New House

As requested, here are some photos of my new house and garden, where I'll be living for the next 6 months. 

The building is split into two rooms, one house on the left and another (mine) on the right. Inside is one big room with a kitchen area at one end, a bedroom area at the other, a living area in the middle and a walled off bathroom. 

Because the previous occupant moved out the same day I moved in I was able to keep all of her kitchen stuff

I've got some tinsel in an attempt to feel Christmassy!

Generally it's quite nice, but there's a big problem with the water. Most of the time it doesn't work at all and often it's just a dribble. I've only managed to get the shower to work twice (at a dribble), so the easiest way to wash is with a bucket. You just have to be organised enough to remember to fill it from the sink when the water's on. One great thing is that I've got a kettle in my new house, so I can have warm water (there's no hot water from the taps).

Bucket shower

Round the back is the garden:

I ordered some manure for the garden and this is how it arrived! How brilliant is that?!

The garden is a bit sparse, but I've started digging some beds to plant my vegetable patch. My neighbour Whyson (also one of my O&G regs) came to over while I was working and wasn't very impressed with my digging skills, so very helpfully did a lot for me! The ground is very hard and dry so it's hard work, and can only really be done in the evening or early morning as it's much too hot in the day.

The garden actually belongs to both houses, but since there's no one living in the other house I've taken over it all. Hope whoever moves in doesn't mind!

I've inherited 3 chickens from the previous house's residents, which makes me extremely happy! They have actually been promised to someone who's on holiday at the moment, but apparently it was quite a loose arrangement, so I'm hoping she'll forget!

I've called the black one nkuku (nkuku, with a silent n, is Chewa for chicken), the white one Martha, and the brown one Chicken Licken! Chicken Licken is a free range chicken who wanders around the garden and neighbouring area, but always comes home! I think possibly the other two are mean to her, because she spends v little time inside the coop, where as they spend very little time outside of it.

I've been waking up at 5.30 most days, partly because it's so light, but also because there are a lot of cockerels around that start crowing at first light. The Zambians believe that chickens won't lay unless they have a cockerel, so they all have one. Now all mzungu know this isn't a thing, so when my chickens previous owners found one of them was a cockerel they got rid of it, and apparently the exact same day they stopped laying! It's taken them 3 months to start again, and only one of them has.