Its been a while since I have posted here, mainly because not much has really happened….not much exciting or soul-destroying anyway. Which is a good thing.
Elson and I are happily walking the marriage path, once again, no major ups or downs there.
Which is a good thing.
We have moved to a new house out in the village of Bvumbwe. It is a guest house attached to a lovely cottage surrounded by a beautiful garden, wildlife and virtual silence.
That is a great thing.
Living in the mouldy flat in the middle of Limbe nearly sucked the life out of me. Here in Bvumbwe I feel like my soul has been restored to its former glory and I can get through the day without collapsing in a homesick heap.
Elson trots off to his home village of Nam’goma, near Monkey Bay, every couple of weeks. We have set up a small clothing shop there, so he keeps an eye on it and on his family.
We have adopted one of his dogs from the village – Timve – he keeps me company when Elson’s away. He has claimed the living room couch as his throne and he holds court there daily. Daily, as in 24/7. I have to forcibly remove His Majesty from the couch when I leave for work.
Funny thing – I feed him nsima and canned dog food (sometimes cat food – he loves fish). The chickens have taken to eating his leftovers. Hmmm…chickens eating meat. There is one chook called Ginger. She has eaten so much meat, that when there is none, she acts like a drug addict looking for a fix. She has taken (and obviously encouraged the other chooks) to peck at and eat the polystyrene foam under my new washing machine. It has become a craze! Its disturbing to watch.
Speaking of washing machines, I bought a new twin tub. I grew up my whole life with a twin tub in the laundry and its rubbed off on me. Its a beauty. No more hand washing my smalls for Elson. What a guy. Seriously- what a guy.
I ask him to do something and he does it. I needed a chest of drawers, so he goes into the village and speaks to the local carpenter. I need a wooden box made and fitted for my motorbike, he finds a guy to make it and gets a bar welded on the back. Then he finds a guy to make a lockable lid for it. Then he paints the whole thing and fits it to my bike. This guy is on a roll. My bench top oven blows a gasket – he gets it fixed the next day in the village AND he cleans off one year’s baked on grease and grime before it leaves the house. This guy rocks! Then I get home and the house is sparkling and dinner is cooked. If anyone wonders why I’m staying in this god forsaken country, its because of Elson.
Anyhoo…. life goes on.