So my neighbour has a new CD. The Backstreet Boys. I never thought I’d hear myself saying this, but I think I preferred Celine Dion.
The elections were due to start on Saturday, and as no movement is allowed on election days, on Friday night I went to stay with another volunteer for the weekend so we didn’t have to be housebound on our own. We tuned into local radio on Saturday morning only to find the elections had been postponed until Monday. But then on Sunday we heard they had been postponed again until the following Saturday. So we’re waiting to see what happens next. On the plus side, we did make ourselves an exciting dinner on Saturday night to make up for the fact we couldn’t go out (my colleague still advised us to stay in) – spicy bean burgers, proper bread rolls, CHEESE SLICES, chips and beer. Apart from a minor chip pan fire, it was amazing. Combine that with a 2-day Uno tournament, and captivity wasn’t so bad.
Then the most exciting thing in the world happened on Sunday – I got back to My Squat and I had water AND electricity. At the same time. I didn’t actually realise that My Squat provided this service; I thought I could only have one at a time.
My emotions have been a bit crazy this week. I wouldn’t change being here for anything, but there are times when I really miss home. What’s confused me the most is that there are situations where I would expect myself to get fed up and miserable (a week without electricity, running water, and Ratty running around My Squat disturbing my sleep every night), and I am completely fine. But then I’ll be doing something like listening to Chris Moyles and I’ll burst into tears. I’m a strange human being. I think it’s because there is nothing here that is familiar or that reminds me of home. And so then when I come across something that does, it catches me by surprise.
The thing I’m struggling with the most at the moment is the complete lack of anonymity. It is literally impossible to do anything, or go anywhere, without attracting endless amounts of attention. I’m hoping that after a while people will get used to seeing me around, at least in the area where I live. You’d think the novelty would have worn off my now, it’s not as if I’m ever doing anything more exciting than walking or buying something from a shop!
And now for some cultural lessons learnt the hard way:
1. Never peel a mango. Just bite it and eat it like an apple. Yes, that’s right, skin and all.
2. When asked by a local colleague what you normally eat with custard, banana is not the right answer. This receives a response similar to when you try and peel a mango. Not good.
3. Be very specific when asking what ingredients certain foods contain. For example, if you are given a bean cake to eat and you ask if it is vegetarian and the answer is yes, follow this up with a question about what it has in it. Otherwise you’ll find yourself in a situation where you start to eat the bean cake, then ask what the ingredients are, and hear the word fish. You then have no choice but to carry on eating and smiling politely when all you really want to do is wash your mouth out with nail varnish.
4. Walking to work in flipflops in torrential mud and rain doesn’t create a particularly attractive look on very white legs and a cream skirt.
5. When asked by a colleague if you believe in mermaids, think very carefully before replying.
6. When being told that cats whiskers are poisonous and they kill you if they come into contact with you, once again think very carefully before responding.
And finally, the prize for the week’s most interesting transport journey goes to….
The taxi driver who picked me up and then did an emergency stop at the side of the dual carriageway in rush hour traffic because another car on the side of the road was on fire. He shouted at me to throw him his fire extinguisher, and off he ran to save the day. Bless him, he got to the crowd of people stood around the flaming car, told them all to get out the way because he had it under control, got his fire extinguisher poised and ready and… it was empty. Poor guy, I really felt for him, he looked crestfallen. Thankfully someone else arrived soon after with a slightly more useful fire extinguisher. I think he’s now realised that when he uses the fire extinguisher it then needs to be refilled.
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