*Teeth Chattering*

In a break from the usual good-but-rather-depressing films I get sent, Dad just posted a consignment of horror films.

The past two evenings I’ve watched The Broken and The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

As a result, I am now petrified of mirrors and 3am 8oO

The above picture is Anneliese Michel, the woman upon whom Emily Rose was based. Looks like me in the mornings.

In other, slightly bizarre, news: Teen pregnant after ‘swimming in pool’. Thanks for that one Cas.

In more mundane news, I’m getting really fed up with power cuts. Every day for about a week now the power goes off for hours during the day. My laptop runs out of power, so I have to stop working. Between the recent lack of water, internet, and power there’s not much you can do really. Times like this you wish you’d opted for the charcoal stove rather than the electric hotplate and kettle.

I’ve currently got some hideously painful stomach problem. I get this about every four or five months. Extremely sore tummy that comes in sharp, short-lived waves. Tends to sort itself out after a couple of days, so I will leave it alone as the other option is antibiotics, which I’ve had a lifetime’s supply of this year already.

Not much going on at the moment. Went for brochettes with Martine in Nyamirambo last night, was nice. Parted with FRW 10,000 to my head of umudugudu (village) the other evening for a genocide memorial event. Was nice to meet Dativa and Peter, the two representatives, really friendly people.

Not much else to report really, so I’ll go out on an interesting snippet from the Devex weekly round-up:

"I think what’s hampered advancement in Africa is that for many years we’ve made excuses about corruption or poor governance. That this was somehow the consequence of neo-colonialism, or the West has been oppressive, or racism. I’m not a believer in excuses.”

-- US President Barack Obama ahead of his first official trip to a country in Sub-Saharan Africa, arguing that the United States and Western nations can’t be blamed for “disastrous policies” in some African countries or for the economic collapse in Zimbabwe in the past 15 to 20 years. The remarks came in a July 2 interview with AllAfrica.com, released by the White House before Obama’s departure for Ghana on July 10. He said African leaders should take responsibility for a lack of economic progress, adding that “excuses” about neo-colonialism had hindered progress on the world’s poorest continent. More African leaders should commit to democracy and respect for the rule of law as a way of boosting investment in the continent, Obama said, citing Ghana as a good example. The president said that while there has been progress toward democracy and good governance in Africa, there have also been incidents of “backsliding,” such as in Kenya, his late father’s homeland. “It’s very important for African leadership to take responsibility and be held accountable,” Obama said.