another home sweet home

this was my home in harare, zimbabwe. unless you were in a very poor area, every house was protected by some kind of fence - usually barbed wire or broken pieces of glass ran along the top. we had a fence, barbed wire, 3 tier electrical wiring PLUS two security guards. houses in swaziland usually don't have the electric wiring.

I moved out of my homestay yesterday and it was actually a very hard thing to do. When I originally started this internship in Zimbabwe (which seems like ages ago), I was living in a house. When I came to Swaziland I was told I’d have to do a homestay. I wasn’t happy. The family turned out to be quite nice. The mother was very kind and I could tell we could have been friends – if there wasn’t the whole ‘hostmom/hostdaughter’ dynamic.

I had two main issues that lead to me wanting to move out 1) privacy 2) freedom. I didn’t have a lot of privacy in the house. My room was the family’s common room – everyone had something in the closet that they always seemed to need while I was in there. It may not seem like a big deal but for any of you who have lived and worked in a different country know, at the end of some days you really need a room to call your own.

I also didn’t feel like I had much freedom. I wasn’t given keys to the house so anytime I came home after the gate and doors where locked I’d have to call my hostmom and wake her up to let me in. Even if I did have the keys the guard dog would have attacked me.

I told ‘M’ on Sunday that I’d be leaving Tuesday. I hadn’t been there for 2 weeks so she wasn’t surprised. She said she wasn’t angry and that she understood but yesterday when I went to get my things she didn’t say much. I hope I didn’t burn any bridges. Sometimes you just gotta do what’s best for you, even if it does offend some else.

I’m now renting a bachelor apartment on a farm. 2 other friends rent rooms in the house. I have space and privacy and live in a gorgeous part of the country. Since August I’ve lived in 3 different homes and at least a dozen hotels. If I make it longer than 4 weeks it’ll be an African best!