New Crib

Eight days ago I moved from Handal Vilaj to my current residence.  I worked with Facilities and my friend to execute the move in less than half a day.  I was fortunate to have the help because I always seem to have more stuff than I need, much less comfortably move.

I was nervous about the state of the dirt road from 15 Octobre to my current residence in Vivy Mitchell because each time I drove up it the gullies became even deeper and wider.  Consequently, this was (and still is) a common occurrence.

take it from me, I know

And that's why we wear our seat belts,

But I lucked out because some organization (the government?) smoothed out the road several weeks ago and the rains have been light since April so the drive has been easy on my RAV4.  Moreover, I realized how perfectly situated my house is.  In good weather and reasonable traffic, I am about 20 minutes from the Embassy and 35 minutes from Pétion-Ville.  (As a comparison, my colleagues in Juvenat commute over an hour to Tabarre).  To top it off, the house itself is amazing.  I have two bedrooms and one office upstairs, three balconies, a spiral staircase, nice metalwork, tile floors, impressive bathrooms, and high ceilings throughout.  I have ample green space and a majestic view.

[Photo coming soon!]

When I moved to Handal in January, technically it was first time I had ever lived alone.  But I lived in a little oasis of Americana.  We had DirecTV, a small pool, and all the air conditioning we could stand. 

But sadly not this; because nothing says "thank you for our freedom" like a flag made of bacon

At Handal I had the option to be around people all the time and I quickly came to grow fond of the artificial, but warm community that existed there.  Moving to Vivy changed all that.  Not only am I in a stand-alone house (as opposed to a duplex or an multi-unit building) I am perched upon a hill.  The wind whips the house and howls at it during the night.  My fortress is strong, but cold and isolating.

I hope to change that soon though.  I am almost done unpacking (with a lot of help from Nancie – merci!) and I hope to host a party soon.  If it’s anything like this, it will be a wild success and I will probably need to retain counsel.