nother tea trip, a show and what is the point?
Comments: 0
All of a sudden I'm able to access this site and write a quick update of my musings and doings! Thanks to everyone who has written or sent me packages -chocolate is really welcome as are fruit teas. I am so grateful to be still on the receiving end of your thoughts and parcels!!
A whole month has passed since I last wrote anything - I have now been on another school trip to a different Usine du The - a long, dusty and bumpy ride through pine and eucalyptus forests and through villages where the sight of a Muzungu created near hysteria- there were lots of pigs and their squeakers snoozing by the side of the road or being drive or led by snotty nosed children or rheumy eyed old men. the fields of tea are breathtaking in their freshness and there was a very pretty garden by the huge tin shed housing the works.
The children were really quite interested in the whole operation and I got some good photographs which I plan to put together in an exhibition this week. Of course teachers and children alike are really only interested in pictures of themselves but they ar getting used to my strange ideas of showing things and places as well as people!!
Not much cooking has been done in the last 2 weeks because of the run up to exams - It's quite a relief not to be dashing to and from the market or seeking out Jean Marie and hanging about while he busies himself chatting up the young female staff! -Lots of hand holding and arm stroking while I look on po-faced!!
Last weekend I went to stay with Cathy who had put on a "talent show" at her school. It was a bit of an ordeal for her as just about everything that could go wrong DID! The students had failed to make any curtains - not a disaster - but the music machine completely packed up early on which let the male dancers to become all tempermental and refuse to perform. In contrast some of the sketches went on interminably in Kinyarwanda, actors unmoved by power failure or exploding lights once the generator had been connected! Other helpful people ran in and out of dancers trying to sweep up broken glass while the audience in best Shakespearean tradition, booed, hissed and gave slow hand claps!
There were poems about the importance of Kinyarwanda and about "no love no education". the most popular act was the tradititional dancers who weere very good and received wild applause! The whole thing went on for 3 and a half hours without a break except for the 15 minutes we sat in the dark!!
We tottered home completely exhausted and Cathy has sworn that she'll never do anything like it again!
I went to Kigali on Sunday for a farewell party for Nancy - a volunteer who came out with me - full of plans to DO things at the VSO programme Office on Monday, only to find that it was closed so I wnt with laura to have a massage given by a blind woman - which was very restful - except that the oil was rather glutinous and smelt of vick - so I'll take my own next time!!
There is something of a revolt against being continually asked for money by colleagues, students, people one meets on the bus or in the street. I have come to dread the request to have a few words in confidence because they always lead to a request for funding - usually to support a child!! It makes one wonder whether we aren't encouraging a completely dependent society and it does lead to a kind of profligacy - there's no need to put money on one side to buy a new generator - some donor will appear and give us one!!
That's it for now -will try to be more regular over the next few weeks.
The author has not allowed comments to be made on this entry.
