Today started of wonderfully cold and wet and overcast - it brought with it relief, relief from the heat of recent days, and for the local farmers, relief for their crops. It rained most of the day and at one stage the downpour was the equivalent of a highveld thunder shower. Now however, the sun is out again, and the heat starts to bake us yet again.
I will write in the next jotting about the frustrations here - they are not insurmountable, or enough to have me packing bags, and they are not complaints (In fact some of them lead to hilarious moments). But they are here - language barriers are the biggest yet at no time have I felt that I cannot make it through a situation or get to a result that will see me walking off with the product I entered the store to buy.
Although there is one moment where it took a full 45 minutes to acquire a screwdriver, for a demanding task at the house of leveraging open a crate that had come off the container.
Needless to say the store keeper took one look at the colour of her new found client and immediately decided to charge me Rwf7500, use the calculator on the link to the right and you will soon see that that is about R75! Daylight robbery.
She didn't figure on this Mazungo (Local for Whiteman) being a tough customer, so I managed to bargain her down to Rwf2000 - Still I hear you laugh R25 odd Rand for a screwdriver!
Well! With the screwdriver in hand I made it home, only to find the crate open and the contents placed neatly on the table - I should have guessed - its Africa baby, put nothing past this wonderful continent!
A little under the whip here today so I'll save the best for later - How I acted my way through trying to get 5 unpackers to off load a lorry and the house staff to open the contents.
Chers amis et famille bons, thats il pour maintenant. Je retournerai pour rendre plus de jottings plus tard. (A link on the right will help you with translation - just wait until I start with the local language - Kinyarwanda)
MJM
Rwanda
22 February 2006
