So, this handyman says 'see you at 10am'... What time did he finally get here? 13:00.
I had to leave at 14:00, which he knew, to meet Rose and the Canadians (Cassandra and Kate) in town.
How long can it take to change some friggin' door handles!?
So, admittedly, it's my own fault. I may have been a little vindictive. I left them in the garden to fix my water supply when I went to town. I'm not having strangers traipsing around, no matter how trustworthy they seem. Actually, what I was really thinking was: 'I wasted my entire morning waiting for you, now you can waste your afternoon waiting for me.' But this meant that, when I got back two hours later, they had to start the doors again...
It is now 8pm... they are still fixing the doors. I could cry! Please... just go home! Give me a screwdriver. I could read a manual on how to do it and finish the job faster than you appear to be able to!
On the positive side, they have fixed my water problem. I now have running water. Better yet, it turns out to be the landlady's fault. Whoever installed everything did a terrible job. The trumped-up water bill, if it is a result of this, is hers to pay. I'm getting the guy to write a report for me in Kinya stating what the problem was. This should absolve me of any silly water charges.
I'm completely and totally knackered though. I cleaned the entire house today - no mean feat. The meeting in town was brilliant, the volunteers are such lovely people and I'm so happy they want to donate time to the single parents project. They're with the Canadian Development Agency. Kate is working for the Women's Network, which is near my office, and Cassandra (a single parent!) is working for an HIV/AIDS prevention health initiative. Lovely people, and really capable.
I left them talking with Rose and Florence (a lovely Rwandan lady on the Committee). Hopefully they'll get productive whilst I'm away. Feels wonderful knowing that even though I'll be on holiday, our project will be progressing. They're going to set up an e-mail account for Rose and teach her how to use it. Next they'll meet with the Committee and set up a local meeting for single parents, where Rose and Cassandra can share their contrasting experiences of life as a single parent, and where we can gather contact information about local single parents, plus a range of other goodies. Rose wants muzungu involvement as she doesn't feel people will listen to her without it. That's a little worrying but probably not untrue here. Hopefully, both Rose and Cassandra telling their stories will help people to see them as equals.
Really excellent.
Anyway, I'm here now, trying to revive myself with half a carton of ikivuguto (shared the other half with the cats) and a bag of Chinese lantern fruits. That's dinner.
Once Ghislain and his colleague finally head out, I plan to treat myself to a short, sharp hit of waragi with fruit juice. Martine left me a bottle as a cheerio gift. I think I well and truly deserve it. This week - all seven days of it - has been non-stop, and I'm SO in need of a holiday.
Dad called from the airport a couple of hours ago. Hassle-free journey to Heathrow and no probs with the baggage allowance. It's 8:00pm my time already - they're taking off 9:00pm GMT (10:00 my time) to Addis and then here. Touch-down should be 11:50am. Karzai is coming briefly tomorrow to do the dishes, the bathroom, and that's it. I've done a minor food shop.
Sorted.
Think I'm just about there, to be honest. I'm just worried we'll get back from the airport and I'll be the one that needs to lie down lol
*
8:30: Well, the handymen have gone. Bad news is they couldn't finish, so they're coming back tomorrow, supposedly at 9:00am... Oh, well. I have to get up to let Karzai in anyway. He had the cheek to ask if I wanted to give him more money for doing so much work! Nice try, but no.
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