Failure to Boil

I am inept in every Rwandan sense of the word. This weekend I had Anna come to my country retreat to get out of the city. It forced me to clean my house (sort of) and even contemplate getting over my cooking phobia. I have a kerosene stove with a burner on top. Step One: get an empty water bottle and find a store that sells kerosene. Step Two: Pour the kerosene into the bottom of the stove. Step Three: Turn the wicks up and light them on fire. Step Four: Place the top of the stove and try to cook. Sounds fairly easy, right? After two hours trials two days in a row I was still unable to boil water! It was like the water was mocking me. It would get to the point when the bubbles were sitting on the bottom of the pot ready to rise…and it would just sit there. Sure I was watching the pot so of course it wouldn't boil. I tried to distract myself but I MEAN REALLY, two hours! I just wanted some oatmeal.

I've recently gotten some tips to fix my issue. I hope in the future I will be telling you how delicious my oatmeal is and my future house guests will actually have something to eat besides bread and condiments.