Getting Used to Things

Things are settling down now. It’s been about two weeks and it doesn’t quite feel like home, but it’s not entirely foreign now either. We’re starting to know the area around our house better, even past the supermarket, school, and church. We even walked to the U.S. Embassy on the ocean front to check in, so we can get any safety updates so we know what’s going on. There was nothing significant right now, but it’s nice that they have our information just in case.

We’ve also solved a lot of the problems that made things a little awkward before:

Problem: Lots of bugs, especially mosquitoes that carry Dengue Fever and Malaria.
Solution: Death to bugs spray. Our house has gone from regularly having bugs appear and termites eating our door frame, to no termites, less little red ants that get into our food, and our room is practically mosquito-proof.

Problem: Mosquito-proofing our room.
Solution: We have our mosquito net bed, extra pieces of mosquito net that cover the holes in the windows and open space over the door to the bathroom, and we’ve covered the standing water in our bathroom.

As you probably know, mosquitoes lay their eggs in still water, and then the eggs hatch and you get more mosquitoes. In our bathroom we have a big tub of water for showering and flushing the toilet. This is where the mosquitoes were laying eggs and we could also see some other things in the water. But since then, Brendan has taken out the mosquito eggs and little things and now we cover it with bubble wrap. So showering is not nearly as scary of an experience, and can ever be relaxing depending on the heat of the day : )

Problem: Not sleeping enough.
Solution: All four of us dove right into volunteering at the school even though the Sisters have pushed us to take it easier. But after Chris, Sali, and Dogmara came to visit for a few days they convinced us that we need to sleep more. We’re here for a year and it’s a marathon, not a sprint. So even though we’ve continued our duties at school we’ve designated a few mornings to sleep in, which I think will help us in the long run to not get sick and exhausted. The change from cold Rome to hot hot hot Dili has confused our bodies a lot and adjusting has taken longer then we would like. But it’s been almost two weeks now and it’s getting better.

So those were basically the only little issues we had and all of them we’ve resolved. So don’t feel bad for us. I apologize for scaring you with what I said about the water (although it was true – before you really could see things swimming in it). But we have easy access to safe water to drink all the time and in two weeks no one has gotten sick from the food preparation. Here, more than ever, we learn to appreciate little and new things... like not getting malaria, not having creepy crawlies in your shower water, and not getting sick from your food : ) So life is good! Hope all is good with you too!

Love you,

Rach and Brendan