Alone Time

For the first time since I’ve been here, I had the chance to spend an entire day back at the house without anyone else there. I could basically do what I wanted and I was feeling pretty well so it was great. I love doing things and being with people, but if I don’t have a few hours alone every once and a while, I start to get way too tired. I’m an introvert at heart. Anyway, I decided to tackle the huge squash our neighbor had brought us and see about making pumpkin bread. There aren’t real round orange pumpkins here, but this squash was basically the same thing. I cut the whole thing up, cooked it, and baked the pumpkin bread and muffins in our neighbors’ outdoor wood burning oven.

Once the heaps of dishes were washed, I was able to spend a nice long time studying Lingala, listening to music and reading. I got to play my fiddle too, which is something I don’t get to do as often as I’d like. Unfortunately I’ve forgotten a lot of my fiddle songs, but I remembered some and had fun playing those. It was really strange to stand there playing Cherokee Shuffle or St. Anne’s Reel and looking out the window at palm trees and little Congolese children running around in the school yard. Somehow it doesn’t quite fit. 

The bread and muffins turned out very nicely. I brought them back from the neighbors’ house, trying not to slip in the mud and handing out some samples to people on the way back. Later in the afternoon I walked down the road a little way to say hi to some other neighbors and friends and buy some avocados. Back at the house I made some dinner for when the others got back. Dark came quickly and before I knew it they were home and the day was ending. It was a nice restful day, but a bit lonely at the same time. I definitely miss my family!