28 March 2010

Chickens at the Door

Jerry the rooster is getting bold. A few days ago I heard the gentle clucking again, this time from the front door. When I looked up the whole family was standing there, including the chicks. They looked like they were waiting to be invited in.

I gave in. I didn't let them in the house this time, but I grabbed some slices of bread and gave them a treat. This was the first time the chicks had been so close to the house and I want them to be used to me.

Yesterday I heard a tapping sound coming from the back door. Jerry was actually there, knocking! And again the whole family was standing nearby behind him. I guess he's decided that we mzungus, with our breadcrumbs, aren't so scary after all.

26 March 2010

Long Week

It's been kind of a frustrating week. Shortly after the phones went dead last weekend, due to stolen cables, the internet just up and disappeared for two days. Since it's been back, it's been as slow as molasses. I've been wanting to put some nice photos up on the blog, but they are literally taking hours to upload and then the internet connection, or the electricity altogether, blinks out and I have to start over again.

The floor in the living room is falling apart. I don't know exactly what's going on under the tiles, but they are popping up and making creaking sounds. The landlord has been in and out all week with contractors and on Monday they'll start ripping up the floor. I really hope it's not termites, but it probably is. This house is going to need to be completely de-bugged, tenting and all, when we move out before the next tenant moves in.

Work has kept me busy this week, which is good. But it also makes me sad because I'm starting to prepare my office for when I leave. This program has been my baby since the first day I arrived and on one hand I'm burning out a bit, but on the other, it's still mine and I'm not working that hard in finding a replacement for me. I'm going to have to soon, though.

Mike's been back in D.C. for almost two weeks, and last week I was fine. But this week I needed help. I know he's not having all fun and games himself, either. He's been sick and I don't envy his 24 hours of flying time this weekend while fighting a cold.

However, I have a weekend of couch-potato-ing ahead of me. Mail arrived today, and with it Project Runway Season 6 DVDs and a case of Annie's gluten-free macaroni & cheese. I need comfort food and comfort tv right now.

19 March 2010

No Home Phone

I was carpooling home the other day with the guy who maintains the phone lines and some of the other communication stuff at the office. When we passed some ditches and large pipes along the side of the road, he excitedly turned to me to explain the latest scandal in town. The ditch project is apparently new water pipes. But overnight someone unburied the old phone cables that the new ditch had partially exposed, and cut the cables and stole them. You can supposedly get a decent price for them in Kenya or Tanzania.

Low and behold, when I got home that afternoon and picked up the phone, the line was completely dead. I'm sure the phone lines will not be replaced any time soon. Not that they were very reliable anyway, and probably should be replaced. But I hate to see backward steps in progress here.

18 March 2010

P.S.

If you see that the banner over there to the right says "If you love this blogger, take the survey," please click on it and take the survey, even if you just like me a little bit. I certainly don't make millions from my ads, but I'm hoping to fund a few Dunkin' Donuts trips while I'm unemployed in Rhode Island this summer. Thank you!

I Was on TV

You can't get away with anything in such a small country. When I arrived at my French lesson this morning, full of my apology for missing class yesterday, my tutor announced that he knew where'd I'd been -- he saw it on the news last night. I was surprised, since I'd been hiding under a tent the whole time, in the middle of a crowd, trying to avoid direct sunlight. But my tutor said the cameraman got a shot of everyone there. And it was an exciting event, so it was the biggest story of the week.

The event was the groundbreaking ceremony for the new American embassy. The ambassador was there, along with the mayor of the city, and representatives from several NGOs and American businesses. It was pretty exciting and many of my Burundian coworkers are happy that it shows a big commitment on the part of the United States to continue relations (and aid) with the country. Today my French lesson was a discussion on how building the new embassy will benefit the local economy.

Ants Addendum

I can't believe I forgot to mention the most disturbing place I keep finding the ants. In the valve of the water distiller! You cannot imagine the horror I feel whenever I go to fill up a water bottle, pitcher, or ice cube tray with pure, clean water, to have a shower of ants come tumbling down. My clean drinking water, filled with ants!

17 March 2010

Ants Are Everywhere

I haven't been this annoyed since the initial culture shock after arriving here. Is the opposite happening now, where as much as I love this place, I'm also ready to be somewhere else for a while?

Ants. It seems like they are never completely out of season, but there are definitely times when there are more of them. They swarm on anything that's left on the counter for just a few minutes. They're all over the sink if you don't wash the dishes right away. (I can tell if the housekeeper isn't washing dishes well enough, because they swarm the "clean" dishes in the drying rack, too.) I'm finding them in the microwave and huddling outside the refrigerator. They're on furniture in the living room. I often find them crawling across the screen on my laptop and Kindle. They are too numerous to bother with traps, motels, bug bombs, vinegar washes. There are always more ants that will replace the ones you get rid of.

I've given up. I'm living with the ants for three more months. I know that there will be ants in Rhode Island this summer, too, but for some reason that doesn't bother me right now. I'm so happy that the mosquitos won't be carrying malaria that I'm actually welcoming the tame little Rhode Island bugs I'll find.

I don't want this to become a complaint blog. I'm trying to enjoy my last couple of months here, because I do love it here and I am going to miss it. As a Burundian co-worker said to me today, we're leaving with a huge souvenir! It will be impossible to forget our time here.

13 March 2010

Chicken in the Kitchen

When we got home yesterday afternoon we went straight to the kitchen to heat up leftovers for lunch. It was ridiculously hot in the kitchen so we opened the back door. Then we heard gentle clucking very close by. The rooster, Little Jerry, and one of the hens, Stella, were approaching the door. They're usually pretty shy with us, although Jerry's been getting closer to Mike. Mike gives him snacks. We wanted to see if they would actually come into the house. Mike threw some bits of tortilla out the door, and the lure of a treat overcame any shyness.



I'm going to miss our chickens when we go. I love Jerry. He's a gigantic monster of a rooster. We now also have two hens and two undetermined chicks. We're giving Jerry to a friend when we leave. But the others will undoubtedly become lovely dinners for some people. I eat chicken, but I can't fathom eating the ones that are my own pets. I'm glad I won't be here for that.

07 March 2010

Mountain View Day

Earlier this week we had a day that co-opted the previous best mountain view to become the greatest best mountain view. Mike and I stopped on the way into work to take some photos.

That's the Congo on the other side of the lake.
Here I am:

We had some little photography assistants. When the camera wasn't turned on them, they were making funny faces at their reflections in the car grill.

We're going to miss the weather and the view here. No lake and mountain views in Hyderabad.

03 March 2010

Checking in on Gustave

Let's see how things are going with everyone's favorite Nile crocodile and the man who's trying to catch him.





I don't know when the BBC originally aired this interview. I heard it for the first time today, thanks to Mike. Not much is new, actually. But I can't get enough Gustave media. The best part of the interview is the very end, when he's asked how he'll feel if someone else catches Gustave. He says he'll remain faithful to Gustave and he hopes Gustave remains faithful to him by not letting anyone else catch him.

For any new readers who are unfamiliar with Gustave, he is the world's largest Nile crocodile and he lives here in Burundi. Patrice Faye, pictured, is the man who's been trying to catch him for several years. I've had the chance to meet Patrice several times and he is a real-life Indiana Jones. Burundi wouldn't be the same without him and Gustave here, playing their little game.

Photo from BBC World Service.

02 March 2010

I'm a Student Again

Yesterday the missing mail pouches arrived with my textbooks, just a few hours after the syllabi were made available for the two courses I’m starting this week. I’m starting a master’s program in political science. Like, right now this minute. I have a lot of reading to do. And it’s been a long time since I’ve had to write papers.

One other thing that was in that missing mail delivery was a little birthday present I’d purchased for myself – a Kindle. Unfortunately most of my textbooks are not available on Kindle, but many of the additional class materials are in PDF format, which can be read on the Kindle. I don’t have to print out dozens of environmentally unfriendly pages or sit with a hot laptop on my lap while attaining maximum reading comfort. (These days I’m not too comfortable sitting behind a desk or at a table for long periods of time. Couch reading is ideal.) The battery also lasts much longer than a laptop battery – up to two weeks since I don’t have the wireless function turned on. I can download books and PDFs to my laptop and USB them to the Kindle.

Despite my attempt at doing this program paperless, I still printed out a few items. I feel like I need a Trapper Keeper.