the double edged sword of solitude

Ah, Friday! The blessed end of the week. The day that gets everyone into a tizzy. The week passed by quickly with lots to do and not enough time to do it, but like everyone else, I was extremely happy to see the weekend arrive. The next few weeks have a lot of stuff on tap, including World Refugee Day (June 20th), Donor's visits and lots of reporting work. I was pleased when 14:00 rolled around and I was free to enjoy my afternoon. Even if it arrived with thunder, lightning and buckets full of rain.


my first homemade meal

Last night everyone was booked with plans so I found myself at T2000 again picking up more stuff for my apartment and then doing some cleaning around the place to make it feel more like home. It was a bit lonely in all honesty. I felt homesick, not for "home," but for all the people that make a place feel more like "home." Instead of wallowing in the filth of my lonliness, I got on the phone with a Canadian HCR colleague based in one of the refugee camps in the South of the country and talked smack for awhile. I simultaneously puttered around my place tidying up, taking pictures, playing with Photoshop and listening to the rain fall on my roof like machine-gun fire.


the "mini" kitchen


one of my "mini" bathrooms

During the course of the evening, I figured out that a) I have a leaky roof in two spots and that there is a mildew smell in my living room that I think is coming from the rug. I tried to air out the living room. I burned 4 sticks of incense...and no dice. I'm going to speak with the landlady today to get the rug removed (I'd rather have the green floor than mildew smell) and to also get the sink in my kitchen fixed. For some reason it's not draining like it should.


the offensive mildew rug

When I finished with my photo taking I watched a movie - that I fell asleep during at least twice and then retired to my bed to have, what surprisingly turned out to be, a restful sleep.


the "mini" bookshelf


zzzzzzzz - malaria preventing net to ensure a good night's rest

I went for a 30 minute run this morning and was pleased to find that very few people stared at me and made "muzungu" comments. Perhaps it's the neighbourhood I'm in, perhaps it's the fact that there seem to be a lot of runners around (Rwandese and ex-pats alike). Regardless, going for a run is far less stressful when people aren't eyeballing you up and down. It was a good time, but holy hell, the hills in this country are deadly.

So now I find myself at the Starbucks-esque coffee shop close to my house, Skyping, writing and just letting time pass by. Normally, this would stress me out in some way, but I find this state to be rather liberating and peaceful. I'm enjoying my solitude a lot more than I thought I could.

However, as much as I like spending time with myself, it never makes up for the lack of people that can make a place feel more like home.

And so it goes. restlessness - change - adjustment - change.


dreaming liquid light

Bonne weekend!