My fella has been pretty quiet and stressed out over the last six months, but due to his streak of "real African men are alpha-males" it is like getting blood out of a stone on what is bothering him. I don't play games with anyone, so for the most part I leave him to it, knowing full well that if it is important it will surface.

Well some surfacing has happened.



He's building a house.

It has crossed my mind that maybe I was a novelty that was wearing off once I came back, as he didn't seem up for talking much. But as the title says, actions speak louder than words. And this certainly shows where all of the stress has been coming from over the last few months.

I would say that I don't know what to feel about this, but I suppose I really should be saying I don't know what to feel about this first. A house! That is crazy, we haven't even been together a year yet, we haven't even had the 'will we definitely try and close the distance one day' talk yet. Freaking out!! Then on the other hand, bloody hell, I have found a man that is so sure of our relationship that he has started building a home for us. What makes me smile is that he is even building an indoor washroom/bathroom, I promise I didn't complain about the outside facilities once when I visited! So he is obviously taking into account my Westernized background. If I ever had any doubt about his feelings for me, they certainly have no scope for entertainment now.

This revelation left me conflicted, how could I let him continue building us a house, when it might not work out long term? He hasn't even met my family yet, or seen my way of life. Plus, I have told him that I don't think I could ever live there with him, purely for the reasons that I would not be able to get work there, and I would just be a subject to stare at all the live long day in his village. No-one in his village had even seen a white person before, on New Years Eve his family held a party at his house, nearly two hundred people came and queued outside the house to try and get a look at the mzungu "white person". Crazy!

But I have come to the conclusion that he is a man who knows his own mind, and if he wants to build a house, he can build a house. If we don't work out in the long term, he will want to provide a house for the next girlfriend that comes along, so not too much harm can be done by it. But blimey, what a commitment to be making! When I went to visit him over the Christmas period I was determined to provide something for him to make money, as he lost his job as a result of our relationship. So I payed for the construction of a chicken shed plus 200 chicks, and then when I got home I sent him enough money to purchase a motorbike. He promised me that he would work as hard as I do to get back on his feet, and he has certainly managed that!

I just hope now that I don't end up letting him down, because he has made it quite clear that he is in it for the long run I'm a lucky girl indeed.