Things That Made Me Happy Today

(1) Weekend plans: I'm going to the big N (Nairobi) to eat sushi and cheeseburgers. After dreaming about chocolate cake and mom's homemade pizza last night, I'm ready for some American food.

(2) Furniture! I have a couch. It was delivered with two matching chairs, a tv stand/cabinet, and a vanity for my bedroom.


(3) The couch and chairs are zebra print. Not my usual style. Actually none of my furniture is my usual taste at all because I had nothing to do with its creation. Let me explain: all of my furniture is being made by a member of the co-op I work for who is also a (very expensive) carpenter. I paid for my bed and coffee table, but when he gave me a quote for the rest of the furniture I wanted (a couch, a dresser, and a work table for the kitchen) it was about twice what I had been given for my total settling in allowance. The manager of the co-op said he'd talk to the board, and they are buying the remained of my furniture. They also think that I need a desk and chair, the vanity, cabinet, and chairs I got today, a gas cooker, and a tv.

(4) Rearranging the furniture after it was delivered. It was an exercise in Kenyan culture when the men brought in the furniture and then proceeded to discuss amongst themselves how to arrange it. I'm sort of particular about how my furniture is arranged, but I could tell that my opinion wasn't a factor in this decision; there is a very particular way in which Kenyan sitting rooms are set up, and the only debate was how to make sure the tv could reach the plug. Happily, the furniture isn't super heavy so once they left, I shuffled everything around until I was as satisfied as I could be, given the size of the room compared to the size of the furniture. It's starting to look like a real house!

(5) This Land Is My Land playing on the radio of a duka (shop) on my way home. (I also teared up a little at this one. I'm a little patriotic; it's the marching band history.)

(6) An afternoon thunderstorm, happiness amplified by getting home just before the skies opened up and poured the rains down in Africa... (that's for you, Krystle)

(7) Hot chocolate (with milk straight out of the cow) in my new mug. It's the simple things in life!

(8) The You Know You're From Fonda-Fultonville When... list on Facebook.

That's a lot of happiness in one day. I'd have been content with just one or two of those things, but like a lot of things with Peace Corps, it seems to be all or nothing. Miss you all!

love me