Two weeks!

Yesterday was a milestone for me, as it marked my two week anniversary of living here! Time has sure flown by! Although it's only been two weeks, I've learned some valuable lessons about surviving here that I thought I'd pass on. Who knows....they might come in handy for you as well someday!

#1. Hoard electricity. Every time the NPA (the national electricity) comes on or the generator starts running, it is vital that you plug everything you own in. If you do this, you will almost always have enough power to watch some of "The Office" as you go to bed. Very important.

#2. When going into the bathroom, if you have electricity, always make sure to turn on the light, count to 5 and then go into the bathroom. This gives time for the little geckos and anything else that might be enjoying the darkness to run away before you go into the bathroom and their sudden movement gives you a heart attack.

#3. Don't wait to do your laundry until you are completely out of clothes. This is due to the fact that after your clothes are hung out to dry, you must allow them to sit for 48 hours before you wear them. This is to prevent mango flies from deciding that the area under your skin is a perfect new place to live. (You can google mango flies. And be grossed out.)

#4. Early to bed and early to rise! Until we get solar power, we are running the generator at night to provide power for our security lights (but has the added bonus of powering a fan!) It's usually turned off around 5:30-6am. I've found that if I sleep in much more than that, I toss and turn in a puddle of my own sweat. So for now, my night shift habits have been broken and I'm in bed by about 10!!

Well, those are the little tidbits I've learned at this point. Who knows what I'll learn in the next two weeks! :)