Almost One Month at Post

   So, I have been at post for almost one month now. I love my village but it is true that this is one of the lows. The stress of training is gone and the excitement of moving to post is almost gone. It has been difficult lately, especially with Christmas coming and knowing that all of my family in the States will be traveling soon to be together. I really hope that I will be able to talk to them soon.
   Other than that I have been settling into my village. I am pretty used to how things happen here. I wish that it were easier to get things that I need or want. I have to travel two hours on a rough road and pay six to ten thousand cfa just to get some of my necessities. It would not be so bad except that my house was totally empty when I moved in. It still is because I have to go to the carpenter to have furniture made and each piece of furniture costs almost half of my monthly pay check. Right now it looks like I will not have a furnished house until at least the end of summer. I have the bare essentials so it is fine. The only problem is that I work better when I am settled somewhere. Not having a comfortable place to go, or anywhere to sit at home, except the floor is rough.
   I have two pieces of furniture being made right now at the carpenter's. They are a dresser and a cabinet, so at least I will soon be able to put things away and maybe stop living out of my suitcases. I think that that will help a lot, just not having to dig through suitcases to find things that I need. The next things that I will have made, I think, will be a sofa set so that I can let people sit down when they come over and a dining table/desk with a few chairs. All of this will cost way more than my pay check. So, I think I will look into getting some money from home just to cover these things. After these few things I think I will be able to start being more comfortable in my house and will be more okay with slowly gathering furniture and dishes and other things that I will eventually need.

   I was finally able to buy some gas for my stove! So, I have been able to do a little bit of cooking. Mostly just eggs in the morning and some mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes were amazing! It was great to have food like what I had in the States. I also made boiled dinner, without the meat, so that is cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and onions. I made this without the meat because the market day in my village is only every four days so meat is only available every fourth day and I do not have a fridge to keep any meats or left overs in.

   I am sorry that I sound so down. I had a stressful weekend, I am sick, and just kind of lonely. I will talk more about my village and my post mates in my next post. I miss everyone at home and hope that they are doing well. By the way, I am actually missing the snow right now. If anyone has some pictures of the snow there I would love to see it!