Monday 10th January

I got back to Kigali at about 8pm and Dora met me at the airport with her Ugandan friend Isabella who had been visiting for Christmas. Then we drove home. But it would have been quicker to walk.

Dora actually moved house last week, so we're now living in an area called Kabeza. Its on the outskirts of Kigali and is a very nice area. But our house is directly behind the airport and next to the airforce. You can see the planes and helicopters take off and land, which is pretty cool. And check out the view from my bedroom window.

Kigali Airport isn't very busy, so the planes don't disturb us at all. It's not like living next to Heathrow or anything.

I was a bit nervous when I heard we'd moved to Kabeza. I google mapped it and it looked really rural. I thought we were moving deep in the countryside. But our new house is lush. We have a massive garden, a six foot wall and a properly imposing gate at the entrance. When we pulled up outside I couldn't believe it. I spent the next half hour or so squeaking in delight as Dora showed me around. It's a great house. The bathroom is a wet room. And we have a shower! There's no hot water or water pressure for that matter, so we can't use it but it sure is pretty. My mosquito net isn't up yet but I’m sure I’ll be alright for a couple of nights. I sprayed myself with a generous helping of Tabbard and went to bed.

December 13th - January 10th

South Africa

Hello lovely people! I’m back!

I spent a month in South Africa over Christmas to relax and catch up with my studies. I was feeling pretty tired after my first three months in Rwanda so I took the opportunity to rest. It turns out that blogging is actually fairly strenuous so I took a break from that too, hence the radio silence over the past five weeks. But I will give you a brief overview of what I got up too.

I stayed with Sonja in Pretoria for the whole time. I wanted to visit friends further afield but the cost of travel was just too high due to it being the festive season. And while it was a real strain to spend an entire month in Sonja's company, I somehow survived with my sanity in tact.

I spent most of my time writing reports for university and revising Persian. I was very behind on my studies and it was great having the time just to blast it and catch up. That said, we did find some time for fun.

We braaied a fair bit and I took advantage of Pretoria's many shopping centres and supermarkets. I got three pairs of shoes, three pairs of trousers and three tops. I love Truworths.

I also had a driving lesson. Sonja and her friend took me out in a Bakkie on some dirt roads, in the rain. Now to all you sceptics who thought I’d be a menace on the roads, you were wrong. I rock at driving. Granted, I can't change gears, reverse or park and hill starts are probably a no-no, but if you need someone to drive in a straight line on wet, muddy roads then I’m your girl. Driving is fun.

Christie organised a LOTR movie marathon, which was long. I spent a couple of days with Christie over the course of the holiday and it was really nice to see her again, especially as she kept me plied with chocolates the whole time! We also met up with Helene a couple of times for dinner which was really nice.

One night we visited Pretoria's version of Courtney Road at Christmas. The whole street is decked out with lights, but it's really upmarket, like millionaire upmarket.

Christmas Day itself was a bit strange for me. For starters, it was thirty degrees and sunny. And instead of a turkey roast by the fire, we had a braai by the pool. And on New Years Day we went to a game park. It poured with rain but I got some great Zebra photos.

It was really nice to see my friends again and have some time to relax. Thank you to everyone that made it so special, especially Sonja and her family who put up with me so graciously.

Monday 13th Dec

Today is the day! I’m going to South Africa.

The taxi picked me at half six in the morning, and we went to the airport via the post office. A big big thank you to my wonderful home-group in Exeter – you guys rock! I really appreciate all your support and how well you've kept in touch and been faithfully praying for me. It means a lot to me, and I’m looking forward to seeing all you beautiful people again next year. And another big thank you to Stacy Pearce who sent me After Eights all the way from Switzerland. I hope things are going well at your end, and I hope we can meet up when we're back in the UK.

So, I sat at Bourbon at the airport for an hour or so before checking in. I managed to spill a bottle of Fanta all over me, but fortunately I had a whole suitcase full of clothes with so I was able to get changed.

The flight was four hours long and I had the whole row to myself. I read, snoozed and ate. Happily Rwandair hasn't quite got the concept of plane food yet. The quality of the meal was better than what you'd get in most restaurants. I felt robbed of a genuine travel experience, but very appreciative of the first chicken breast I'd seen in three months.

I’m very excited to see everyone again and get some rest.

Sunday 12th

I went to church in the morning, went home and slept for an hour, spent a while packing, then went into town to finish off my shopping. Funnily enough, I bumped into the the guys who tried to steal my purse. I went up to them and said hello and made sure they were OK, and we were all very civil. Even the pickpockets in Rwanda are friendly. It's such a nice place to live.

This evening I finished up my packing. Everything is either in my suitcase to go to SA or in boxes. I don't know how I managed to get everything here in two suitcases.

Then I watched Marie Tuile. I was so sure she was going to get back together with Juan Miguel. They had found the baby and everything going so well, until, because of her stubborn pride, she rejected him, they fought, she ran away from him into the street, and was hit by a car. The good thing is I know that when I go back in January, the plot won't have changed that much. Every episode is so packed full of dramatic pauses, monologues and colourful facial expressions that there's little time for much action. Sure, she'll be in a few accidents, Juan Miguel will get married a few times, and something will happen to the baby, but they'll all be fine in the end. It's a comfort to me.

Saturday 10th Dec

More packing this morning. (Wow, you could make my blog into a film it's so exciting).
This afternoon Dora and I went into town to buy Christmas presents for the guys in SA. I hope they like tea and coffee, because that's pretty much all you can get here, and I couldn't fit 20 gorillas in my suitcase.

As we were walking through town, someone stole my purse. I’ve been telling people I was mugged, but in hindsight it's not very true. We were at the traffic lights when two guys came up behind me. The one on my left shoved me really hard to get my attention, so immediately I looked to my right to see what was going on. Sure enough, a guy had reached into my bag and grabbed my purse. 'Not on my watch', I thought to myself. I spun round and took the guy on my left to the floor, punching him in the stomach. And I pushed the guy on my right into an oncoming SUV. He fell down and dropped my purse on the floor. I reached over, reclaimed my purse and kept walking. Dora looked at me and said, 'I think you've dropped your vaseline', and that was that. Carl would be proud. I still maintain that Rwanda is an incredible safe country. The guys didn't try to hurt me, and I was confident that they weren't armed. I’ve been here for three months and this is the first crime I’ve experienced. For a capital city in a developing country, that's exceptionally good. And in all fairness, my bag was open and my purse was visible, so I can't really complain.


In the evening Dora and I went out for dinner, and then Jash joined us for a film. We watched RED with Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman, and it was really good. As we watched, we ate ginger cake with dark chocolate sauce. All in all, a very nice evening.

When I got home, I sat down and thought about what had happened. I felt bad about my part in the whole thing. A lot of the guys I work with here have lived on the street at some point, and the reality of life there is hard. The guys that went after my purse were probably just trying to survive. Maybe they were hungry. And had someone stolen something from Jesus, I don't think he would have tackled them to the ground or pushed them into an oncoming donkey. I’m no Jean Val Jean.

Saturday 10th Dec

More packing this morning. (Wow, you could make my blog into a film it's so exciting).
This afternoon Dora and I went into town to buy Christmas presents for the guys in SA. I hope they like tea and coffee, because that's pretty much all you can get here, and I couldn't fit 20 gorillas in my suitcase.

As we were walking through town, someone stole my purse. I’ve been telling people I was mugged, but in hindsight it's not very true. We were at the traffic lights when two guys came up behind me. The one on my left shoved me really hard to get my attention, so immediately I looked to my right to see what was going on. Sure enough, a guy had reached into my bag and grabbed my purse. 'Not on my watch', I thought to myself. I spun round and took the guy on my left to the floor, punching him in the stomach. And I pushed the guy on my right into an oncoming SUV. He fell down and dropped my purse on the floor. I reached over, reclaimed my purse and kept walking. Dora looked at me and said, 'I think you've dropped your vaseline', and that was that. Carl would be proud. I still maintain that Rwanda is an incredible safe country. The guys didn't try to hurt me, and I was confident that they weren't armed. I’ve been here for three months and this is the first crime I’ve experienced. For a capital city in a developing country, that's exceptionally good. And in all fairness, my bag was open and my purse was visible, so I can't really complain.


In the evening Dora and I went out for dinner, and then Jash joined us for a film. We watched RED with Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman, and it was really good. As we watched, we ate ginger cake with dark chocolate sauce. All in all, a very nice evening.

When I got home, I sat down and thought about what had happened. I felt bad about my part in the whole thing. A lot of the guys I work with here have lived on the street at some point, and the reality of life there is hard. The guys that went after my purse were probably just trying to survive. Maybe they were hungry. And had someone stolen something from Jesus, I don't think he would have tackled them to the ground or pushed them into an oncoming donkey. I’m no Jean Val Jean.

Friday 9th Dec

I was at church today cooking for the street kids. Neither Shum Bu Sho nor Mama Brigette were there, so I volunteered to do the matoki (savoury bananas, not plantains). You have to cover your hands and wrists in oil because the sap is bad for your skin, and it dyes your hands brown. The bananas are hard like squashes, so you have to peel them with a knife. Patrick kept telling me I was doing it wrong, and showing me the right way, but I honestly couldn't see the difference. I don't think I did a very good job because at the end Patrick looked at me and said in all seriousness, 'Nicole, you shouldn't do the bananas again'. Whatever Patrick. They all taste the same.

The rice had already been sorted so after I chopped the tomatoes and peppers, we were pretty much there. While we waited for the food to cook, I washed up all the plates, then helped stir the sauce.



After lunch, I joined the guys at Ubuzima to help finish off with the jewellery and stuff. Mama Deborah has a friend in Switzerland with a stall at a Christmas market who has agreed to take pretty much all our stock, so we spend the afternoon getting ready for that. I wanted to buy some small cloth gift bags, so we sat for a hour making them up, weaving the cord, threading into the bag, adding the beads, burning the ends.

Thursday 8th Dec

Was back at the office today teaching. I got them to research a Bible character and do a short presentation to the class in English. I think it was challenging for them but they did really well and I was very impressed.



This afternoon I started packing up my things in preparation for South Africa. I have to clear the room because Dora's family is going to stay there over Christmas.

Wednesday 8th Dec

The guys have Wednesday morning off, which means that I did too. I spent the morning catching up on my blog. In the afternoon, I decided to go into town so I could upload my blog using free wifi at a restaurant but as I stepped outside the house, Angelique (our house girl) told me to go back in because of the approaching storm. I looked up at the clouds, dark and ominous, but reckoned I could make it into town before the rain came. By the time I had walked up my drive, tiny spots of rain began to fall. I legged it down the hill and jumped on a bike. We drove for two minutes until we reached the bridge, where the bike pulled up by the curb and turned off the engine. I hate it when they do that. Within thirty seconds, the heavens opened at it chucked it down. I think this is the heaviest rain we've had so far. Within minutes, about a hundred pedestrians had gathered under the bridge to take refuge from the storm, along with twenty or so bikes. Then a truck broke down right in the middle. With every passing lorry, the situation felt more and more precarious. After half and hour of sitting the under the bridge, I had had enough and my patience was exhausted. I got of the bike, paid him half fare, whipped out my umbrella and headed into the storm. About a minute later, my trousers were drenched up to my waist and I wished I had listened to Angelique. The storm drains, which minutes earlier were stone dry, gushed with impressive waterfalls. The red, muddy water was laying thick on the floor, and every car that drove past me covered me with it, head to toe. It brought back memories of life in the West Country; I easily could have been walking through Exeter on a Summer's day.

When I got home, Angelique took one look at me and burst out laughing. She brought me some hot water and I showered for the second time that day. The storm took the power out, so I spent the evening sitting alone in the lounge in the dark. My laptop had no battery left, so I hand-wrote a couple of reports for uni by candlelight. I’m definitely in Africa.

Tuesday 7th

Back to the grind. No, It's actually really rewarding work. I was back at the office today teaching the guys. We did a reading comprehension about the prevention and symptoms of malaria and flu. The guys seem to be falling ill an awful lot lately, so please pray for their speedy recovery and good health.



In the afternoon I went to Ubuzima and Mama Deborah preached. Judging by her actions and sound effects, I’m fairly confident that she was speaking about personal hygeine, STDs or bowel movements, or a combination of all three. Half way through she stopped to say that she hoped the Holy Spirit was interpreting for me, but I’m honestly not sure He could understand what she was going on about either.
Back to the grind. No, It's actually really rewarding work. I was back at the office today teaching the guys. We did a reading comprehension about the prevention and symptoms of malaria and flu. The guys seem to be falling ill an awful lot lately, so please pray for their speedy recovery and good health.

In the afternoon I went to Ubuzima and Mama Deborah preached. Judging by her actions and sound effects, I’m fairly confident that she was speaking about personal hygeine, STDs or bowel movements, or a combination of all three. Half way through she stopped to say that she hoped the Holy Spirit was interpreting for me, but I’m honestly not sure He could understand what she was going on about either.

Monday 6th

We drove to the airport this morning and used up all our oinky doinkies at the café. After Prague, thanks to Carl and Ieuen, all foreign money is oinky doinkies. It wasn't hard to do, especially as a very small bottle of Grapetizer was $6 and a bag of Maltesers was $2. (I bought the Maltesers but not the Grapetizer). And then we went home. As the plane flew over Kigali, and I saw the rolling hills and lush greenery, tears filled my eyes and I was overwhelmingly happy to be home. Don't get me wrong, I had a great holiday and a lovely time with Dora, but travelling is tiring and Tanzania, in my opinion, doesn't hold a patch to Rwanda. It's hard to explain, but there's something special about Rwanda that I love, and I feel truly blessed to live here.

OK, so let me tell you about Kigali, Dar and Zanzibar.

Kigali is very small; it feels more like a town than a city, and it's quite rural. A building is high rise if it has two storeys. The town centre is developed; we have a small shopping centre and two supermarkets. The streets and buildings are immaculately clean. In three months I haven't seen a single piece of rubbish in the public areas. (In the housing estates there is some rubbish on the ground, but not much. I think people are still quite house

proud, even if they're really poor). Old women walk around sweeping the streets; not a single leaf is allowed to spoil the pavement. They tirelessly sweep up the red dust, knowing that in a few minutes a gust of wind with bring in a fresh batch. Kigali is beautifully landscaped. The grass is green and cut, the flowers bright and fragranced. The roads are tarmacked and well marked; the rules are meticulously obeyed. It has a small town feel. People are really friendly; they greet you in the street and ask how you are. Everyone dresses well. Even the poorest people will wear nice, clean, ironed clothes. The people themselves are spotlessly clean, which baffles me completely considering how dusty it is.

It is busy. Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa and you really notice it. The only time you find yourself walking down the street alone is when it's raining and everyone else has ducked for cover. But there feels like there's enough room. People respect your space; it doesn't feel uncomfortable or overcrowded. The atmosphere is great. It's really relaxed and friendly. Rwanda is so safe; there's practically no crime and no corruption. And I honestly feel as I’m walking around that God's hand is on this country, and the people are blessed.

I was only in Dar es Salaam for a total of three days, so I really don't have much right to pass comment on it. But I want you to understand what it's like. In my opinion, Dar is a big horrible city like London. You can pass blocks and blocks of buildings that appear to have no function. The buildings are dirty and tall, probably 15-20 storeys. If you want to see the sky you have to look straight up. There are no trees, no grass, no flowers. It is hot and smelly. The traffic is awful. You can sit in a queue for hours without moving. The roads are crowded and chaotic- it's a bit of a free for all. Considering how big it is, there aren't that many people but you still feel crowded out. Everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere. I wouldn't want to walk around by myself, and I wouldn't go out at night. I felt like I had to constantly watch my handbag and make sure no one had stolen it.

It is dirty. There is rubbish all over the streets. The streets themselves are old, blackened and cracked. And the smell coming off the ocean is phenomenal.

Stone Town in Zanzibar is charming. I found it a delightful place to stay. True, it's quite dirty, but it gets away with it because it's old. Zanzibar has a really Arab feel to it, which is great. It feels like you have left Africa and stepped into the Middle East. The Arabs ruled for a long time an you can see their influence everywhere you go. The streets are narrow and winding; the doors are tall and imposing, dark wood with gold detail. The buildings are antiquated; many are falling down, they are not well kept. But somehow this just adds to the character. It is 95% Muslim and the women look stunning in their brightly coloured headscarfs and decorated burkhas, with their deep, painted eyes staring back at you. Because we were with Job we didn't stay in the tourists areas, he showed us around the real town. The market places were chock-a-block with every fruit of veg you could think of, as well as many you couldn't. What really struck me as out of place were the massive communist style concrete tower blocks that you see in Eastern Europe. There were several of them in the town, built by the government to provide affordable housing for the poor. They are grey and ugly, and look very unnatural. I think Zanzibar is quite poor. As we drove through the villages it became very apparent that the Zanzibar the tourists see is very different from the Zanzibar that the majority of local people experience. I guess this is pretty much true wherever you go. The islanders were very laid back and relaxed. Something I really enjoyed was the frequency with which people said Hakunna Matatta. It's their way of life, and it seems to work for them.

My favourite thing about being in Tanzania was that Dora was just as much a tourist as I was. People would take one look at her, see the colour of her skin and assume she was Tanzanian. They would talk to her in Swahili, which would be fine for a couple of minutes because she knows the basics, but once they really got going, she wouldn't have a clue what they were saying. We would burst into fits of giggles as she asked if they could please continue the conversation in English. It was hilarious.

So my conclusion is, if you're looking for somewhere to live, come to Kigali; if your want a great holiday, go to Zanzibar, and if you're crazy, go to Dar. But seriously, it's just my opinion. I’m sure Dar has many redeeming qualities that I wasn't there long enough to notice.

Backlog

Hello people!

I'm a bit behind with my blog.
So it will go: end of my holiday in Zanzibar, week in Rwanda, trip to South Africa, then this week just gone. Enjoy