The Very Best of Friends

Home Sweet Home

 

Well, given the amount of complaining I did in my last post, it would be easy to get the impression that I'm not in a good mood. Actually, the opposite. As I was explaining to a friend here: being British, I was born complaining and we've made it into something of an art form. Whereas the actions which lead to a complaint are frustrating and upsetting, complaining itself is cathartic and, on occasions, even enjoyable.

I am actually extremely happy to be back in Rwanda. I've had an absolutely lovely time the past few days.

It began at the airport. The guy at customs was absolutely lovely and smiley, welcomed me back in Kinya. Bumped into my Programme Manager who was also returning from holiday, then got a wonderful taxi driver called Peter, who turned out to be a relative of one of the VSO staff. He was the nicest guy in the world and so kind. He charged me 7,000 to get all the way home when other taxis at the airport charge 5,000 just to get to Chez Lando up the road! I think asking in Kinya helped smooth the way - a little language goes a long way. But it was excellent of him to charge such a fair price straight off.

We had a great chat on the way, discussing the weather, what's going on in the world; this, that, and everything. If anyone's looking for a reliable English-speaking taxi driver in Rwanda, give him a call: [number] he really is brilliant.

I slept like a log Saturday night, and on Sunday I went for lunch at SoleLuna with Giudi, Cathryn and Martine - we used up the entire afternoon eating pizza and chatting. It was wonderful, all my favourite people together, laughing and having a good time. Really was the nicest welcome back I could have wished for :)

Just getting back into the swing of things at the moment. Finalising funding for teacher training of Sign Language tutors, starting the first trial of the Foundation curriculum I wrote before I left. Really exciting times.

Some officials from VSO London and East Africa are visiting the Deaf Association office tomorrow, and on Friday there's a VSO Disability Working Group with Cris from MINALOC coming to talk about the Social Protection Policy and how it links to Disability, he's a really nice guy and it's always a pleasure to see him.

All good stuff.

I've only got about eight weeks to go - two months - before my placement's up. Thus far the job scene has been fairly non-forthcoming so I've re-applied to VSO. Would absolutely love to take a short-term contract in Mongolia on Secure Livelihoods.

Essentially, being back taught me a few things. Firstly, it's the highest unemployment since 1995 and I don't cope well on the dole. Last time I tried I felt so demoralised I burst into tears and left. [NB 2013: How funny that seems now. Unemployment kept on rising since I got back, not to mention the number of economically inactive people. 2.49 million out of work at the moment.]

So, thinking about it logically it makes far more sense to take another placement. This will allow me to expand my CV outside of the Disability Sector and into Income Generation and Sustainable Livelihoods, which is what really interests me, and also get a better standard of living than I would trying to survive off £70 a month in the UK.

When the job market finally does take off again, at least I'll be able to show that I've been working in a relevant field whilst at the same time doing a bit more travelling, which is always nice.

So, assuming no brilliant, well paid and interesting jobs suddenly fall out of the sky, that seems to be the direction I'm leaning in.

In other news, my house smells really bad. My worst nightmares have been realised: haven't got any running water. House isn't set up for that, so I'm extremely economical with my jerrycans. Essentially, water only goes down the toilet after I've bathed in it, washed my hair, and several pairs of undies. The water in one of the toilets has completely evaporated in my absence, leaving a foul-smelling gunk at the bottom which occasionally wafts through the thin walls. There was no water when I left for the UK either, so the toilets weren't fully flushed. Nice.

Ho hum. Such is life.

I'm feeling extremely relaxed, moreso than I was in the UK actually. I think because it's my home turf, my house, my work - everything's familiar. Plus I'm feeling extremely laid-back with the added insight that actually, the UK can be just as rude and frustrating as any other country on earth. Think about it, over the past two years I've had a swipe at Electrogaz and MTN. In the past month of being in the UK I've had a swipe at British Airways, Co-op Bank and London Transport. [NB 2013: I neglected to re-post my Co-operative swipe as it was quite dull and they're in enough trouble at the moment as it is. It was just about about how hard it was to contact them from abroad with limited phone credit, since they ditched their customer service e-mail accounts.]

Still, the food, wine, running water and lack of 'muzungu' does make up for quite a bit.

Then again, in Rwanda the pace of life, friends, and motos make up for a lot too.

It really was wonderful being on a moto again - I do love those.

And I have to say, I reckon people in the UK look at each other just as much. I felt a bit out of place a few times. Here you know you're different and people stare directly at you, but in the UK - because it's so rude to stare - people kind of flick sideways glances at you a lot. Anyone else noticed that? I never did before. Maybe I'm paranoid.

Lies sent me a link shortly after I got there regarding Re-Entry Syndrome experienced by overseas aid workers going back to their native countries. Also called 'reverse culture shock'. I have to say, I definitely noted a couple of symptoms.

• Initial feeling of euphoria. Which I didn't realise I was feeling until it suddenly wore off.

• Frustration and lack of desire to try and communicate to people because of a perceived lack of interest.

• Frustration with the amount of hedonism going on - Excuse me Maybelline, but what the f*ck is 'comfortable lipstick'!? When the hell did you ever wear an uncomfortable lipstick? (dumb advert on TV)

Thankfully I was surrounded by lovely friends like Graeme and Cassie, and Dad and Marilyn visited last year so were dead chilled out about it. Jo and Pierre knew exactly what I was feeling, both having been through it.

It wasn't too pronounced, and actually I have quite a good ability to switch off and adapt to where I am. Amanda, Martine and Cathryn had all prepped me really well on what to expect before I left, so it wasn't a complete surprise.

But I do feel good being back, even if it is only to wind down to leaving again. It's made me doubly sure I don't want to go back to the UK yet. I'm just not that in love with it right now. Which is funny, because if I hadn't been born there I probably wouldn't have had all the opportunities that have led to me being able to travel so freely. So, acknowledged, there are many wonderful things about it. But hopefully it'll always be there, so I might as well have some adventures in the meantime.

In news, news. Saw this today. What a lovely step in the right direction. Rwanda Police Authority should be really proud of themselves:

Rwanda: Police to Enhance Citizen Participation: Rwanda National Police have opened their doors for the public to both criticise and compliment the force where necessary in a new effort to enhance service delivery.