My New Pad

I know it has been awhile since my last post, and although I've been too busy to sit down and write anything real long-winded about all that has been keeping me busy, I figured I'd at least churn out a new post to give an idea of what my new house is like. Hopefully in the next week or two I'll be able to follow this up with another post about everything else going on as a part of my new job assignment within Peace Corps and my new life in San Francisco Gotera.

But for starters, below is a picture of my living room, where I don't spend too much time, but is a nice place to watch TV. Although, in El Salvador, generally the majority of the programming is in Spanish, which requires me to think a little more than I prefer to when watching TV, I have been able to catch all of the NBA Finals, Wimbledon, the French Open, some golf, and a ton of soccer. Also, I found one channel that shows "Law & Order" in English almost every day, so....what more could I really ask for?

Above is the garden, which is more the domain of the older lady who lives downstairs and rents the upstairs out to me, but it is a perfectly serviceable place to hang your clothes to dry.

This is the kitchen, which I basically have the run of, since I've been living here for almost a month and still have yet to see the older lady who lives downstairs eat. It is basically an American-style kitchen, which has been one of my favorite parts of living here, since I can finally cook my own food again. Hello spaghetti & tomato sauce, mac and cheese, and peanut butter & jelly, bye bye tortillas!

These are my new pets, the two birds that live down in the garden. They can even talk a little bit, but I am still working on teaching them English.

This is a view from the outside. Although I only use one bedroom, one bathroom, and the living room, I do technically have the entire upstairs, which contains four bedrooms, two bathrooms, the living room, and the entire wrap-around patio. It has come in handy already though, since other Peace Corps Volunteers can definitely always spend the night at my house. And San Francisco Gotera's first Halloween Party is already in the planning phase, so don't say you weren't invited!

Above are two shots of my new room. Although not huge, it definitely fits everything I need and allows me to sleep in my bed or in my hammock (on those especially hot nights). I've also got a nice, shaded view right into the pool fn the military base located directly across the street.

This is the bathroom, which may remind some of a Motel 6 bathroom shrunk even smaller, but to me is a god-send. After two years in San Luis, my old community, with just a latrine and the neighbor's house where I went to bucket-bathe, for me, this is practically the Ritz-Carlton.