rwanda was extremely clean, orderly and polite. across the border in burundi things are different. it was easy to get a transit visa, but i was instantly approached by men, women, children looking for handouts. i changed a bit of money and then we were all quickly back on the bus and heading to bujumbura. in buj i dumped my stuff at a hotel and set off for a walk to get my bearings, as i had left my city map behind in rwanda. muzungu, muzungo hello hello. one guy was grabbing me aggressively wanting to shake my hand. i backed off, turned around, waited, then continued. a little further along a young guy missing lower limbs jumped at me. again i pulled away, then continued on. but a few moments later looked down, and ah no, i was missing my little change purse. i keep a change purse in my front zip with just enuf money for the day, and altho this day i happened to be carrying a bit more cuz i was wanting to change $10USD, it only amounted to $25 total plus 3 pair of earrings. my fault, uganda and rwanda were quite relaxed and friendly and so i had relaxed. i hope it was the last guy who got my donation ... i went back and he was gone, so maybe he ran off with his jackpot.
next day i took a motobike taxi to 'Bora Bora - beach lounge food experience'. very nice, but too early for lunch so took a stroll down the beach. found a place to sit and soon enuf had a companion. typical chatter... what am i doing here, he can't find work, he would like to be able to leave his country if he could find a sponsor like me, life is very difficult here, if he could go to a rich country like mine then he could get money and then get a girlfriend... whoa!
after lunch i took a moto back to town. i paid 1000fr this morning, but this guy wanted 1500fr to get back. but madam fuel is very expensive. we settled on 1200fr and he said he knew my hotel. as we got going he asked where my hotel was, if canada was next to california, or was it the capital?* enroute he pulled over and gave me his helmet cuz it was very windy. once we arrived he asked if i would take him with me to america.
around dusk as i was heading back to the hotel a bat shat on my shoulder.
at the visa counter in nairobi the guy was telling me i had to fill in a white form. i had already filled in a yellow form and a blue form. why do i also need a white form?? please. i held out my $25 for the visa. he flipped thru my passport, saw my previous visas for kenya, waved away my money, and stamped me in. nice to be back.
*do you know where Burundi is?
1 comment:
You kind of blow me away sometimes Brenda. I've only just read your first blog. I think mine will be different, but what continues to impress me is your courage and confidence. What blows me away is Life is Beautiful is also one of my all time favourite movies. AND Louis Armstrong - What a Wonderful World is super super high on my list too. Wow. On to the next blog, I'll read a few...
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