Revelations

Consistency is one thing I struggle with here. Life seems to change suddenly. I never know what to expect. I can show up to work any given day and be given a brand new task, visit a brand new place, meet new people and have to deal with new challenges. No two days are the same. I have been dealing with many changes lately.

First my favorite houseboy skipped town. You may remember Francois from the story of me being trapped in my house. He is the houseboy of my coworker, Jane, who stayed in my house overnight to make sure nothing happened while I slept elsewhere. He was a sweet boy and always very dependable. That is until he left town without telling anyone. He had become the boy who fetched my water. Everything was working out perfectly, minus the struggle of communication. Then one day, he left Jane's keys in her living room and was gone. She came home from work to discover his absence. He wrote a note with an excuse of his father being ill but Jane didn't believe him. He had mentioned a job in Kigali a month or so ago and told her how much they would pay him. Jane talked it over with him, explaining what a great situation he had, money-wise, personal relationship-wise, and said 'you would never just leave in the middle of the day while I'm at work and not tell me, right?' Of course not, he claimed. Then adios Francois. I've heard it's common for houseboys and housegirls to just up and leave like that.

So I worked it out a new water system with my neighbor Julianna. Julianna is my neighbor who speaks English the best. She is the mother of Kevina (at least that's what I the spelling sounds like). Kevina is best known for her screaming escapades while being bathed in the front yard. She's only three and quite the whiner. Then again if I was forced to bathe in the cold of morning in my front yard I might scream too. Then one day I came home from work and walked past the duplex that Julianna and Tabitha share. Tabitha called me over and said she was very sad because Julianna was moving to a new house the next day. Julianna would still live in our town but would be in a different neighborhood.

The possibility of new neighbors can be exciting but also scary. Julianna had been a great neighbor. I really liked her. My new neighbors could be horrible and scary. Then today I walked home from work and stopped at Maryanne's store for some bananas. I had seen some movement at Julianna's house this morning so I assumed someone had moved in. I got the scoop from Maryanne. A new family had moved in. A husband, wife and four children - three boys and one girl. As I walked to my gate and saw them outside. I figured I should introduce myself so I went over. Once I got closer I realized the wife was my coworker at the hospital. Thankfully she speaks English well so I can communicate with her. Maryanne was right, she has four children. The oldest, Odette, is a self possessed girl of seven. Three boys follow ranging from five to two to about six months. In common Rwandan fashion, I know the parents as Mama Odette and Papa Odette. The father is unemployed at the moment so he has become a temporary stay at home dad. He takes care of the kids during the day, does the cooking and cleans the house. They don't have a houseboy or girl so he has to do all the errands and washing. He used to work for the military. His wife explained that somewhere along the line he suffered a closed head injury, which you can still see the scar from. He has had repercussions from the injury making it hard for him to keep a job. She was also telling me how they had to move into this house even though it is very small. I believe it only has two rooms inside. Four children in a two room house! I instantly started feeling guilty about having such a massive house all to myself right next door. Yes, I live in a four bedroom house with a dining room and living room. Semi-ridiculous.

I have been away at trainings for the last two weeks. Shortly before I left town the feeding policy changed at the guest house. At first it was a funny joke at the hospital. Entienne had had a freakout - similar to the episodes of the past. He had a tantrum because so many nurses and doctors were eating at the guesthouse and he never knew how much food to make. Then when the head honchos came for food there would be none left. He was frustrated and had hit the end of his rope. He spoke with the hospital director and it was decided that only certain people could continue to eat at the guesthouse. That short list includes five administrators and Edison and I. So I went to lunch that first day. I sat and ate with all the administrators and listened to them talk shop. I felt very much like a scab crossing the picket line. All my friends were hungry and had no alternative but to skip lunch since this sudden change had caught them off guard. I on the other hand was getting lunch, plus quite possibly listening to the bosses talking smack. Now that I have returned after a two week hiatus, I have discovered that nothing has changed with the guesthouse policy. If anything, it has become more adamant about the list of select guests. I again ate lunch with five male administrators and Edison. I have been included in the boys' club without meaning to. I wish there were more powerful females at the hospital. I also wish my boss hadn't placed goat intestines on my plate to eat, which I couldn't refuse. The texture was like seafood of some kind. The taste was minimal. And I tried to swallow large chunks without choking.