The cooking of the chicken was a bit of a production, and while the meat tasted rather different than any chicken I've had before, it was ok. I'm not in any rush to repeat the process, especially considering the undeveloped eggs and the unidentified organs that were still inside...
In the meantime, I've managed to spend a fair bit of time lately with food related sickness. First it was a very poor decision to see if I still am allergic to eggplant. I am. That was a full night with chills fever and stabbing pain wrapped up in the fetal position. Then there was an incident with some beef that apparently was not good. This time it included unbelievable nausea, stabbing headaches, and unbelievable back and shoulder pain. After some time again doubled over in bed trying to sleep it off, and some ginger-chicken broth, I am at the moment back up and moving. The lesson at the moment seems to be that I'm going to lay off of the cooking of meat at home, or at the very least being quite a bit more careful where I purchase the meat.
I'm also happy to report that my long-awaited couch arrived. Well, for the moment all that has come has been the frame, but this is a mighty improvement. It is quite nice, made for me by acarpenter by my landlord, which was also quite kind. She's working on the chushions at the moment, which should be ready in the next few days. And when she was here last shee made arrangements to get me both a small table for use on the balcony and a small table for the TV. My guess is that it'll take a month, but I think it's quite nice that she's been so good about trying to make sure I have everything that I need. Ever since I moved in she's actually been wonderful. Installing curtains, putting up shower rods, fixing curtain rods that weren't properly done, contracting to have the couch made, and now the tables. Needless to say, I'm quite happy to have ended up here.
I also have a new roommate as of tonight. My friend Kiran was looking for a place after her landlord randomly decided to move to Burundi, so we talked, and now she's renting a room in the north wing. The timing works out perfectly as well, because she leaves just a few days before mom arrives. I think it will be great having someone else around as well.
We went out to an Itallian place close to my appartment Sunday (Sole Luna) and it was great. Even good calamari which was an enormous surprise to me. That said, I've been craving random things that I just cannot seem to find here, or are totally unavailable in Rwanda. On that list at the moment are lemons, diet dr pepper, blue cheese, dried cranberries, and arugula. Actually, all of those together in a salad with the ddp to drink sounds lovely at the moment. Oy. In any event, I had some great orange, avacado, and onion salad with balsamic and olive oil dressing. I must say that it was one of the better things I've had to eat since I arrived!
Tomorrow night we're all having movie night at my place, which should be fun. Especially now that I have a reigon 1 DVD player and can actually play all of my dvds on a screen other than the computer! And while I do love the computer, it's not the same as being able to sit on the couch and watch a movie on the tv.
Anyway, back to hounding people to respond to my emails at the moment. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Wasps Be Gone, It's Chicken Time
It is raining in Kigali, I think we're starting to make the transition to the short rainy season that should be here in a few weeks. The reain is great at the moment because it gets rid of all of the dust in the air, which makes it look cloudy most of the time in Kigali at the moment. I'm excited to see the flowers and all the green that comes with the rains.
I am happy to report that I am no longer sharing my balcony with wasps, which is a good thing especially considering I am allergic to them. I opened the door for a bit only to find one of the wasps deciding he was going to explore the inside of the apartment. Me shooing him outside using sofa cushions as a shield was quite the sight to behold. In any event, once outside, armed with a blender full of soapy boiling water, I sent the wasps on their way. I am hoping they will not return. But I have a steady supply of soap and boiling water if they do. If the neighbors didn't already think I was crazy they surely do now. Especially since I locked myself out of my place yesterday and we had to crawl in through a window to get the keys, lol. This was all quite amusing.
I also bought a chicken at Kimironko yesterday. There were three options. There were "imported" chickens in a big cooler, "local" chickens at a little more expensive in a cooler, and then there were birds walking around on a table being herded together by an older woman. I frequently see people walking around with chickens that are very much still alive, heading home. I'm not sure if they slaughter the birds themselves or what, but I wasn't exactly up to that prospect. No clucking chickens for me. I went for the "local" bird which I was told tasted a bit better, so now it's in my fridge in a paper bag. I'm a little afraid of it. It has a neck. I haven't looked inside yet.
So tonight I'm going to be cooking a chicken, just need to decide how. This will be my second attempt to cook meat a home. I've had it when we go out, but the last attempt was not good. It involved ground beef that, well, had an interesting taste. I'm hoping that tonight will be better. It at least looks like a chicken. With a neck. Wish me luck.
We will see if I'm back to vegetarian at home by the morning.
On a final note, the cool breeze that drifts in as the rains feels wonderful, and the clouds are so thick that while I can still see Gikondo and Kicuciro, but Kimisaghe and Nyamirambo are all but lost into the Brigadoon clouds.
I am happy to report that I am no longer sharing my balcony with wasps, which is a good thing especially considering I am allergic to them. I opened the door for a bit only to find one of the wasps deciding he was going to explore the inside of the apartment. Me shooing him outside using sofa cushions as a shield was quite the sight to behold. In any event, once outside, armed with a blender full of soapy boiling water, I sent the wasps on their way. I am hoping they will not return. But I have a steady supply of soap and boiling water if they do. If the neighbors didn't already think I was crazy they surely do now. Especially since I locked myself out of my place yesterday and we had to crawl in through a window to get the keys, lol. This was all quite amusing.
I also bought a chicken at Kimironko yesterday. There were three options. There were "imported" chickens in a big cooler, "local" chickens at a little more expensive in a cooler, and then there were birds walking around on a table being herded together by an older woman. I frequently see people walking around with chickens that are very much still alive, heading home. I'm not sure if they slaughter the birds themselves or what, but I wasn't exactly up to that prospect. No clucking chickens for me. I went for the "local" bird which I was told tasted a bit better, so now it's in my fridge in a paper bag. I'm a little afraid of it. It has a neck. I haven't looked inside yet.
So tonight I'm going to be cooking a chicken, just need to decide how. This will be my second attempt to cook meat a home. I've had it when we go out, but the last attempt was not good. It involved ground beef that, well, had an interesting taste. I'm hoping that tonight will be better. It at least looks like a chicken. With a neck. Wish me luck.
We will see if I'm back to vegetarian at home by the morning.
On a final note, the cool breeze that drifts in as the rains feels wonderful, and the clouds are so thick that while I can still see Gikondo and Kicuciro, but Kimisaghe and Nyamirambo are all but lost into the Brigadoon clouds.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
End of the Visa Saga, Kigali Clubbing, and Why Running in the Mountains Sucks
The biggest thing I've been working on thus far has finally come to an end and I now have both my visa and my Foreign National ID card. And it only took 6 visits to the Immigration office. Trips 1-3 were attempts to drop off materials, with two false starts (sending me back to obtain more letters) and trips 4-6 were pick-up attemps. The best was today where I stayed at the Immigration office for four hours - I was beginning to thinkI shoud just bring a pillow and move in, but finally someone showed up having acquired all the appropriate signatures and I have in hand as of today all my official doccuments, officially. I can say that throughout the process the people at the office have been generally quite helpful.
The last week has been good as well just in terms of getting settled. I still get on wrong busses, but I can generally now figure out what went wrong and how to get back to where I was supposed to go, which is always a huge plus. My torilla making skills are improving marginally, but I'll keep working on it.
Last weekend, I went to the Movie Night at the US Embassy which was really a lot of fun. They were screening Shrek Ever After on a giant inflatable screen (giving me ideas for camp already...) outside at the Embassy. There was a fundraiser for a charity where you could buy (really good) brochettes, samosas, burgers, and salad, and the Marines were tending bar where you could get quite cheap beers. While as the Embassy I met a few people from all over the place (Singapore, Thailand, India, Germany, Canada, and Vermont) and there was an epic 3-game match of foosball which was a blast.
I ended up heading out with some people I met and he headed out to meet another friend and hang out at her place for awhile, and then headed to a (very French) house party. After staying there for awhile we headed to one of the Kigali clubs, Papyrus, which was really a lot of fun. It's largely a mix of expats and trendy Rwandans, with the standard compliment of those who - er... - work there. So I had to do the standard 'thank you but no thanks' thing a few times but we easily got back to dancing and having fun. It was a rather funny mix of music, somewhat predictable American pop stuff, with some 80s and 90s throwbacks in the mix. Overall, just fun music, nothing superb musically, but fun. In any event, when 4AM rolled around we decided we should probably head out so a quick moto ride and I was back home. The place is in Kimihurura, which is actualyl quite close to where I live, so that's always a good thing. So come 5 AM, I was finally getting to bed. The construction that started next door at 8 AM was, well, painful. :-)
I ended up meeting up with the same group the next night for dinner at someone's house, and some amazing food. Spent a decent amount of the evening speaking with sme really cool people, and flipping between french and english depending on the conversation. The french is going well, but the Rwandan-inflected french with all of the shadow vowels is really hard to understand. Later that night we ended up back at Papyrus, and this time I got to bed at 4 AM. It's been quite a while since I've been out dancing that late and it really was a lot of fun. I'm excited to see more of the Kigali clubs (well, the other one or two, lol).
I also caused quite the spectacle when I went for a run the other day. While out for a run, I got stares, bewilderment, laughs, and applause from more than one set of school children. Granted, I am happy to admit that the 6'2 white guy in shorts and a tshirt running in the mountains was a sight to behold, but the attention was a little much. Toward the end I just smiled and waved and was like, yeah white guy going for a run here.... I will say that I just about died... The combination of the fact that I think every direction is uphill, it was hotter than hell, and it's a mile above sea level. I'm hoping the next time will be better :-) IN any event it felt good to be out and around.
And this is gross...
Oh, and I hesitate to share this final point, but folks, in Rwanda, iron your clothes. I hadn't been ironing everyting because I had checked and there aren't really Tsetse flies in Kigali. This is true. The flies to be concerned about, the ones who lay eggs on your clothes as they dry that then hatch when in contact with your skin and bury their way in, are not indeed Tsetse flies. They are Tumbu flies (Putzi). I do not like them. I do not like them at all. Suffice it to say, after some serious freaking out, I removed a three larvae, thankfully all from innocuous places. They were removed very early, so nothing like the pictures you will see if you (inevitable) search for them online, and I guess they don't really cause any harm other than the massive freakout. The ones I removed were like a tiny white worm/maggott only about the size of a mechinacial ppencil lead. They get much bigger and I guess naturally dropout of your skin after 10-15 days, but I have no interest in seeint that happen - ever. And while there's no real danger, it was, however, perhaps the grossest thing I've ever had to do... I will be ironing ALL clothes from now on. ALL.
To end on a positive note, Kigali is beautiful tonight, and the moon looks just like you'd expect a cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland to appear with his glowing eyes over the bright, and reddish, moon. No power cuts for almost a week as well, which is always nice!
The last week has been good as well just in terms of getting settled. I still get on wrong busses, but I can generally now figure out what went wrong and how to get back to where I was supposed to go, which is always a huge plus. My torilla making skills are improving marginally, but I'll keep working on it.
Last weekend, I went to the Movie Night at the US Embassy which was really a lot of fun. They were screening Shrek Ever After on a giant inflatable screen (giving me ideas for camp already...) outside at the Embassy. There was a fundraiser for a charity where you could buy (really good) brochettes, samosas, burgers, and salad, and the Marines were tending bar where you could get quite cheap beers. While as the Embassy I met a few people from all over the place (Singapore, Thailand, India, Germany, Canada, and Vermont) and there was an epic 3-game match of foosball which was a blast.
I ended up heading out with some people I met and he headed out to meet another friend and hang out at her place for awhile, and then headed to a (very French) house party. After staying there for awhile we headed to one of the Kigali clubs, Papyrus, which was really a lot of fun. It's largely a mix of expats and trendy Rwandans, with the standard compliment of those who - er... - work there. So I had to do the standard 'thank you but no thanks' thing a few times but we easily got back to dancing and having fun. It was a rather funny mix of music, somewhat predictable American pop stuff, with some 80s and 90s throwbacks in the mix. Overall, just fun music, nothing superb musically, but fun. In any event, when 4AM rolled around we decided we should probably head out so a quick moto ride and I was back home. The place is in Kimihurura, which is actualyl quite close to where I live, so that's always a good thing. So come 5 AM, I was finally getting to bed. The construction that started next door at 8 AM was, well, painful. :-)
I ended up meeting up with the same group the next night for dinner at someone's house, and some amazing food. Spent a decent amount of the evening speaking with sme really cool people, and flipping between french and english depending on the conversation. The french is going well, but the Rwandan-inflected french with all of the shadow vowels is really hard to understand. Later that night we ended up back at Papyrus, and this time I got to bed at 4 AM. It's been quite a while since I've been out dancing that late and it really was a lot of fun. I'm excited to see more of the Kigali clubs (well, the other one or two, lol).
I also caused quite the spectacle when I went for a run the other day. While out for a run, I got stares, bewilderment, laughs, and applause from more than one set of school children. Granted, I am happy to admit that the 6'2 white guy in shorts and a tshirt running in the mountains was a sight to behold, but the attention was a little much. Toward the end I just smiled and waved and was like, yeah white guy going for a run here.... I will say that I just about died... The combination of the fact that I think every direction is uphill, it was hotter than hell, and it's a mile above sea level. I'm hoping the next time will be better :-) IN any event it felt good to be out and around.
And this is gross...
Oh, and I hesitate to share this final point, but folks, in Rwanda, iron your clothes. I hadn't been ironing everyting because I had checked and there aren't really Tsetse flies in Kigali. This is true. The flies to be concerned about, the ones who lay eggs on your clothes as they dry that then hatch when in contact with your skin and bury their way in, are not indeed Tsetse flies. They are Tumbu flies (Putzi). I do not like them. I do not like them at all. Suffice it to say, after some serious freaking out, I removed a three larvae, thankfully all from innocuous places. They were removed very early, so nothing like the pictures you will see if you (inevitable) search for them online, and I guess they don't really cause any harm other than the massive freakout. The ones I removed were like a tiny white worm/maggott only about the size of a mechinacial ppencil lead. They get much bigger and I guess naturally dropout of your skin after 10-15 days, but I have no interest in seeint that happen - ever. And while there's no real danger, it was, however, perhaps the grossest thing I've ever had to do... I will be ironing ALL clothes from now on. ALL.
To end on a positive note, Kigali is beautiful tonight, and the moon looks just like you'd expect a cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland to appear with his glowing eyes over the bright, and reddish, moon. No power cuts for almost a week as well, which is always nice!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Kimironki Market and the Inauguration
Much of the last week has been spent getting settled here in the appartment. I've come to the conclusion that "things" are what are expensive here, i.e. any type of manufactured good, which makes getting settled a somewhat expensive endeavor. The good thing is that transportation is cheap, and food is quite inexpensive, at least in terms of fresh goods.
I finally decided it was time to check out the main market, and it was awesome. Kimironko is a covered market, and the stalls are very close together, but there is tons of wonderful fresh produce. Tomatos, tree tomatos, fruits, vegetables, peas, potatos, beans, and all kinds of flours and sugars all piled high. The flour/sugar was a bit unnerving as they were all *swarming* with bees and hornets - so I stayed clear of that area. A pineapple for 50 cents, and avacados for 20 cents. It was an awesome pineapple as well, and became part of some wonderful curry. All around the sides of the food market are the meat, fish, and chicken stalls. Live chickens in places and full beef carcases hanging in the open air being carved for customers. I didn't so much buy meat. Some wonderful fresh leeks, lettuce, even fresh cilantro.
Home from the market I decided some mexican was in order - a bit of a procedure here. There are no tortillas so I had to make my own - and I've discovered this is a fair bit harder than I had anticipated. No cast iron pan, no tortilla press... I ended up pressing out the tortillas by hand on the bottom of one pan and then cooking it in another using the two as a press. It sort of worked, but I'm going to need to work on my tortilla skills, which presently are largely nonexistent.
The other day, I finally decided to try purchasing meat - at the supermarket. Behind glass, and all I was brave enought to buy was the minced meat, like hamburger. You purchase it the same way you do eggs, in a brown paper bag. I used some to make a taco salad, and it was ok - the meat here is very very lean, which is good, but I'm not sure it's really worth the price. Not expensive but I think for the same price I'd rather have a kilo of tomatos as opposed to a kilo of minced meat. So once what i bought is used up, I may be heading back to being veg.
In non-food realted news, today was the presidential inauguration. They have been getting ready for several weeks painting everything in town, putting up new streetlights, repaving streets, and repainting the alternating black and white stripes that are on all of the curbs here. The inauguration went well today, and as far as I can tell, there were no problems either. It was all broadcast on Rwanda TV and was multilingual so it was ok following along with most of it. And the rain held off, mostly, until it was all over. Tonight we're having some thunderstorms, but it's still mostly clear. The rain rolls in and out really quick, I'm interrested to see what it will be like in the next 3 or 4 weeks when the rainy season starts.
I also did laundry for the first time today. In the bathtub, by hand, which took a fiar while, but not as long as I had feared. Everything is now outside drying, and I'm greatly looking forward to having some clean clothes. I'm still not sure whether I will be hiring a cleaning person or not, it just doesn't really seem necessary to me, it's only me, and I don't really make a mess. I just need to find a place to buy a broom and a mop and I'll be all set. I must admit, however, it is rather strange hanging all of my underwear outside for the neighborhood to see.
In other news, I still haven't heard anything about my visa, which I'm chalking up to the inauguration being today. I'll try to get in contact with them if I haven't heard anything in the nest day or two. And Wednesday I'm off to the Embassy for Security Briefing, attempt 2. Hopefully, I'll be able to find the room this time. Oh, and on a final note I'm very hapy to report that I now have a shower curtain! This is very exciting, and water no longer covers the entire shower as I take a shower! In any event, I'm excited to get some real research started, which should get going this week or early next - now that I'm finally getting settled in, and have a few things done for camp that I had to complete, it's time to get some work done!
I finally decided it was time to check out the main market, and it was awesome. Kimironko is a covered market, and the stalls are very close together, but there is tons of wonderful fresh produce. Tomatos, tree tomatos, fruits, vegetables, peas, potatos, beans, and all kinds of flours and sugars all piled high. The flour/sugar was a bit unnerving as they were all *swarming* with bees and hornets - so I stayed clear of that area. A pineapple for 50 cents, and avacados for 20 cents. It was an awesome pineapple as well, and became part of some wonderful curry. All around the sides of the food market are the meat, fish, and chicken stalls. Live chickens in places and full beef carcases hanging in the open air being carved for customers. I didn't so much buy meat. Some wonderful fresh leeks, lettuce, even fresh cilantro.
Home from the market I decided some mexican was in order - a bit of a procedure here. There are no tortillas so I had to make my own - and I've discovered this is a fair bit harder than I had anticipated. No cast iron pan, no tortilla press... I ended up pressing out the tortillas by hand on the bottom of one pan and then cooking it in another using the two as a press. It sort of worked, but I'm going to need to work on my tortilla skills, which presently are largely nonexistent.
The other day, I finally decided to try purchasing meat - at the supermarket. Behind glass, and all I was brave enought to buy was the minced meat, like hamburger. You purchase it the same way you do eggs, in a brown paper bag. I used some to make a taco salad, and it was ok - the meat here is very very lean, which is good, but I'm not sure it's really worth the price. Not expensive but I think for the same price I'd rather have a kilo of tomatos as opposed to a kilo of minced meat. So once what i bought is used up, I may be heading back to being veg.
In non-food realted news, today was the presidential inauguration. They have been getting ready for several weeks painting everything in town, putting up new streetlights, repaving streets, and repainting the alternating black and white stripes that are on all of the curbs here. The inauguration went well today, and as far as I can tell, there were no problems either. It was all broadcast on Rwanda TV and was multilingual so it was ok following along with most of it. And the rain held off, mostly, until it was all over. Tonight we're having some thunderstorms, but it's still mostly clear. The rain rolls in and out really quick, I'm interrested to see what it will be like in the next 3 or 4 weeks when the rainy season starts.
I also did laundry for the first time today. In the bathtub, by hand, which took a fiar while, but not as long as I had feared. Everything is now outside drying, and I'm greatly looking forward to having some clean clothes. I'm still not sure whether I will be hiring a cleaning person or not, it just doesn't really seem necessary to me, it's only me, and I don't really make a mess. I just need to find a place to buy a broom and a mop and I'll be all set. I must admit, however, it is rather strange hanging all of my underwear outside for the neighborhood to see.
In other news, I still haven't heard anything about my visa, which I'm chalking up to the inauguration being today. I'll try to get in contact with them if I haven't heard anything in the nest day or two. And Wednesday I'm off to the Embassy for Security Briefing, attempt 2. Hopefully, I'll be able to find the room this time. Oh, and on a final note I'm very hapy to report that I now have a shower curtain! This is very exciting, and water no longer covers the entire shower as I take a shower! In any event, I'm excited to get some real research started, which should get going this week or early next - now that I'm finally getting settled in, and have a few things done for camp that I had to complete, it's time to get some work done!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Visas, $16 Ice Cream, and Justin Bieber
I was up bright and early this morning so that I could be at the US Embassy at 9AM for my scheduled security briefing. No one knew, however, where I was supposed to go, and by the time it was figured out after calling I think everyone in the Embassy, it was over... So next week at 9AM I'll have to be back there to try again. In any event we figured out a lot of the other details that were necessary, which was helpful, and I no longer will have to pay the very high commision rates at the Bank of Kigali to draw Euros against my US account, and then reconvert to Dollars at a hefty premium. It looks like as a courtest we can withdraw funds direct at the Embassy, which is a huge help, and with some special clearance it will even be possible to withdraw dollars. Thank you US Treasury!!!
So after wandering around the Embassy for forever, I headed out to drop off my visa - round two - this time with all of the requested forms. The first round had me sent back needing additional forms that "were listed on the website," though they are not, nor have been for months. So anyway, it seems to be a new visa category and we're all just trying to figure it out. Turns out I also overpaid, but wasn't able to get the refund the day I overpaid (they were closed), so now I need to write another letter requesting a refund. :-) In any event, I have sucessfully submitted all of my forms, and with any luck in 3 days I will have my passport back with my visa approved
I then headed into Kyovu, alternately referred to simply as "Town" or "Ville," and wandered around for a while, having decided taking care of a few errands might alleviate the stress of the morning. After some searching, I found a new cell phone, which hopefully will allow me to actually wake up in the morning - something my very inexpensive MTN phone simply did not have the volume to do. It also has an FM radio on it, which is quite a bit of fun. I also bought sponges, dishtowels, and some fun snacks at Nukamatt (sort of an upscale Rwandan version of Wally World, except that a piece of your soul doesn't die every time you walk in).
The most exciting part was that I actually figured out how to get the *right* bus back to Remera. It seems I live in between Remera and Kimihurura, though a fair walk from the Remera taxi park. There are two routes, and it seems that the correct (i.e. closer) route is the route for busses that actually go to Kimironko. This was a great piece to learn, as it drops me off a 10 minute walk from home, instead of a 30 minute walk.
On the walk home, I heard a phone ring - and just having left camp - it turned my head immediately. "Baby, Baby, Baby... ooooo, Baby, Baby, Baby." Yes folks, Justin Bieber in in Rwanda, and he has become a ringtone as well. I was just walking down the road laughing. I then decided that I had a craving for Bananas Foster (random I know) and given how great the bananas are here I figured this would be a great idea for tonight. I stopped off at the local market (Ndoli) to pick up a few things - some Ugandan rum, sugar, bananas, and ice cream. As I went to pay, I did a double take at the price, and looking at my receipt, I discovered that the 1.5L container of ice cream I had purchasesd cost 8,000 RFR! That's about $16! For a half-gallon! And I somehow doubt that it is worth that premium. Oy, I need to figure out the random pricing - but these better be some of the best Bananas Foster that have ever been made! Oh well, I'll know better next time. I'm thinking this will be a year largely absent of ice cream - maybe I'll get on perfecting my rice pudding recipie. Shoot, just remembered I don't have any cinnamon - so perhaps the Bananas Foster will have to wait until tomorrow night. Just ice cream tonight I guess, *expensive* luxury ice cream. :-)
On a final note, I just received an email from the Rwanda Immigration Directorate saying that they had received a visa application, with my last name misspelled...
I hope this doesn't involve another letter. I have a feeling it will.
Off to have some $16 ice cream and dig up a few Justin Bieber songs from the camp list on my computer.
So after wandering around the Embassy for forever, I headed out to drop off my visa - round two - this time with all of the requested forms. The first round had me sent back needing additional forms that "were listed on the website," though they are not, nor have been for months. So anyway, it seems to be a new visa category and we're all just trying to figure it out. Turns out I also overpaid, but wasn't able to get the refund the day I overpaid (they were closed), so now I need to write another letter requesting a refund. :-) In any event, I have sucessfully submitted all of my forms, and with any luck in 3 days I will have my passport back with my visa approved
I then headed into Kyovu, alternately referred to simply as "Town" or "Ville," and wandered around for a while, having decided taking care of a few errands might alleviate the stress of the morning. After some searching, I found a new cell phone, which hopefully will allow me to actually wake up in the morning - something my very inexpensive MTN phone simply did not have the volume to do. It also has an FM radio on it, which is quite a bit of fun. I also bought sponges, dishtowels, and some fun snacks at Nukamatt (sort of an upscale Rwandan version of Wally World, except that a piece of your soul doesn't die every time you walk in).
The most exciting part was that I actually figured out how to get the *right* bus back to Remera. It seems I live in between Remera and Kimihurura, though a fair walk from the Remera taxi park. There are two routes, and it seems that the correct (i.e. closer) route is the route for busses that actually go to Kimironko. This was a great piece to learn, as it drops me off a 10 minute walk from home, instead of a 30 minute walk.
On the walk home, I heard a phone ring - and just having left camp - it turned my head immediately. "Baby, Baby, Baby... ooooo, Baby, Baby, Baby." Yes folks, Justin Bieber in in Rwanda, and he has become a ringtone as well. I was just walking down the road laughing. I then decided that I had a craving for Bananas Foster (random I know) and given how great the bananas are here I figured this would be a great idea for tonight. I stopped off at the local market (Ndoli) to pick up a few things - some Ugandan rum, sugar, bananas, and ice cream. As I went to pay, I did a double take at the price, and looking at my receipt, I discovered that the 1.5L container of ice cream I had purchasesd cost 8,000 RFR! That's about $16! For a half-gallon! And I somehow doubt that it is worth that premium. Oy, I need to figure out the random pricing - but these better be some of the best Bananas Foster that have ever been made! Oh well, I'll know better next time. I'm thinking this will be a year largely absent of ice cream - maybe I'll get on perfecting my rice pudding recipie. Shoot, just remembered I don't have any cinnamon - so perhaps the Bananas Foster will have to wait until tomorrow night. Just ice cream tonight I guess, *expensive* luxury ice cream. :-)
On a final note, I just received an email from the Rwanda Immigration Directorate saying that they had received a visa application, with my last name misspelled...
I hope this doesn't involve another letter. I have a feeling it will.
Off to have some $16 ice cream and dig up a few Justin Bieber songs from the camp list on my computer.
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