Where my heart leads me: Blog Challenge Day #2

Blog Challenge Day #2: HOME

I live in a town called Woliso and is about two hours (or 120 kilometers) south of Addis Ababa (the capital of Ethiopia). The population of Woliso is somewhere between 50,000 and 75,000. I live in a compound (a walled area with a locked gate) that has a main house where the main family lives, three rooms for tenants (one of which I live in), a shower room and a shint bet (a toilet, or really a hole in the wall). There is also a large grassy area and a small garden.

My house is one large cement room. My home is on the larger side of the size Peace Corps volunteer homes in Ethiopia. My room has a curtain that separates it in half. One side is my living space and the other side is my bedroom. On the side that is my bedroom, I have my bed and a piece of bamboo furniture for organizing my clothing. The other side designated as my living space includes a couple wooden tables, a wooden cabinet, another bamboo table and a bamboo bench. I have all of my cookware in this area as well.

One thing I have found is how important it is to make my home feel like home. I have tried to make it a place that feels comfortable, welcoming, and safe. I have covered my walls with photos of family and friends, a calendar, etc. I have one wall that is just for letters sent to me.

For more about my home, you can go to either of these previous blog posts:

http://caitlinrahn.blogspot.com/2014/06/living-at-site.html

http://caitlinrahn.blogspot.com/2015/12/pcv-tips-making-your-home-feel-like-home.html

Here is a general map of Ethiopia for those of you who are not familiar with the country.

This is the part of the compound where the tenants (including myself) live.

And here is my door!

It may look a little messy (and I am not a messy person), but within this context I don't mind because it makes it feel lived in.

My cooking area. I generally use an electric stove and will use my propane stove when the electricity goes out.

Here I have my calendar as well as a timeline for myself. I began the timeline with the month that I currently was in at the time and worked my way through to the last month of my service.