I wanted to tell a couple stories about the moving in process. So, I get here and it’s kinda frustrating because the house is exactly as I left it. People here and at the Peace Corps office made it sound like my roof would be fixed and my electricity installed before I got here, but that was a no go. On the upside, my durotank is full! (Downside, the spigot is broken and so I’m currently holding in the water with a machete-made cork (didn’t make it myself)).
The first day, I worked with a new friend named Edward to build shelves and set up my stove. That was fun and it is amazing how fast and hard these guys can work when they want to – Edward is a smart guy and clearly has some resources. He lives next to one of the nicer wash spots at the river and he showed me his sound system and computer the other day. Nice. Not sure how that all works just yet, but that’s a challenge for another day.
Anyway, the next day Edward came back and said we should work on wiring the house. The “Fajama,” who happens to be Edwards brother, would come later and help us hook up the electricity. Faja (sounds like Fire with out much of an r) is the word for fire, light, and electricity. So we laid the wiring and all that, and then came the fajama and time to hook up to the grid.
Gary, if you are reading this, sit down. I thought of you and the Ol’ safety committee the entire time. The Safety Committee was tough – half the time I felt like I was on the super lax end and the other half super strict – but man I missed the environment when they were wiring in my house!
Poles around the village make up a basic grid tied to a diesel generator – I haven’t seen it yet, but learning about it is on the list. To bring electricity to your house, you splice into one of the poles. Often literally. So here’s the scenario. It’s not quite sunset yet, but there are a lot of clouds so it’s dusky. The fajama is 20 feet up, leaning against a questionable pole on a questionable ladder – it would definitely not have ben checked into an McM warehouse. And he’s using the only tool (besides hammer, nails, and machete) we’ve used all day – my stainless steel leatherman. Now, it’s not that bad because the electricity isn’t on yet, but it get’s better.
When he gets to the top, there’s a bee’s nest or something. So after a quick climb down he’s back up there and no he’s juggling a can of local-brand Raid and spraying himself, the nest, the pole, and the air trying to keep them from stinging him. Raid should probably not be worn like Off, but strangely it smells pretty good here.
He doesn’t have any pockets (or a shirt and he’s wearing flip flops), so he just sticks the can into his waistband and goes from there. Some stripping, some splicing, and then we run another wire the 100 feet or so that my house is from the pole – resting in some trees and whatever else we can find along the way. Unfortunately, it isn’t long enough. So we take some of the extra house wire (this stuff has 3 individually coated strands within the bigger rubber coating) strip it hardcore, plait it around the end of the other wire, wrap that with a bunch of wire to hold it together, and then tie that into my house. Oddly, the tie in spot is a beautiful, brand new, could-have-bought-it-at-Walmart fuse box. Oh, I forgot to mention – throughout this adventure, it was raining. There was lightning too.
It was amazing. Safety means something else here. These guys do take it seriously, because hurting yourself can have huge consequences – and everybody has scars. I’ve already picked up a couple of cuts that will no doubt scar on me too (I’ve now relearned that wonderful lesson – hopefully – of cut away from yourself). It’s hard not too in this climate and under these hygiene conditions. But, anyway, taking safety seriously means they carefully know and consider the risks before the do something, but they often take risks we would never fathom in the States. And usually that is fine. If you are careful and skilled, we often way overthink things in the States – I know I felt that way on the Safety Committee once or twice. But, it’s pretty scary some other times!
So, I’ve got faja, some shelves, and my roof doesn’t leak anymore (that happened another day, though most of the new thatch fell of yesterday, so I need to figure out how to get that guy back here again…). Not too bad J
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