'the views expressed in this blog are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of VSO'.
Tuesday 15th September 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOM!!! The day began with yet another trip to the cold water bucket shower...bread has not been delivered to the village for 3 days and we had run out so breakfast was 4 plain biscuits and a glass of squash...it is good to know that some things never change and I am about as good at keeping back up supplies in Rwanda as I was in the UK. There was a pineapple, which Alexandre had bought when there was no bread, but I didn’t have time to cut it as I was running late...some things will never change! We made our way to the Education office and were the first ones there. I settled myself behind the desk and decided that today WAS going to be a productive day. I used the template provided by VSO to write my letters to the directors of primary schools inviting them to participate in a project with myself, through which their school will become a ‘model school’ and teachers from other schools in the district can come and see. The letter and application form was written in both French and English and they were approved by Francois, the Director of Education. I tried to make out that I had written the letter in French myself (which obviously I hadn’t) but he didn’t seem to understand and the joke unfortunately was lost...boooo!! By half past ten the letters were written, approved, printed, signed and labelled...the only thing that was missing were the envelopes and they are kept by a lady in the District office...so off I went in search of the envelope lady. I knew which office she was in and that she was called Francois...which you would think would be enough information? Only the lady who was in the office didn’t speak any English...so it was time to try out my French...yep...I couldn’t even remember how to ask someones name...there were 2 other people in the office who find this very amusing and thankfully understood what I was trying to say! It was established that the lady in questions was in fact Francois and I proceeded to ask for the envelopes...again in French...only this time she seemed to understand completely!! As I came out of the office...I walked out of the office and straight into the Mayor of the district...who blurted in very rapid French..ooabdvkajblksadjbclkasjbdcliasbdclibdc....I don’t think that had I even spoken French I would have understood a word of it...I just stood and looked perplexed...while the man who was with him started to laugh...maybe as they then realised that if you are going to ask someone from the UK if they speak French...it might be an idea to do it in English...having realised this he then asked in English and was remarkably unsurprised when I said no I don’t speak much French...he shook my hand...turned and walked out of the building. I have also decided that the district office is my new favourite place...for the simple reason that it has a ‘proper’ toilet...I decided that it would be rude not to test out the facilities provided...(they even provide loo roll...now you don’t get that everywhere!) Anyway...to cut a long story short...I made the same mistake twice in a very short space of time...and ended up with wet feet for a second time...Basically, I went to wash my hands...scooped a nice big bucket of water...stood over the sink and poured it over my hands...only there is no pipe connected to the plughole...the water just poured straight onto the floor...thankfully I had my reasonably quick thinking head on and put the bucket under the plughole as a kind of damage limitation...I picked up my envelopes and RAN!!!!! I managed to find an office where I could camp out pretty quickly...but soon found that I was unable to use the internet. When it was repaired the previous day, a secured network was created so I headed to the IT office to get the code...2 hours later I was finally online...all it really would have taken was a little patience...but instead it was decided that there was something really wrong with my computer and I had a really bad virus...my computer was virus checked and needless to say...it was fine and very quickly connected to the internet...I headed home at 4 as the English lessons were being held and the generator and internet would be turned off...at home I set to washing pants/feet etc...and I then decided that it was time to sort out the water filter....I boiled a saucepan of water and decided to drain the water (because it is a new filter it is chalky to start with) wash out the bottom part and start a fresh...I stood there for a few minutes with a trickle dribbling into the saucepan...I took off the lid and had a look inside...put the lid back on and waited a little while longer...it was only when I took the lid off for a second time that I realised I could actually just pour the water out of the top...not my finest moment!!! Anyway...I cleaned it and put fresh water through...BUT IT STILL TASTES LIKE CHALK!!!!! I headed to bed at about 8.45 and once the light was out I managed to convince myself that there were GIANT SPIDERS in my room...when I turned my light on...turns out there was nothing there and I had imagined it all...ha ha ha...at about 10.30...I had a very nice surprise...a phone call from my grandparents...what a lovely treat...thanks guys!!!

'the views expressed in this blog are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of VSO'.

Monday 14th September 2009
10 past 5 in the morning is most definitely not the time to be showering in a bucket of cold water...but it was either that or turn up at the weekly meeting with all district staff and the Mayor looking a rather sickly shade of lime green...but after much swearing and shivering I was finally clean! The weekly meeting is held in the hall in the district office and lasts for 2 HOURS!!!! Although I am required to attend...I didn’t understand a word of it as it was all in Kinyarwanda. Fortunately for me Alexis was there to translate English, however this sometimes proved too much so he would translate into French for Ruairi (across me) and the Ruairi would translate the French into English...longwinded but it seemed to work. The meeting was actually remarkably entertaining considering how little I understood. The rest of the morning was spent getting more and more frustrated with the internet...it said it was working but after trying for 45 minutes to no avail, it was decided that maybe it was broken after all! I did some work which did not require the internet, was asked several times if I was married to Ruairi (apparently it is illegal for a man and a woman who are not married to share a house in this country...even just as colleagues!!) and if I was single before I finally headed home...dinner was avocado to start followed by stir-fried cabbage...yum yum yum!!!! (and for those of you who think I am joking...let me tell you...I most certainly...AM NOT!!!!...i love cabbage!!!!!)

Sunday 13th September 2009
Having been someone who is recent years has slept little and done quite a lot, I think this may be about to change! Now I know that traditionally Sundays are for relaxing before a busy week back at work...however, I slept for 9-10 hours on Saturday night...yet throughout the course of the day, seemed to sleep even more. In fact, I wouldn’t mind betting that I could become a professional sleeper...the day was spent in a state of semi-consciousness and I was tucked up back in my bed by 8.45pm.

Saturday 12th September 2009
Last night I went to bed very early, at about 8pm, and somehow managed to sleep until 8am this morning!!! Which by all accounts is unheard of...I never sleep that much!!! After a leisurely morning we headed to the market at around 10.30am. The market is literally right outside my front door...up the steps and if you are not very careful indeed, you are in danger of tripping over a mature Rwandan lady and her sewing machine! In fact there is a row of about 8 sewing machines and machinists, repairing and making clothes. There are some household goods and second-hand clothes, bedding and shoes...I wondered where all the shell suits from the 90’s went...and now I know...they are outside my house twice a week, and probably will be for some time to come! The fruit and vegetable section was somewhat disappointing...tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, sweet and white potatoes, cassava, onion, avocado...ok so the selection of vegetables is ok but fruit was nowhere to be seen!!! I managed about half an hour at the market, the novelty of having a Mzungu (or 2) at the market was too much for some, and there was much pointing and chatting as we passed. As it happens, the trip to the market was all too much for me and when I got back to the house I needed to have a nap! Amy was to arrive later in the afternoon...I managed to watch 4 episodes of lost and have another snooze before she arrived! When she finally arrived on the back of moto...I think it may have all been too much for the people in the village...and quite a crowd gathered outside our house...the timing could not have been worse as I was just coming in from outside, clutching a roll of toilet paper, to find a crowd of young people just staring...at this point I felt somewhat exposed and decided that the only solution was to hide the toilet roll...which I did before heading back inside...It was decided that beers were definitely required before dinner, partly ‘just because’ and partly due to the finding of the missing suitcase!!!!! It turns out that the bloody thing has been sat in Addis Ababa airport, Ethiopia for the last 2 weeks...I don’t really care all that much where it has been so long as I get it back!!! The 3 of us headed back for the bar in town (the one with no lights) had a beer and brought a couple back to have with dinner. The evening passed quickly, chatting over a couple of warm beers...

Friday 11th September 2009

At 6.30am it was time to get up and head once more for the cold bucket shower...however I am not sure that I am ever going to actually get clean...I seem to be covered in a layer of orange/red dust, which I had thought was the beginning of a tan, only to be bitterly disappointed when it washed off...adding to that the lovely shade of green I seem to be turning courtesy of my new ‘high quality’ bed sheets bought at the Chinese supermarket!... at around 8am myself and Ruairi headed for the education office. Once there we discovered that the office was empty and waited for Francois, the director of education and Alexis the Charge. Alexis was the first to arrive followed about half an hour later by Francois. We made our way back to the house in time for some lunch before heading back out the district office where we camped out to charge electrical equipment for the rest of the day. At 5pm we went back home again and managed to cook dinner just before the light went completely at 6.30pm. Dinner was rice again...but hopefully we will be able to get fresh fruit and vegetables at the local market in the morning...bed was very early today due to the exhausting nature of the days events!!! Ha ha ha.

Veiw from the house


View from the house

View from the house

Main road the the next village

Front of the house

View from the house

My favourite place...the toilet and shower room...hours of spidery fun fun fun!!!!

View from the back of the house

Sun Set

Traditional Rwandan Dancers at the 'Family Dinner'

Traditional Rwandan Dancers at the 'Family Dinner'

Traditional Rwandan Dancers at the 'Family Dinner'

Traditional Rwandan Dancers at the 'Family Dinner'

View own the road in Kigali

Sunday 6th September 2009
This is the first morning that we have not had to have Kinyarwanda lessons all week so full advantage was taken...although following my night of fun last night I still only managed my usual six hours of sleep, I stayed in bed and dozed for another hour or so...breakfast was missed and the morning was spent not really doing all that much. In the afternoon I ventured out to Cymironko market on the other side of town with Karen, Julie, Melanie and Ruairi. The market was full of the usual hustle and bustle; piles of flour, colourful fruits, beautiful materials and an array of second hand clothes...even second hand pants (which I managed to resist buying!..luckily!) I bought some amazing material to hang as curtains in my new house...when I get bored of it I might have my curtains made into clothes...awesome! At 6.30 Ruairi and I met with our landlord...fingers crossed, he will be coming to the house when I move in on Wednesday, moving his stuff from the bigger bedroom to a smaller one meaning I will be able to have the larger of the bedrooms! He also suggested that he may also install a ‘modern’ toilet...wooooooooo hooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!! I am not entirely sure how I am going to cope with a pit latrine (squatting toilet) and a bucket of cold water to shower in...the solar shower was also in the case which has not yet been found by Ethiopian Airlines! Rubbish!

Monday 7th September 2009
Happy Birthday Annabel! Wish I could have been to see Mama Mia too!!!! I am sure you had an awesome time though! The day started with my final Kinyarwanda lesson...needless to say, I am about as good at the language now as I was 10 days ago. No because of the quality of teaching (which was very good) but because it is a hard language to learn...however I would like to continue when I get to Gisagara. We then had a couple of other sessions and a shoping trip to buy equipment for our houses on placement. I have bought the most awesome towel in the whole world ever! It has spiderman on it!!! In addition to be incredibly cool, it was also 1/3 of the price of a ‘normal’ towel and cost only 2,900F which is about £3!!! I was tempted by nutella, until I saw it was nearly £15 a jar...admittedly it was a big jar...but still!! I bought a giant blue bin for the bathroom...some buckets and a jerry can...all very exciting! Driving home with the truck piled high...I misread a sign...Tracy’s Auto Pants...I think that maybe I have got pants on the brain at the moment...it was actually Tracy’s Auto Paints’ I think my version was more funny though! This evening we had a talk from the British Ambassador...which was very interesting...earthquakes, burping lakes and volcanoes...to name but a few of the topics covered!

Tuesday 8th September 2009
This morning all the volunteers were to meet their new employers and have a days workshop. Unsurprisingly some employers were unable to attend, due to last minute meetings, while others were just late. The charge from Gisagara district came down to meet me, I was unsure really as to what I should say to him, but most of the time was taken up with workshop activities run by VSO staff. Halfway through the morning Ruth, one of the Program Managers, took a phone call from the airport staff in Kigali. They wanted to know why I had not returned my receipt for lost luggage when I had collected my case, it was then explained that I had not yet received my case...so therefore, why should I return my form? Anyway...it turns out that it was the man from the lost and found baggage department, Ethiopian Airlines would not talk to him about finding my bag, so he asked me to go to the airport that afternoon. We finished the morning sessions and I was to be collected after lunch to go to the airport. Bosco, one of the drivers arrived looking extremely excited while exclaiming that he had had a phone call from Enias to say that my luggage had been located and I was to go to the airport and collect it. Thankfully I now know better than to get my hopes up about such matters...and as it happens...that was the right thing to do. There was sum confusion and the story had changed....At the airport I checked the last and found room again...still no sign of my bag! The man in the off, Musoni, was very helpful and took me to the Ethiopian Airlines offices where he was able to search for my bag on the computer system...no one from EA was available to see me...they were far too busy losing someone else’s luggage! Anyway...when the number for my bag was typed into the computer...it said ‘not found’ and the same thing happened when my name was typed in...I am now VERY cross indeed...they think that maybe the label fell off...who knows...I just want my things back! Anyway...I headed back to the guest house to rejoin my employer who must have been pretty annoyed that he had travelled all that way only to find that I had been gone for most of the afternoon. In the evening I packed my bags in anticipation for leaving the following day...I was to be collected at 10am by a district vehicle...

Wednesday 10th September 2009
I awoke early in the morning as I still had plenty of packing to do! I also wanted to have a very long, hot shower as it was going to be my last one for a while!...Needless to say...that as so often happens...all the rushing was for nothing. Ruairi was called at 9.30 to say that the vehicle I would be travelling back to the district in was being used by the district mayor, but they had no set off...however the journey from Gisagara to Kigali is 2-3 hours...midday was the new ETA. After making sure that everything was packed I headed out for a stroll to an internet cafe with Melanie (who has been my room-mate for the past 10 days) as she was not going to be collected until about 2pm. We made our way back at about 12.30pm to find that there was still no sign of my lift...so we waited...and waited....and waited....it was like the suitcase all over again! Finally a car arrived to collect Melanie and shortly after, mine appeared too. On the journey I tried my hardest to stay awake, but as most of you know...staying awake in cars, buses, planes etc is something I find VERY difficult...I would say that I was awake for most of the journey! We stopped in Butare, which is the nearest town to Gisagara, bought some groceries, checked the post box etc. then headed off again. The roads up until here had been great...smooth tarmac roads...but following the turn for Gisagara, the road became, albeit a very good dirt track, it was a dirt track all the same...on the way we met the director of education for the district, we stopped, said our hellos and then went on our way. 15km later...just before sunset, we arrived at the house. Our arrival caused quite a stir with the locals...having another Muzungu arrive!!! They children were very keen to help and brought in a lot of my things and then disappeared...And so I am here...The bedroom is huge, although for some reason the landlord and the guard (who was nowhere to be found) had dismantled the bed, so by torch light it was reassembled and I put on my new bed sheets...The house is actually very big...with amazing views from the side during the day and the stars are just incredible! The toilet on the other hand...is basically just a hole in the ground with a slightly raised area around it, in an outhouse down a set of very steep steps! Melanie will be pleased to hear that I don’t think there is any chance of me getting my head stuck if I am sick (long but very amusing story!). I had some bread and peanut butter for my tea and headed to bed at a reasonable hour. It is hard to say up late as it is dark by 6.30...and the day starts at 5.30-6am ish...I think this lifestyle will take a little getting used to...but will be ok in the long run!


Thursday 10th September 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALICE!! I got up this morning at about 7.30am following a very restless night in my new house. The tin roof was creaking and there were a number of unfamiliar sounds coming from outside...then every time I woke I realised that I was in fact cold...but was too nervous to actually get out of bed to get the blanket to do anything about it! Breakfast was a slice of bread with peanut butter and a hardboiled egg...obviously not together!!! I then ventured out to the shower...when I say shower I don’t mean an actual shower...it is more like a concrete room...I took down the very steep steps; my half bucket of water, large basin to stand in to catch the used water, towels and soap, shampoo, sponge etc...Bearing in mind that the shower room is attached to the pit latrine and it is not coming to the end of the rainy season...there is an interesting odour in the air...that was the least of my worries though...the half bucket of COLD water was bothering me somewhat more! I started with my hair...my god the water was bloody freezing!!! But after a while you sort of get used to it...I then remembered that I had face wash...I promptly lathered it up in my hands and rubbed it all over my face...without giving a second thought as to how I was going to rinse it off again...oh crap it...there I was in a dark concrete room...with a face full of soap, unable to open my eyes...what do you do...well you lean your head back and pour the water...but the coldness was such a shock that I lost my balance...and started to topple...thankfully I was able to stop myself before I fell to the floor completely and it could have been a lot worse than it was. After showers and breakfast we headed to the district office where I met lots of people...but unfortunately I don’t remember any of their names...but in my defence there was a lot to take in! The Mayor was out of the office so I missed meeting him...everyone seemed very nice and we made our way back to the house for lunch...The views are spectacular...I really can’t believe how lucky I am! Walking in the village is a little unnerving as a lot of people stare...some will follow and others will just say good-morning or muzungu which roughly translates at white person however it was used in the past to describe someone who is rich. I spent the afternoon at the house...just pottering while Ruairi headed back to the office. While he was there many of the staff were asking who I was and was I living in the house. When the answer was yes they were we married...no...so when were we getting married...we are not getting married and that too seemed to be accepted. As the sun went down the lamps were lit...which I have discovered really isn’t that difficult! And we started to prepare dinner...I also managed to light on of the kerosene stoves without too much difficulty! After dinner we went to a local bar with a friend of Ruairi’s, Enok from Uganda. We walked with our torches along the quiet streets and there was not a light in sight. When we got to the bar was when I realised that the bar was also lacking in lighting. We sat down at a table in the dark with a rather warm beer...it was a rather pleasant experience. By the time we got back to the house I was desperate for a wee and I would have to ‘man up’ and use the toilet in the dark...only on the way I was ambushed by a rather large, flat spider...I stopped in my tracks and swore at it quite a lot...Alexandre, the guard, I think was quite baffled by this and came over to see what I was doing...of course by the time he was there, the bloody spider was nowhere to be seen. I had to make hand gestures as to why I was behaving in such a strange way, although I am still not sure whether he understood or not! I finally made it into the toilet...only to be greeted by a lt more spiders...the ones with the little bodies and the big long legs...crap crap crap!!!! So yeah...that was not a nice experience! When I got back to the house I realised that I still needed to wash my feet as they were brown and I had no clean pants for the morning....so in the light of a candle and a head torch....I set too...before I knew it, it was 11pm and I had to be up at 6am the next morning...

Hopefully if this work I will have uploaded a couple of the pictures from Saturday's 'Family Dinner'! I have written another couple of entries which are really quite boring ...but you will need to wait with baited breath to see what treasures those installments hold! Today I am moving to Gisagara...I was supposed to be collected at 10am...however, the town mayor decided that he needed to use the truck for something else...so I am therefore now writing this whiling away the hours before I am collected. Last night the realisation hit me that as of this afternoon I am no longer going to have access to running water or a toilet...I had a very long shower this morning although the water was only just not cold and will be going for as many wees as is possible before leaving for my house! ha ha ha! Unfortunately my solar shower was in the case which has not yet arrived...however we did buy the worlds biggest bin in the Chinese supermarket which I might just climb into...rather than pouring cups of cold water over me....the only thing is I have a feeling I may not have legs which are quite long enough and I may end up either falling in it or out of it...either way...it would not be good...maybe I will just stick to a jug and sponge after all!! Ok...so it looks like my pictures are not going to upload anytime soon...but I will keep trying all the same! I had better be off as it looks like my lift will be arriving shortly! woop woop!

Saturday 5th September 2009
Today was supposed to be a productive day, followed by a relaxing afternoon beautifying myself in preparation of the ‘VSO Family Dinner’. However, this was not to be the case...after another Kinyarwanda lesson, I decided that it was time to venture out on my own. So I walked to the bus stop to get the bus into town (I was also looking forward to having a little bit of time, just on my own) I was impressed that I was able to get the bus with relative ease and was even able to say bus in Kinyarwanda (bisi) to explain that I didn’t need a taxi as I was getting the bus into town. The bus is 180 Rwandan Francs, which is about 20p. I know that at the moment all of these prices seem really cheap but the reality of a volunteer allowance, although more than generous, compares little with a teachers salary in the UK. So...I got the bus into the city, and managed to find the shopping centre. My phone and Rwandan SIM will still not accept messages from the UK (but you can all still text my old number!) so I went into the MTN shop, they said there was nothing wrong, so it just looks like something I am going to have to live with! I was just about to head to the supermarket, Nakamat, when I bumped into Julie, another new volunteer and we then shopped and lunched together. I did try to find new pants as I only have 2 pairs with me, due to the lost suitcase! However, I draw the line at paying 5,800RF (£6) for 2 pairs of synthetic granny pants! I also had a look at the clothes, and no matter how desperate I am, I will not pay £32 for a top, which was yet again synthetic, and from a SUPERMARKET!!! I have decided that the way forward, if my clothes don’t turn up, is to either buy from the markets (clothes shipped over from UK charity shops) or to have the clothes made which is relatively cheap! Basically, my trip to the city was not very productive and seemed to take up a lot of time I didn’t have! I did some internetting an d tried (and failed) to skype and headed back to the guest house...again finding my way on the bus! Needless to say, my morning of ‘space’ did not go quite to plan! We arrived back with just enough time to have a shower and get dressed before heading off for the family dinner. The evening started with team building activities, followed by some incredible, traditional Rwandan dancing. It really was amazing!!! After everyone had finished eating the dancers came back and danced again, this time getting the audience to come and dance too...I did not get up to dance, although I do regret that decision a little bit now...I will just have to make an extra effort next time! At about 10.30 it was decided that we would head into the city to a club, by the name of BCK, where a live Reggae band were playing. The venue was small and dimly lit, and had a nice mix of people...lots of volunteers, others from Europe, America, Australia, etc and local Rwandans. After initially not wanting to dance and standing at the side, the night was danced away, and I finally fell into bed at 1.40am (I know that this is awfully early by my usual standards, but here that was very late indeed!)

This morning I missed my Kinyarwanda lesson, instead I went in search of my missing luggage...I walked to the programme office with Amy at 8.45am...the sun was already shining and it was so very hot...when we got there, we were advised to get a moto (motorbike taxi) to the airport to check that my bag had not arrived and I just hadn’t been informed...it is a very long time since I have been on the back of a motorbike...maybe 7 years...my little ‘wragg legs’ did have a small amount of trouble getting on the bloody thing...but I managed and put on my really attractive green old school style helmet...anyway...I held on to the bar at the back...by the time I arrived at the airport my hand was a strange shade of bluish white, from holding on so tight. I had to go and get a pass for the baggage reclaim area, there were some issues as my passport is at immigration office for a visa and work permit, but I was eventually given a security tag and once again I headed for lost and found...when I got there I was taken back to the room with all the unclaimed bags...and yet again they tried to give me a bag that wasn’t mine! But when I explained to the lady she knew about my bag and said that they were trying to locate it and to go back to the Ethiopian Airlines office...so...I went back to the man with the passes...and exchanged my pass for the baggage area for a pass to the offices...as I walked up to the office they recognised me...which I am not sure is a good or a bad thing! Anyway...after turning the computer off and on again several times the man was able to inform me that although they had requested it from London...my bag was in fact still there...only this time they realised that the names don’t match...they showed me a list of the contents...and it is in fact not my bag!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It turns out that Ethiopian Airlines have absolutely no idea at all where my bag is...I was asked to write a list of all the contents and an email will be sent out to all airports, as they now think it could be anywhere...I was also informed that I can get $50 to buy essentials but I would have to go to the offices in Kigali to get it...so it was time to head back to the programme office before getting the bus into the city centre. Back on a moto again...a little easier to get on second time round...helmet on and off we go...the only problem being that the helmet was caught in the wind...I reached for the strap to try and get it on again...only the strap came undone...the helmet was now at a very uncomfortable angle...one side was up about 4cm above the top of my ear and I had to pull on the strap to keep it at that angle...I must have looked bloody ridiculous as I was also pulling an array of faces at the same time...partly due to the speed of the moto and partly concentration so as not to lose the helmet completely...anyway...we were finally back at the programme office...I went to get off the bike only the floor was a lot further than I had anticipated...one foot was nearly on the ground while the other was still on the other side of the bike...needless to say...after shouting...”oh crap it...oh crap it...oh crap it....” I fell to the floor in a heap on the pavement...stupid bike!!!!and with my head held in shame (but laughing) and Amy laughing I headed back into the programme office. After getting the bus into town I arrived at the Ethiopian Airlines office...when I had explained what had happened I was asked to wait to talk to the area manager...nearly an hour later I was taken to his office...once in his office I had to once again explain what had happened with my luggage. Obviously a week after my arrival when I still only have 2 pairs of pants...my temper is starting to fray slightly...I explained that I was informed about the money to replace essential items, yet I was now being told that because I had one of my bags, I was not entitled to anything! The man was raising his voice...and in response I did get a little irate...and I was told to calm down...basically, to cut a much longer story short, he couldn’t understand why I was upset about losing my bag, however I did manage to get $75 for clothes...I will just have to wait and see whether my case ever turns up...I will get compensation when my case has been missing for 25 days...rubbish! Anyway...Amy and I went to bourbon (a nice coffee shop in town) for lunch and I was then picked up and taken to the Genocide Memorial Centre with the rest of the group. It is hard to believe that I country has been through so much...the centre was very moving and really puts things into perspective. All in all today has been emotionally exhausting...