Closet Space

Go left at the end of the street; then take the first right. At the big rock in the road, turn left. We are the house immediately past the giant school sign. All in all, it’s about a 2-minute walk. That is if you begin at the Nathaniel house of the Ethiopian Guest Homes, which is where we have stayed since our arrival. Take me anywhere else and I'm lost. On the other end of our street is a medical clinic on the corner and a pharmacy within eye shot of the clinic.

The house is big. But, the plan has always been to share a home with long-term volunteers. 1) Shared rent = less rent. 2) The volunteers would have stability with an amazing family…us…instead of at a bed and breakfast with a steady string of guests. The first volunteer will arrive in June and plans to be here a year. I’m sensing that she loves kids and will insist on letting us have an occasional date night out. Then behind the kitchen there is a row of rooms that will be used by the guest home for teams during the busy summer months. More entertainment for the kids.

The first picture is of the gate in front of the house, and of course those cuties I sometimes call my kids. A gate? you ask. Yes. Pretty much every home has a similar gate. Even many businesses in town have them. A few much nicer with a touch of someone’s green thumb, and others on the shabby and even dilapidated side. It’s really no big deal. The kids are super excited about the barbed wire at the top though.

And, a stone's throw away from that gate is a big pile of dirt. Behind it, a police station.

The common living and dining area are one large room separated by that little step you see Ivan jumping up. Avery is standing in the “dining room.” Right behind her is the kitchen.


The kitchen sink overlooks those extra rooms for busy summers. Keith must have told Hanook, the guy who did the house hunting for us, about my cooking expertise. That little door will come in handy when I smoke up the kitchen, or set it on fire. True story.


Kids’ rooms. We’re going to try for the same situation we have at home. Boys in one room, Avery in the other…but they all sleep in one room. Two rooms are nice when we need to separate them, which is inevitable in the excitement of a new house.


For now, this will be the family closet since it is the only closet. Seriously. It’ll work, but I am expecting something fantabulous out of Keith’s handy-man and engineering skills.


The only piece of grass is outside the gate. I think we can get by with a pair of scissors for lawn maintenance. That feature alone won Keith over.