Moon / zie de maan schijnt

I am the moon.

George

We found a tiny little friend in our bedroom. A couple days later he was in our shower.

Say hello to George. He is just a couple of inches tall.

Work news

A bit late, but I realised I didn't post this yet.

When we came back from holiday it was announced that the embasador will be going back to the Netherlands asap for health reasons. He will be flying on the 11th of December.

A week it became apparent that my boss will be leaving next summer in stead of the summer after, on her request.

Number two is leaving next summer, because of his retirement.

This means that we will have a whole new management team by next year.

For further details give us a call on Skype.

Correction

News is not controlled.

A report showed that freedom of press was bad in Rwanda, so the president called a meeting with the press to explain that they should be more possitive.

So if the president says so, it must be true.

Some things

Some things I like a lot about Rwanda

• little brown feet poking out at the hips of women carrying babies
• mobile phone boys who are on every corner, so you can always make a call
  
• plastic carrier bags are illegal
• that you will see almost anything being transported by moto taxi (goats, chairs, mattresses etc)
• umbrellas are for protecting babies from the sun, and are pretty pointless when it rains
  
• ladies carrying mini markets in baskets on their heads
• that ordinary people and the news sound(s) a bit like management text books, using words like capacity building, cooperativism, mandate, key performance indicators
• that when there is too much traffic in one direction, the traffic police override the traffic lights to improve flow
• impressive and incomprehensible greetings - there are intricate gentle headbuts (almost maori) and hand shaking involving holding wrists, and then fingers
• hearing the hymns sung in the local church, services are apparently not confined to Sundays as I've heard them in full swing on a Tuesday morning (rehearsal??)
  

Some things I like a lot less about Rwanda

• being called muzungu constantly
• being stalked by mosquitoes
  
• the up down up look given by just about everyone with a look of disdain
  
• that driving is a secondary activity to calling on the phone, chatting to passengers or just checking out the talent
• that investigating your nose is a hobby
• that the news is so controlled

I may add to this from time to time but thats what I can think of right now

Limbo

...and patience running low

We are still waiting for news on the car. It left Dar es Salaam on the 10th November, so should be here in Kigali already - and then we have to wait for the paperwork to clear!

The house is now empty - hope to get the keys today - and to move in next Friday once minor repairs and repainting has taken place.

I'm very excited about finally setting up home so we can settle in - oh and getting my hands on some of our belongings which I'm missing after three months.

Kinyarwanda cyanje n'igikye

Or - I speak a little Kinyarwandan

I don't, but I'm hoping to pick up a bit more in the coming months. I've typed these out hoping something will stick

Muraho - Hello
Mwaramutze - Good Morning
Mwiriwe - Good Afternoon/Evening
Murakoze - Thank you
Yego - Yes
Oya - No
Amakuru/Bite - How are you?
Nimeza - Fine
Witwande - What is your name?
Nitwa... - My name is...
Ryare - When (pronounced dgyare)
Hehe - Where
Mzungu - White person. Or... really just any lighter skinned person

A link to a blog with a much bigger posting about the Kinyarwandan language

It all still sounds very alien to my ears, and quite harsh. I'm hoping that with more exposure I'll start to recognise things more.

Druk knoppie

The language in South Africa was funny. For an English speaking person the accent is funny for a Dutch speaking person the Afrikaans is funny.

Example for pressing the button at a traffic light:
Druk knoppie, wach tot verkeer staan, loop vinnig oor.

And double negatives: nie doen nie.

I can't think of any more examples now, but they make everything funny.


You just have to come yourself and see!

Obviously posted by Lon, not by Hazel.

Home sweet Kigali

We're back
South Africa was excellent, beautiful, hospitable, clean, cheap.....in short we had a fab time and will happily return on holiday again. Despite the obvious challenges faced politically and economically by people, there is a sense of hope and a journey being undertaken.
We did a small tour Cape Town - Coastal Route - Winelands - Cape Town, and didn't do all the things you are meant to, and enjoyed ourselves immensely.


Highlights include

being instrucuted to unbuckle our seatbelts while refuelling at Bujumbura - presumably we could run away faster if the plane blew up!!??

Township tour including a church visit on Sunday, shebeen (pub) and herbalist









whales at Hout Bay and Hermanus - we spent many hours sitting watching and trying to get the perfect "tail shot", but just really enjoyed watching the groups seem to play


Penguins at Boulders and Betty's Baai - stinky and comical.

Franschhoek wine tour - which culminated in a fantastic tasting session ay Lynx, and where I ate the best mussels ever

Belthazar's the largest by the glass wine bar in the world, great vibe, great food - we went once for drinks, and twice more to eat!

stayed at some fab places including The Wild Olive and the Head South Lodge and even went to a backpackers for one night just to determine we are no longer back packer material!

We shopped a l. o. t. even I was defeated in the end! But were mostly succesful in our quests for finding odd items, and I even got a hairstyle!

The only disappointing thing was the weather - it was unseasonably cold, windy and wet, every time we walked on Long street it rained! It cleared up by the Saturday and we got our first glimpse of Table Mountain which had been shrouded in cloud and rain for the previous week.

...normal service will be resumed

after the 12th ...we are off to Cape Town for 10 days to get some R&R, retail therapy and to eat chicken.

Please leave a message after the beep!

Food glorious food

We can get more than I imagined to cook with
veg wise can get

avocados
artichokes
aubergines
broccoli
cabbage
cauliflower
chicory (bleurgh)
chillis (green / red / killer madam Jeanette)
courgette
cucumbers
fresh cannelini / kidney beans
green beans
leeks
lettuce (curly and round)
marrow
onion
oyster mushrooms
peas
plantain
potato
pumpkin
radishes
red cabbage
red onions
spring onion
sweet corn
sweet potato
tomatoes

not all are every where always, but they are about - all of the above are organic, since the farmers can't afford chemical fertilisers. The supermarkets are hit and miss if you want a particular item on a particular day but I know now where the indoor big market is, and they have EVERYTHING including peeled garlic - how handy is that!

I've been able to get fresh herbs too, mint, coriander, parsley, rosemary, chives (no dill though)

So I'm missing regular mushrooms, celery and tauge (beansprouts)! No big problem there.

There are imported spices from Kenya - not the best quality, and relatively expensive - and just about everything is there - I've bought them to spice up our lives. Basmati rice, coconut milk and couscous are also available widely.

Beef / lamb (mutton) / goat / pork are widely available and cheap. Chicken is less available and relatively expensive and not nice. I've seen rabbit in the supermarket so may try currying that instead of chicken. Fish is everywhere - so long as you want tilapia or capitaine (nile perch) both of which are nice bland inoffensive fish. Calamari and prawns are flown in deep frozen and the price reflects that they have come half way round the world - but at a weird level its comforting to know I can get them if I'm willing to pay.

I bought a big bag of fresh local beans, and thought they were so pretty they deserved a photo. They didn't deserve an 'after' though, as they were a uniform grey-purple colour.



So we are eating well - especially since I have more time and energy to cook now.

That said, we've found some surprising items available easily - hot cross buns are a spiced sweet currant bun originally available in UK at Easter time, and found here in a supermarket.

Also we can get hold of fresh sauerkraut and sausages from the local german butcher, and these amusingly titled shortbreads...