Friday 12th: Day Six in Rwanda

Please note that VSO is in no way connected with or responsible for the content, comments and observations in this blog: these are solely my own in a personal capacity.

The Internet café last night was quite good – only RWF200 (20c) for half an hour which even on a Rwandan salary (or, at least, my Rwandan salary) isn’t bad. I figured out that you probably need to multiply Rwandan prices by about 25-30 to get an accurate reflection of what the price would be in British or Irish terms. So my half hour would be €5-€6, not actually such amazing value after all! However, the machines didn’t have any word processing programmes so all my carefully typed blogs came up in plain text with no italics, paragraph breaks etc so it took me the whole half hour but to post the blog! So a quick thank you to everyone who sent messages and especially to the additional people who donated to my fundraising effort – I will reply to you all personally at the earliest opportunity!

Once Tinks and I had finished (that’s Tinks, my housemate – as we have two Tinas in the group, she has now become known as Tinks) we decided to drop into the nearby bar to see if there was anyone there and sure enough there was. Three of the YfD female volunteers were being chatted up by three local (and very handsome) Rwandan men and there was another group of three volunteers in the corner whom we joined. Had another Mutzig and then an absolutely hilarious time paying the bill: the unfortunate girl behind the counter was literally reduced to tears of laughter at our attempts to pay the bill and count out the money in Kinyarwandan.

However, easily the high point of the trip to the pub was the three ladies’ visit to the toilet. I shall refrain from naming them to save their blushes, because that also allows me to go into specific detail about what happened. The three of them set off together, along with my wind-up torch but two returned almost immediately, saying the combination of the incredible smell and four giant cockroaches on the ground in front of the loo had scared them off. Intrepid Lady Three returned shortly after, in hysterics of laughter (having had to come out through the audience that had gathered outside to see what happened when the muzungu went to the loo). She had been too desperate to pee to come back, so she stepped over the cockroaches and, while ‘going’, managed to pee on them at the same time and keep them away! Eventually, Intrepid Lady One decided that her only option (rather than going back to the guesthouse) was to brave the dangers and Intrepid Lady Two decided ‘What the hell’ and followed her, again with my torch. Intrepid Lady Three was the first to enter the latrine (basically a hole in the ground with something to sit on, like a branch, I think – actually I have to check that detail out). She asked Intrepid Lady (IL)2 to hold the door open and stand guard because she was terrified of the door closing and getting locked in! She found that shining the torch on the cockroaches seemed to annoy them so while she was there she shone the light backwards and forwards on her two feet to keep them away. IL2 then went and sat there while shouting out (and this is a very respectable, well-spoken lady we are talking about): ‘WHAT THE F*** AM I DOING HERE? WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING OF?’ and so on.

I then told them a story about a VSO volunteer some time ago (which I think is true) who went out at night to use a latrine and sat on the wooden pole/branch/whatever without realising that termites had been at work. She fell straight down into the latrine and, because it was quite steep, she couldn’t get out and remained there until morning until someone came along and rescued her. Just as well I hadn’t told them that story before they went. (Oh, and while we are on the subject, ‘Hurray for exterior genitalia!’).

And last night it rained! Instant coolness ... and then the ‘Phwat’, ‘Phwat’, Phwat’ sound of water dripping onto something in the bedroom! Got out of bed to check – it was our two laptops which were sitting together by the (now wet) socket recharging! Luckily Joe had put a newspaper on top so the noise was quite loud when the drip hit and the laptops hadn’t had time to get wet. I then found it hard to get back to sleep – thoughts full of what the employer was going to be like, would I be able to understand any of his French, how the meeting would go etc.

Woke up to a damp but somewhat cooler Kigali. I had actually intended getting up at 6.30 and going down to the Internet café for 7.00 when they opened but the nocturnal adventure had dampened my ardour. Breakfast and then ready to meet the employers!! They drifted in one by one and there was no obvious way of finding out who was who. One man came up to me and introduced himself (in French) as François and said he was from Gisagara. Ah-ha, I responded, I also am going to work in Gisagara, what luck. To cut a very long story short, he seems to be an extraordinarily nice man, aged about 40 or so (I told him I had done my first teaching in 1977 and he said he would only have been seven at the time), secondary school teacher of African languages and literature though he has also taught English at some stage (I could understand his French quite well but not all of it and he was very soft-spoken, so as the room filled up it became quite difficult!). At this stage the heavens opened and an almighty deluge descended (though, to be honest, nothing quite as bad as we had in Ireland during parts of the so-called summer). The fact that almost every building has a tin roof makes even light rain an exciting experience!

I won’t bore you with all the details of the day-long workshop – it was about the whole process of VSO placing people and making sure everyone was on the same wavelength. It was very instructive watching a truly bilingual meeting take place – we had a superb translator called Steve who did a wonderful job. I tried to avoid speaking any English at all and found it surprisingly easy both to understand and speak in French. Having everything either said in French first and then translated or vice versa was a great way to learn and I was writing down useful phrases furiously all through the workshop; I also managed to introduce myself in Kinyarwandan, at least partly, and the rest in French! In case you are interested Mwaramutseho! Nitwa Ruairí, komoka muri Irilande.

François was a mine of information: told us all about our house, our office (10 computers connected to the Internet), our colleague (there are only François and Alexis, so we will effectively double the staff in the District Education Office), water, electricity, travel, and so on. He is coming back on the night of the 17th with a pickup truck and he’ll bring us down to Gisagara on the 18th. I cannot find the word to tell you all how relieved I was after meeting him. If there was one thing I was really worried about (apart from my French, and I feel a lot better about that now than I did before) it was not really having the faintest idea how the work and placement were going to work out. Many other volunteers had similarly positive experiences and I think we are generally a much happier and less nervous bunch than we were 24 hours ago.

Another interesting event: the sudden downpour caused a mass eruption of giant flying ants. They came pouring out of the lawns and verges all around the guesthouse in their thousands. Quite a sight. I got a few pictures so maybe I will post them at some stage. Also wonderful birdsong this evening – Alain next door is recording it so I am allowed to type but not make any noise!!!

Soon it will be supper and then off to the Internet café to post this and answer some emails. Wow – more amazing birdsong; was never much of a birdwatcher but I might just get converted!!! Oh, yes, I had my first goat brochette today (very very tasty) and something I was sure was fafafel or something like it but I was assured by one of the Rwandans attending was some form of viande hâché. Well, eat first, ask questions later!! As Muslim call to prayer rings out that is probably a good time to finish for tonight. Murabeho!