Living Alone

“I know you'll like it. There are lots of trees. The people are friendly, but we'll have to adapt. There's nothing comfortable about this place...” said Igor just before the cell phone connection became too full of static to make out any intelligible conversation.

Since that first call, I've learned a bit more about the place Igor calls home and Iris and I, too, will call home in a few months. Ringed by mountains draped in tropical rainforest, lies the small village accessible only to those willing to leave the luxuries of modernization behind. Crossing streams and rivers and riding a rickety route, he arrived in a village in which indoor plumbing is non-existent and pit-latrines in scarce supply.

I only recently came to the realization that for the first time in his life, Igor is living on his own alone. He tells me he's suffering and I know that he is in some ways. Many anecdotes he has shared take me on a journey down memory lane to Kenya and the challenges life presented there. In many ways I would love to be in rural Bellavista with him. I would like to make him more comfortable, listen to him, and share our daughter with him. But then, in some ways perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. I wouldn't wish for anyone that they live alone all their lives. I know there are people who do truly enjoy the solitude and independence that such a lifestyle offers, but I simply can't fathom living that way forever. What I do believe though, is that living alone for a short time is an experience that everyone should have. It helps with introspection and also teaches a person to value what others contribute to the home.

While he lives in one small room without access to plumbing, he shares his habitat with a variety of critters mostly of the insect and arachnid sort. Just today I heard from Igor letting me know that in his window he found a spider the size of his hand. I pitied him, then begged him to do his best to get rid of such visitors before Iris and I arrive.

Iris and I continue to enjoy our lives of luxury in a cooler climate comparatively, without heavy rains and mud to wade through, low on unwanted pests, and safe from most tropical diseases. In one month we'll trade this life for the American one and then all too soon return for vaccinations and immigration paperwork before boarding various means of terrestrial transportation to take us to our final destination: a one or two room home deep in the jungle where we will keep Igor company and bring his many moons alone to an end.