Life with the Mulbah Family

After talking to someone from home recently, I realized that I have not adequately explained my homestay situation.  Let me give you a peek into everyday life for me.

My house does not have electricity or running water.  This means that at night, we use candles or flashlights to see.  (My favorite is my flashlight that is on my phone – it is convenient and I don’t have to remember anything extra to have a light to see in my room.)  I take a bucket bath every night and some mornings, depending on how I feel.  My average bedtime (due to the lack of light, etc.) is 9:00 pm, and I wake up each morning around 5:30 or 6:00. 

I am fortunate to have a brother who hauls water for the family every morning and every night.  Cooper fills up the big barrel we have near the bathroom and also ensures that there is adequate water in the kitchen area.  I will haul a bucket of water when I need to fill up my water filter, but otherwise I do not have to pump water every day. 

Liberians live a very public, communal life.  Every meal is eaten together and outside, typically.  I am the exception to this rule, however.  My sister is gracious enough to make me a separate meal for dinner that is ready when I get home.  Typically, it is different from the family’s meal in that it has significantly less oil, pepper, or mayonnaise than the rest of the food.  I am so grateful for this…and I think that my arteries are, as well.

Another aspect of life that is different here for me is the idea of not being in your room.  I have my own room, and I by far spend the most time indoors by myself as compared to the rest of my family.  The rest of my family is always outside on the porch, in the yard, or visiting friends; being alone here is seen as stand-offish or rude.  All of my siblings and my parents only enter their rooms to sleep or to retrieve something quickly; otherwise, they are always with each other.

Peace Corps staff has done a wonderful job of coordinating our homestays.  The homestay coordinator, Florence, hosted a training session of sorts for all of our families, where she described the quirks of American volunteers.  This included telling them not to be offended if we wanted to spend time alone, letting them know that we will (more than likely) get sick and only want to eat plain rice, and educating them on our dietary needs.  That information included tips like little-to-no oil, mayonnaise, or pepper in our food, proper sanitation guidelines (not letting food sit out for too long, etc.), and information on clean water sources.  Peace Corps has provided us with a very nice water filter that filters out pretty much everything that can make us sick.  When I am at home, I only drink water that has come from this; the only exception is the hot water that my sister gives me for my hot chocolate (kind-of) drink in the morning.  She boils that water, so it is plenty safe to drink.

What am I eating at home?  All sorts of fun things, really!  Almost every meal includes rice, as well, and I am slowly getting used to that.  Meals have included potato greens, pumpkin soup, ground-pea soup (peanut butter soup), kidney beans, and cassava leaf.  We have also had spaghetti and a meat sauce served over edoe (a starchy potato-like vegetable).  The other night, though, my sister surprised me and made me Irish potatoes – this was just potatoes sliced then and then fried.  It was so unhealthy, but it tasted really good.  That with a side of fried plantains made for a very “Liberian” dinner – lots of oil, everything fried, and served with ketchup.  For breakfast, it is always a fried egg and some bread – sometimes I make an egg sandwich with mayonnaise and other times, I just eat the egg and make myself a peanut butter sandwich. 

Monday night, my sister asked to plait my hair, so once again, I have hair that is braided.  It’s an interesting look this time, and I’m not sure how long I’ll keep it.  For now, however, it works, and it keeps me a lot cooler!  Also, it makes my bucket baths go a lot faster – not having to wash my hair lets me shower in record time! Haha…  I’ll probably keep it in for only another day or so – it’s pretty tight, and can be uncomfortable at times.

I have really come to enjoy my time spent with my host family, and I cannot believe how much I have learned in the past week.  I am so grateful for this family’s opening up their home and lives to me for five weeks or so.  Though I know they are being compensated by Peace Corps very well for their efforts, it is still a good feeling to have a family to go home to every night after training.

Much love,

Caitlin