefully they'll get tired of being killed off and look for a new place to live.
Today we did another shopping run, and slowly the place is taking shape. On Tuesday, Eric, an expat that has been here for a number of years and has now married a Zambian, is going to take us around to some places where we can get furniture, curtains and sheets made. A small BBQ for the balcony is also top of the list:) Eric has also offered to hook us up with a woman to clean and do laundry once a week. Normally I wouldn't be to keen on having a cleaning lady, but given how long it takes to wash everything by hand and keep an apartment clean in such a dusty place, I think I may cave.
Not much else to add at this point. I'm adjusting to life as a Mzungu (white girl) in Africa slowly but surely, and looking forward to everything to come in the next 6 months.
posted by ash at 5:07 PM
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