Becoming Rwandan

How long does it take until something stops to amaze you? I cannot say I know the answer, but I know that I no longer feel so strange leading a normal life in Rwanda.
My first thought when I wake up is no longer to take a shower, because there is no, it is simply to get up and get ready for the new day. Even getting up at 6 am feels just fine - here we live by the sun, whilst in Norway the TV has somehow taken its place. Washing my clothes cannot be done just any day, I have to have the time to boil water, then later to wash the clothes, and finally, hope for sunshine. Life moves on a slow pace here, so it is good to have something to fill all the time with.
Therefore I no longer have the urge to run up to the bus when I see it waiting; if I just nod my head or lift a finger and continue as slowly as before towards it, they will wait.
Usually the bus is still not full even with me in it, so most of the time I have to wait anyways. Then what's the rush?

Still, there are some things that should not be done in Rwanda. Among those things, these are pretty imortant:
1) Don't sit on the bed while brushing your hair, the comb will get stuck in the mosquito net.
2) DOn't walk around saying sssssssss, in this country where it is impolite to shout Hi! after someone on the street, this is the way to get their attention.
3) Don't, may God forbid, be ever in a hurry, or try to be effective. The food will be served when it is finished, the bus leaves when it is full, if you finish all your work today, then what are you going to do tomorrow?

As people who have lived with me or has had an appointment with me may know, I am not the one being ready to go 20 minutes before I have to, nor the one who waits for everyone else to be finished. Whenever something happen (like when I and five other AFS volunteers lost our plane from Paris to Oslo), the comment left by my closest is most likely to be this; well, in this case it actually was not your fault, but you have to admit that it is not very unlike you. Thanks a lot.
This is why I enjoy being here right now, I finally fit in. Though things here in Rwanda usually starts when they say it will, it is not that serious if you are five minutes late - the program of the meeting has not started yet, and explaining and repeating are so common activities here, that you have not missed out on anything either.

One thing I have not yet become as accustomed to, is seeing, here where there exists no such thing as homosexuals, boys who walk around hand in hand. Two persons of different sexes holding hands or showing affection publicly is, on the other hand, outside the cultural guidelines.

Linn Silje<3

P.S. We have not noticed anything of the troubles in Congo here in Kigali. Still safe and sound :)