House cooling, Gitarama

Friday 24th April

Decided to get the 9.30am bus to Kigali in the end. It was one of the bigger buses, so I had a relatively comfortable journey. No loud music and one seat each is always a bonus. It was a gorgeous day so spent most of the ride just gazing out of the window and appreciating the view until traffic fumes and hectic street scenes reminded me that I was again back in the capital…

Whenever I’m here I’ve always got a list of things to do or purchase so time is precious. I was impressed therefore at the speediness at which I was seen at the polyclinic where I’d come to change my anti-malarials. No sooner had I got there than I was ushered into a separate waiting area and within 10 mins was with the doctor, a young, decidedly flirty bloke in a white coat who began the consultation trying to guess which football team I supported…I hate football! In VSO newsletters, there have been some unfavourable comments about the conduct of some of the doctors with female volunteers- unnecessary examinations, requests for phone numbers blah, blah-so I was prepared when the inevitable question came up asking to examine me. For what? I’d asked. It’s procedure, he’d replied. I continued that I’d explained my symptoms and there was ‘nothing more to see’ -no I wouldn’t be taking my clothes off! From there I more or less dictated the consultation though I did let him take my blood pressure. Thing is cos everything’s paid for I think they just see us as easy prey to undergo every test there is to charge the insurance companies, ah well it was quite funny I suppose.

Medical report in hand, the next stop was VSO office. This should have been a fairly easy bus ride away but managed to miss the stop by miles, getting engrossed in my book and ended up near the bloody airport. I eventually made it back down the hill to where the office is (a good 3 miles back!) where I met Ruari and a couple of the new volunteers: Norbert and his wife and Rebecca, also a primary methodologist based near Gitarama. I chatted for a few mins before dropping the report with Charlotte and popping upstairs to check emails etc. Starving, I then headed to La Nouvelle Planete where despite a long wait I enjoyed the tastiest omelette speciale.

Back in town, I bought my ticket to Gitarama. Moira and Kerry work in the TTC (teacher training college) there and having shared a house for the last 5 months have now been given separate ones so were having their ‘house cooling’ party tonight…Should be fun!

I still had over an hour to spare and I really wanted to skype J so ran into Bourbon for a coffee and chatted until Bridget appeared. Unfortunately, she wasn’t feeling too good so was staying in Kigali tonight instead of heading to the party just in case she needed to see the docs…I warned her about Mr Smoothy at the polyclinic and luckily there is always King Faisal hospital which has had good ‘reviews’.

The bus ride to Gitarama went quickly. I met Jean de dieu –it seems he knows Christy and Britney. We had a really good chat about lots of things, religion, politics-you know everything you’re warned not to. Anyway, despite him being a Christian and me in no uncertain terms explaining my own atheist/humanist ideas, we got on well. He suggested coming to his church one day or having dinner with his family. I’ll definitely do the last.
Was quite lucky with the bus this time. Jean de dieu asked if the bus was going further than Gitarama town and it was so I was dropped right to Gavumu where Moira and Kerry lived…

When I got there (a bit late) the party was in full swing (more pics here). I’d missed the brochettes but there was still lots of lovely dishes and crates of beer. It was great to see everyone. Charlotte and Hayley are back from their holiday in South Africa so it was nice to catch up with them and hear all their couch-surfing stories before we all headed by truck to Orion, the nightclub in Gitarama which by day runs as a sauna/massage place, say no more.

In the club, it was pretty sweaty, everyone ‘shaking their bones’ as they say here. As usual, there are few women in the club (only us wanton ones) so needless to say attention is not hard to find and some men here find it quite difficult to understand that you just want to dance and not necessarily with them. But after a while they got the message. Taking a break from the dancing, me and Sarah became fascinated by one couple who looked like they’d practised every synchronised move they made, such was their skill on the dance floor. As the music continued though so their moves became more and more erotic and sensual. Hips gyrating, eyes meeting…the two boys looked totally in love. Homosexuality is banned here and indeed most people would probably deny its existence altogether. But despite this you see men everywhere holding hands and each other who would never call themselves gay. It’s very confusing especially when to do this as a man and woman so openly would be frowned upon because it’s considered an outward sign of intimacy etc. So in reality, homosexuality exists but law dictates that it’s ignored/denied and so hypocrisy reigns…

We were lucky that the motos were still hanging around when we finally left the club, so took them in a convoy back to the TTC. I managed to hold on despite being tipsy and hopped off without falling over. Kerry on the other hand had managed to slide off hers as it stopped and had to be helped up . We made our way to the house for tea and bread with lashings of Nutella.

Saturday 25th April

Next morning after tidying up the carnage me, Sarah, Moira and Kerry made a great breakfast and discussed the night’s shenanigans which no doubt will mean a few red faces in the staffroom come Monday morning. All good fun :0)
Hayley and Charlotte were having a dinner party but I decided to head back early and after a quick trawl of the market was looking forward to a chilled out evening in Gikongoro. As it turned out, Ken is over from Nyanza and is staying at Amy’s for the weekend so despite my need for sleep we all went for beer and brochettes in town before I finally returned home for a good sleep.