Last Day

Well. End of an era, huh?

My last day in the house. Moving to Gikondo tomorrow, over the other side of town. No idea what the place looks like or whether I'll be able to get out again on public transport.

I've packed a lot of stuff, but I still need to finish off. Enias from the Programme Office is going to come with the van. I'm a little less than confident though, as trying to get information on when I'm moving is like getting blood from a stone. The PO are as informative as ever. I got a probable date from my Programme Manager last week which turned out to be correct, but no one in the office was going to tell me and all just assumed I'd know. Cheers guys. Another one for the team. Now I'm texting the guy moving me to find out the time and he's not replying. I give up, really.

Had a day of ups and downs yesterday. Went to the office and found out the AGM's moved to the 27th, which buys us more time at least. Asked what I could do or get involved with and was told 'nothing'. It's good that they've got it pegged themselves but it just means I'm floating about still. I told them to call/text me if I was needed, then headed to see Antonia, who is in town.

Before I had gone far I received a text from Cathryn, who said she was very ill and could I help? Suspected malaria. I headed to every chemist in Kisimenti looking for a home test kit, but they were all sold out. Finally, I found a lovely guy who phoned around for me and managed to obtain one.

Took the moto to Giudi's, where she's staying. It's a gorgeous house by the lake. They seem to be building children's rides on the shore but I may be mistaken. It's quite a rough ride down there, the track is all deep rain-furrowed mud.

Got there and did the test, which was clear. I felt like a proper nurse. You have to do the finger prick, collect a blood sample, put it in a testing strip like a pregnancy test. It's quite high-tech.

Turned out to be heatstroke as she'd been visiting Antonia in Komera out East and been swimming in Lake Kivu. It's been miserable weather here for so long that I can't remember, so I guess she wasn't expecting it. She was seriously burned across her back. I took a rehydration spoon (thanks Marilyn!) which lets you measure out sugar and salt to make rehydration fluids when mixed with water. Got her chugging that and it seemed to make a difference. Slathered on the aloe vera after-sun.

Problem was, having got there, I couldn't get back. Rich no-moto district, so I ended up limping back up the hill. My foot was killing me by the time I got there. Technically not strategic given that I have to be able to dance by Friday.

Got a moto straight to the Programme Office and hooked up with Antonia for food. I was starving by that point and we went to Stella for fish brochettes and fanta. She told me some very interesting news. Turns out the leading academic on disability here is backing the development of a sign language dictionary...!? One developed by the Deaf school in Kigali, run by hearing nuns. Interesting. Like someone said: "If one shop starts selling sardines, within a couple of days they all start selling sardines." Talk about re-inventing the wheel. Obviously the perfect way to spend more development money *rolls eyes* But, what can you do? Apparently RNAD are happy with this and the suggestion of combining the two dictionaries so that all of our hard work and research gets passed off as a joint effort seems acceptable to them. Maybe I'm mis-reading the situation, but it seems a bit bizarre.

Then I got a call from Kieran to tell me my cheque for the ball tickets had bounced. I went to my bank and of course they couldn't tell me anything. So much for a disability movement - everything in this country relies on signatures. When you're a wee bit dyspraxic or dyslexic you can't sign your name exactly the same twice. You have to sign all cheques on the front and back and if the two signatures don't match exactly they don't accept it. This happened to one I gave Rose, so I assume that's what happened here again because I had the funds in the bank to cover it. Bit like the genius idea of building bus stops and planting trees that prevent any form of wheelchair access. It's an awful lot of talk on paper, but I don't think the lights are on at all when it comes to interpreting the glossy 'disability law' that's been written. Sorry - it's a rant. Just because you have the document doesn't mean anybody's using it or understands it - or even cares. I know there are people who care a lot, but when the system itself is weighted towards apathy, what can you do? Only sit and hope that the act of having the document/legislation will somehow seep into the psyche of the country over time and manifest itself as a living entity in the judicial and planning systems...

So, anyway, had to go to the bank and withdraw the money to take to him. They couldn't even put a halt on the cheque. So, if FinaBank change their mind and it goes through twice, Kieran will refund me. But, really, such a simple procedure as cancelling a cheque and BCR just looked at me blankly as if I'd asked for a rhinoceros foot sandwich.

Up until that point I was having a somewhat less-than-average day. I went to Havana for 6pm to give the money to Kieran and met the rest of the Irish Committee, including Paul, who runs the movie nights. I was feeling pretty blue by the time I got home, so I texted D to see if he wanted to come over and watch movies. I'd been trying him all day the day before and no reply. I wondered if he'd gone to Uganda with the Eyecon lot, then - doh! - I realised I hadn't taken the +250 off his number. When MTN switched to the new 78 numbers the old ones stopped working with +250 unless replying to texts. MTN were still charging me for the texts but they were not getting through.

Once I worked that out it was plain sailing.

He said he'd love to and between that and him arriving I also received an e-mail saying I'd passed an online test I'd taken for a potential job a few days ago. It had been really tough and involved answering some pretty hard questions in a very short period of time. I was well chuffed I'd passed it, so it really lifted my spirits.

D arrived around eight and we snuggled up on the bed with the laptop and watched Stardust. It's a silly romantic fairytale but I wasn't in the mood for anything serious. I explained about unicorns and what they are - forgot there's one on the front of the British passport:

The Lion and the Unicorn were fighting for the crown,
The Lion beat the Unicorn all about the town.
Some gave them white bread and some gave them brown;
And some gave them plum cake and drummed them out of town.

The battle between England and Scotland :)

It's funny the cross in folklore and the things you take for granted; the shared lexicon of mythology you forget changes so dramatically with each culture.

It was soooo nice just to snuggle up like we used to. I've really missed him, actually. He's really relaxed a lot in himself since last time. Sexy, confidence appeal. I always said there's chemistry between us and it's never gone away, which is probably why I ignored him for so long, because I know - as keeps on happening - that if I agreed to meet up again we'd just end up back where we were. But this time I'm fairly confident it won't be like before. I know - famous last words - but really, I think we've both changed a lot since last time and I think it's all going to be aaaalriiight.

It was a lovely evening and today I'm just carrying on with the Internal Policies & Procedures Manual for RNAD whilst idly packing a few bits and pieces. It's a bit of a weird situation really: the house, the job, finances, friends leaving, time passing, weighed against what? Familiarity, nice climate... D. I feel there's more to be explored between us but I don't know how long I'll be here. I've quietly suggested he looks into a Ugandan passport - just in case. You never know. He wants to travel and you can't get far without a passport. He wants to get Rwandan citizenship but, with a Ugandan passport, you can have duel one, and better to have one passport than neither.

It was just a thought... even if it doesn't work out again, it's still something he'll need one day.

Right, back to policies and procedures: TOIL, expenses, annual leave, interview procedure... the joy.