Emotions January 29, 2018

There are also moments of feeling frustrated and down. My team abandoned me this weekend to go to Akagera Park (the safari in eastern Rwanda). I had to print the quiz for teaching and finish off some preparation for academic day. I got caught in a downpour and drenched my sandals in mud.

Then I had a really bad night in Nyamirambo…

This is from my SOS email:

At 6:10 AM on Sunday morning the music is still blasting from the bar across the street. Despite ear plugs, a fan turned up high and sleeping pills, I’ve slept poorly and been awake since 4:00 AM. The booming music is relentless and the mattress has a deep valley in the middle.

The water has been off all night. This is not because of drought – it’s rained every day. It is because the landlord shuts the water off to save the pump. So, I flush the toilet by pouring water from a bucket into the bowl. I wash my face with stagnant water from the bucket.

We had two power outages yesterday evening. These continue frequently.

I contemplate moving out for the last three nights but I’ve spent thousands of dollars already this month with no income. I guess it’ll just be three more nights of sleeping in the bar.

Okay. It was not a good moment. Dylan and Chil have adopted me and I am spending my last few nights in comfort in Kiyovu.

As we get close to the end of our time in Rwanda, it always strikes me how strange the whole notion of time really is. Each day here is so rich and different that it feels as though we’ve been in Rwanda for six months. It seems ages ago that we were on Lake Kivu.

As always, I’ve had a great team.

Allison promises to write a post about Akagera and Adam promises to write a post. Stay tuned.

xo
Patty