Trying to get things done has also been infuriating with yet more unannounced holidays. I went into Butare on a Saturday to e-mail and go to the market but oh no, it was Community Labour Day so all the shops were shut and the market had literally been gutted – there was not a thing in it which is incredible as I have no idea how on earth they achieved that. Then I went into Butare the other Monday but again everything was shut – it was National Women’s Day and apparently that morning the national radio had announced that it was going to be a national holiday. Hurrah! It’s getting ridiculous. Since November I’ve had five random days off on top of the universal holidays - these plus AIDS Day, Tree Planting Day and a religious holiday. Oh, I forgot – we also had Rwanda Revenue Authority Day when all the shops shut to pay taxes or hide from the tax collectors.
It’s been an exciting couple of weeks for Bristley. For a while we’ve been looking for a vocational college that would accept Bristley despite the fact he hadn’t finished primary school. In January we found one in Kigali where he could study an 8 month course with a rolling start date to qualify as a mechanic and driver. So I put word out that I was looking for an opportunity for Bristley to work evenings and weekends as a live in domestic worker. A fortnight ago I got a call from a new volunteer who has just started working as a strategist for a charity here, saying she was interested. Once we had confirmed Bristley could start at the college asap and I’d arranged a replacement for him, I headed up to Kigali with him to move him into his new house… I think I was as excited as he was about him starting out on a career path! Sad too because he’s been great company and I shall miss him being around.
In his place I have Bristley’s cousin, now the second person I’ve moved out of Zaza to relative civilisation! He’s the only survivor of a family of 9 – he was in the pit latrine when the others were taken away and killed… I wasn’t sure whether this would bring with it extra complications but so far so good. He’s an excellent lad with a good attitude. However, whereas Bristley had a little bit of English from his time as a refugee in the camps in Tanzania, Kiki has none so I now have a motivation to revive and improve my Kinyarwanda!
I had an excellent birthday celebration on Saturday. I bought lots of meat and ice in Kigali as a treat on Friday and several of my friends came over for a barbeque. Then in the evening we went into Butare to a nightclub there. That was perhaps the most bizarre experience of my time here! In Rwanda men are very tactile with each other, ignorant of how their behaviour would be interpreted in England and elsewhere - men openly and casually hold hands, wrap their arms around each other etc. This no longer catches my eye as unfamiliar having been here for a while, but it took a while to get used to their different boundaries in the nightclub - men dancing with men, men dancing to themselves in huge mirrors, men dancing competitively, men inviting other men up to dance, men bumping and grinding with other men, yet apparently never with any sexual attraction or motivation. I guess it’s almost a case of necessity – people here love to dance but only men and prostitutes go out to nightclubs. Another amusing observation was that the only picture in the nightclub was a huge old poster of Boy George! Anyway, it was a fascinating place to go and offered some hilarious and eye opening cultural insights! I wish I could video the scene and take it to the Pre-Departure Training Course on culture for future volunteers! Words just don’t do it merit!
Finally, we've had two albeit tiny earthquakes in the last two weeks. Another bizarre experience to add to the long, long list!
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