The art of...

There are many skills that I've had to acquire here in Rwanda and these are to name but a few:

Mounting/Dismounting a moto - or in fact ANY vehicle here…
I've been told not to step up onto the back foot rest and swing my leg over the bike else I will cause the driver to lose his balance - yet I have seen countless women do so with such ease and daintiness.  In my attempt to mount a moto, I inevitably draw a crowd and cause much amusement to the observers as I try to swing my leg over the moto that is far higher than my inflexible legs can be raised - as yet I have not fallen or kicked anyone in the process which I am thankful for!  (I tend not to wear skirts/dresses if I know I will be travelling on a moto…)
The buses aren't any easier - if I'm riding into town I have to catch a min-bus, a 15-seater, rusty, MOT-failed vehicle - the record for the number of people crammed into one of these so far for me has to be 25 - that's 6 people squidged onto a row of seats designed for 3 people!  Whenever I'm leaving my village, it's usually for a at least an overnight stay somewhere so with my bag & moto-helmet, (VSO do not insure volunteers who do not use their standard helmets when travelling on motos,) it's not the most comfortable of rides…plus actually getting ON the bus is a mission with bags, the low ceiling and massive step to get onto the bus itself!

Riding a moto pillion
What does one hold onto?  My first instinct is to hold onto the driver - but again, whilst I have seen some doing so, it is generally not the thing to do.  There is a bar at the back of the moto that upon my first couple of rides, I gripped onto till my knuckles almost popped out - but now, I am learning to just relax and not hold onto anything (perhaps my legs?) - I am yet to learn to text whilst riding pillion!

Understanding gestures - particularly facial ones
I have had countless conversations with other volunteers about the 'raised eyebrows.'  It is common practice for locals to answer questions with nothing but raising their eyebrows and widening their eyes. Exactly what this means, I am still confused!  At first I thought it meant 'yes' but now I just think it means, 'I have no idea what you're saying to me and I will just do something to make you think I understand and get you off my back…'  I have started to do it myself annoyingly - and I don't even know what I'm trying to communicate!  (Takes me back to my dissertation - Can't quite remember the title but know it was all about gestures and the linguistic laws that governed them…)

Living without electricity
Cooking is the hardest part for me.  Lighting a charcoal stove in the dark, without lighter-fuel  and sometimes in the rain is not fun…I combat this by NOT doing it.  Instead, I always keep a flask of hot water ready to simply steam/soak any veg/rice/pasta/instant noodles I do have in stock.  The purpose of the flask is really so that I have hot water to wash with - but it does come in handy when I have power cuts.
Thankfully my laptop has a pretty decent battery life and I tend to be able to have some (if not a very slow) internet connection to keep me sane - although a book and headlamp always does the job too :)  Think I'd much prefer living without electricity than water though...

Living without running water
How I miss having a tap!  I tend to have 3 jerry-cans in my house, my umukoze (house-helper), Gaudance, fetches water for me around 2-3 times a week.  I have learnt to be pretty water-efficient - I tend to reuse water  LOTS for cleaning - so the same water that I've washed in/up in/clothes in, I will use to clean the floors (although these concrete floors never look clean no matter how hard you scrub!)  My dish water is minimal, maybe only 3cm in depth of a regular-sized wash-basin whereas in England it'll be pretty much full.  I'm not sure how I'll be affected during the dry season here - apparently water runs very scarce…not something I"m looking forward to!

The list is pretty endless, I have written before about 'being patient' (the art of waiting), greetings and even my ongoing battle with being harassed for money/food/attention - i guess this is life though, learning to adapt whilst maintaining your beliefs.  That's a question I am constantly asking:  When/what do you compromise to fit into a society that is not your own?  There's being culturally sensitive but what if that conflicts with your own beliefs?  Do you turn a blind eye?  I know what the bible says but it's often easier said than done.  So perhaps that's my final 'the art of…' for today - the art of knowing when to draw the line.