Macgyver

I often joke that I somehow ended up in Posh Corps.  Some of it has to do with my location and assignment, and some of it is due to the changes that the whole world has undergone since Peace Corps was founded.  I doubt that Kennedy ever imagined that I would be able to talk to my grandmother with video via the internet from a Peace Corps post.  I try not to let technology get in the way of my service, but being able to see my family from time to time certainly changed Peace Corps.  However, sometimes these technological advances make life seem a little backwards for me.  I have two cell phones and mobile internet, but I do not always have electricity or running water.  Being connected is a given, but some of the basics here (like furniture) often require a little creativity.

After several months of living in my new apartment and waiting for a wire organizer to be made (it never was), I could no longer keep using my travel bag as a dresser.  A few milk crates, a handful of zip-ties and a broom stick later, voila.

I'm similarly proud of my kitchen counter/storage area.  The two sheets of plywood with oil paint stacked between cinder blocks is nothing special.  Thanks to a friend who gifted me one of her old cortes, it's actually attractive!  Little by little, I'm getting organized and settled.  True to family tradition, I should finish the "basement" just in time to move home.  :)