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.
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