Things I Bought Today

Here is a comprehensive list of the things I bought/will buy today to get ready to live in my new house:

wash buckets and small pitchers/cups to wash dishes and clothes (I don't have a sink or running water)
a crappy cutting knife that may easily break soon (cost- 70 cents)
a spoon
a wok/frying pan thing
a metal spatula and a wooden spoon
a set of aluminum pots (forget about non-stick, those are hard to find and super expensive)
a set of hot pots to keep food warm
a small charcoal jiko (8" in diameter, 8" tall maybe)
a cutting board
a good lock for my front door
black pepper and curry powder
air freshener for my concrete squat toilet room
dish soap and steel wool
flour, butter, pasta, jam, pb, bread, powdered milk, sugar

And I think I'll survive on that in my village for the next week or two, I hope. At least the pb and j sandwiches will sustain me if nothing else I cook works out. Not exactly the things you would think to buy when setting up a new apartment in America are they?

I can get rice, tomatoes, fish (really gross fish-ey fish), bananas, mangos, and onions in my village, along with soap and cooking oil I think. Luckily it's very easy for me to get into Iringa town and buy absolutely anything I need, so I'll get some dishes, more buckets and water storage tanks, maybe a nice kerosene stove, more staple food, and that sort of thing next time I come. I hope you're all enjoying your safi (clean, fancy, excellent, awesome) lives in America!!!