Flappy Hands Time

[GMT +2 Rwandan time]

I think I’m sunburned :op

Cripes, that was quite a day. Arrived at 9:30 as arranged, managed to remember the route that Léon showed me yesterday. When I got there, I was met by the Vice-Chair of the organisation, Gerard. Martine had said she’d seen him signing at a conference when she first arrived, and that he was quite charismatic. Yes, yes he is. And extremely kind, in that he was constantly stopping to make sure I understood and learned the signs. He’s taught me loads and loads today – my vocabulary has trebled.

Many of the signs are very different from BSL. Some of the handshapes are even a little uncomfortable, but there’s so much that’s the same. I can get by pretty well already. Had a good conversation with the head of the Deaf Women’s Group (now amalgamated with RNAD) and, when someone came to try and interpret, she sent them away because we were doing just fine! lol 

Gerard paid me a huge compliment, too. We were fooling about with signed letters. There’s a guy called Bob, whose sign name is the flat hand blade (‘B’ handshape) to the right-hand side of his mouth, then moved to the left. Effectively spelling 'Bob' (B, mouth = o, B).

Then there was ‘cool’, which is a C and an L handshape either side of your eyes, so the eyes = ‘oo’. 

Then I introduced 'mad' – M on the chin, A on the nose and D on the forehead. 

At which point, Gerard laughed and signed: ‘You Deaf or hearing?’ I signed ‘hearing’. He shook his head and signed ‘No, you’re Deaf’ and everyone laughed, which was a huge compliment. 

He seems really pleased with me, and my signing. I’m amazed how quickly I’m catching on. I’ve already had some pretty in-depth conversations. I don’t think I really appreciated how very independent sign languages are of local spoken languages before. English, Kinyarwanda and French have been used to write things down to explain abstract signs to me but, once learned, everyone can communicate just fine, regardless of written language. I’m so impressed with people’s multi-lingualism, though. We thought Welsh and English was such a big deal, but most people here know about four languages: English, French, Kinyarwanda and Swahili.

So many people passed through the office today. There were hands flapping everywhere. It was brilliant for my learning, but I was shattered by the end. I also helped Léon with an application for an MA in International Human Rights Law in Holland. Pretty exciting stuff. I helped out with a letter, then helped translate his CV from French into English. Looking forward to finding out if he gets it. He’s got a really strong application, so fingers crossed. I can’t see why they wouldn’t.

Felt like a long day. Didn’t help as I was woken up at 5am by some bar-steward bird screeching like a foghorn outside my window :(

Walked home again. It’s about a 20 minute walk, but I’m trying to get used to being out and about on my own. Most people are very friendly. Think a few girls on the way home were taking the piss out of me for being a muzungu. It’s pretty hard to tell sometimes, but I just kind of ignore it. I’m sure it was the highlight of their month, and you can’t expect everyone to be happy to see you. To be fair, you get a much friendlier reception on the whole here than you do walking around town in Britain. Guess it’s not surprising you run up against the occasional Rwandan equivalent of a hoodie. But, then, I may be imagining things – best just not to think about it at all.

It was heavenly to get back and close the gate behind me. This place already feels like my sanctuary. Can’t quite get used to having Damilain living in my back yard. He popped his head round the door just to say ‘hi’ and let me know he was here. He only works nights, so not here during the day. Nice to see him, but just weird. Really appreciate him sometimes though, like when there’s a knock at the gate and he goes and answers it for me. I’ve not had half the generally curious visitors Martine seems to have had. Had one girl stick her head against the slat yesterday when Léon came back with me. She just said ‘give me money.’ It was a request, but sounded like an order. That’s been about it, though.

Tonight, I had a lovely visitor. My guard-to-be, Peter, is currently looking after a guy called Philip, who has a house just around the corner. He just paid me a visit to say ‘hello’, and invited me for a drink :) He’s gone shopping and will call round at about seven. Totally appreciate that. What a lovely thing to do. Haven’t been for a drink here yet, so that will be excellent. After the past couple of days I think I deserve one!

Still trying to work out some of the social boundaries. There's one guy at the office. I don’t feel I know him well enough to judge him yet, but he’s incredibly tactile. He was constantly tapping me on the arm and shoulder in the Deaf way, even though they say he’s hearing. It was excessive, to the point I was about to snap. I held it together and chatted to him later, just tried to explained that in my culture we don’t really like being touched constantly. He shrugged and said that in his culture it’s normal (even though no one else does it that much!) and kept doing it. 

I think it’s a compulsive thing. I guess the lesson is just don’t sit next to him :op 

He also suggested coming to see where I live. More sort of invited himself, actually. I managed to avoid that for the moment. I didn’t mind Léon coming in because he’d walked me home to show me the route. He’s also my direct colleague in the office, and he's been through VSO training, so he has a rough idea about what’s acceptable and what isn’t. But I didn’t feel comfortable about this guy. Then I didn’t know if that was rude. But here, women don’t receive male visitors alone usually. It's not so bad in Kigali, because it’s a city, but impressions are still something to consider - and a good excuse for saying ‘no’.

All very complicated. I’d prefer not too many people know where I live so that I can keep my sanctuary. Even back home you’re selective about who you invite into your home and under what circumstances. If someone’s a friend, then no problem, but if it's just out of curiosity, I don’t know. Also, I know my house is vastly more than most people could ever afford to live in. I feel a little embarrassed about it. I’d feel uncomfortable if people just came to look at it.

Anyway, I’ve just done something I didn’t know was possible – I’ve reheated a fish dish for the third day in a row, and it smelled/tasted fine. I’ve been careful about storage and re-heating, but I’m loath to waste food, so glad it kept. Beans tomorrow. Want to learn how to make cassava. That would certainly bulk out my meals.

Oh, and another minor triumph – the SewSimple has worked a treat on my water filter. It's not leaking anymore – tons of clean water!

Although, having said that, water cuts seem to be a pretty regular thing here. Counted three so far :o/