My House

American Gothic revisited with my houseboy and chicken. 

The living room complete with a painted Rwandan flag.

Eating after English lessons with teachers from my school.

English lessons with some of the women from my village.

The dining room with a painted American flag. 

The study area where I keep all my work and books.

My bedroom.  The net above the bed is used at night to prevent me from insect bites (particularly mosquito bites).

The kitchen area.

Another view of the kitchen area.  The stainless steel item on the far right is my water filter. 

My shower area.  Just add a bucket of cold water.

Bathroom.  Due to this setup, I have forgotten how to flush a toilet. 

The courtyard where we keep our chickens protected.

Mama chicken with her baby chicks.

The baby chicks getting a drink of water before they go to bed.

Baby chick posing for her close up.

My two chickens that lay eggs everyday along with the rooster that wakes me up every morning.





            When you move to a village, you are given a handful of things including a primary assignment (job), a counterpart (someone who is supposed to help you adjust in your village), and a place to live. 

            By Peace Corps standards, my house is large and nice.  However, when I moved in the house was nothing but walls filled with half finished stucco and mud stained windows.  For the first two months, I sanded down the walls, painted the walls, cleaned the windows, brought in furniture, placed a solar panel on the top of the house and electrified the house, hung pictures and artifacts, and got a person to help me out with daily chores.

            The house has high ceilings which is ideal in the hot season when the house breathes well and doesn’t become a Turkish bath house.  Some of the volunteer houses have very low roofs and small rooms which make it almost unbearable to sleep in the hot season. 

            My newest addition to the house is two chickens that lay eggs every day.  My helper brought over his rooster (which loves to crow at about 5 am everyday).  Last week, I bought a mama chicken with her eight baby chicks.  For all the chickens and rooster, we built a chicken coup to hold the chickens and protect the chicks from hawks that would swoop down and take them when we are not at the house.  The chicks are great and growing fast. 

            My house has become a social center of activity.  I teach some of the local merchant women English, I have Kinyarwanda lessons twice a week, we watch movies with my neighbors every other week, and I invite my fellow teachers over every Wednesday for English lessons and lunch.  The house generally has a good amount of activity, including neighbors coming over to play traditional Rwandan games, look at magazines, or play darts.  It’s become a great place to host.

            My favorite parts are the American flag painted on one side of the wall along with the Rwandan flag painted on the other side, and my hammock that looks out over the valley from my porch.   Enjoy the pictures!