It leaks.

October 28, 2009

 

I guess I’ll have to become self sufficient….You know, I feel like I’m doing a good job taking care of myself here. To be honest, I sort of had me pegged for someone who would freak out a lot more than I have.  My learning curve with work was steep but has rapidly become more gradual.  It seems, however,  that every time I turn around there is something else to “deal with.” What do I mean? Well, since I’ve been here I’ve had to learn the “Rwandan way of life”. Things like shopping in the market, taking motos, catching the bus to Kigali, boiling and filtering water, cooking with kerosene and those sorts of things. I’ve also had to get used to a lot of things: the washing here practically destroys my clothes and I’m always conscious of getting home on laundry day to take the wash in just incase it rains. I’m getting used to doing everything before 6 o’clock because that’s when the sun goes down and you never know about electricity. I’m getting used to cold showers…but don’t think I’ll really get used to it. I’ve also had to deal with things that I’ve never actually had to deal with – ever – in Canada or in Rwanda. For example, my house was broken into a while back. Or at least some people tried to take things – more or less unsuccessfully. That’s never happened in Canada although I really don’t think it’s an indication of the safety in Rwanda. It’s really safe here and people are very caring. I’m guessing that if I had lived in the East Village any longer, it would have happened there too. But when it happened here who did I call to help me? Bosco! He works with me and was helpful. My electrical box outside caught fire and I was out of power for a few days. That’s never happened. Who did I call to arrange an electrician? Bosco! It seems I’m always calling him – and today was no different. I came home from lunch to hear the water running….(this is usually a good thing…) but went into the bathroom and there was water EVERYWHERE. The pipe leading from the toilet to the water source has a large enough split in it to give my bathroom a little rinse. So…(and these are things I’m learning here but never would have bothered back home)…I ran outside to shut off the main water supply. How did I know where it was? I have no clue…but I’m glad I did. Now what do I do?? Well, I decided to eat lunch because I was starving and nothing good was ever accomplished on an empty stomach. So, after a protein filled lunch of eggs and tuna, I called….you guessed it….Bosco! He’ll come around today at 6 o’clock to have a look. In the mean time, I wandered in and out of the shops in Kibungo looking for something…ANYTHING…to hold until he gets here.  In reality, I don’t even need water leading to my toilet (it doesn’t flush anyway) but I would prefer if the flood gates closed. After a lengthy search and being taken, literally by the hand by a nice kid, to a shop near my house I found a small role of electrical tape. That should hold, right? I have no clue – but I guess I’m learning.