the last thing you lose in africa is faith!

so - it's christmas; it's also boiling hot and sunny and I am a bit confused as christmas really is supposed to be cold and wet and cosy... but so it goes. I also find it rather hillarious that there is a guy dressed in a santa costume at the entrance of nakumatt and you think: 'my - an african father christmas - I want to buy him' and then he starts moving and actually talking to you... I also have to laugh at the guys who walk the streets of kigali sporting artifiical christmas trees decorated with tinsel; obviously trying to get some last minute business done... well - es gitt nuet wo's nid gitt!

the plan for christmas is to go to amohoro island in the kivu lake - last night we got planning over my first squash and halloumi quiche since leaving england and a bottle of wine. the list of things to bring is long and the 4 dogs will go in my car, the rest in marc and ines' car. we're going to camp on amohoro for a couple of days, laze in the sun and swim in the lake and just enjoy some peace and quiet. what's wrong with this picture?

exactly - my car - again. this morning the 4x4 got stuck again - so I had to call the garage and had the bugger towed; they are closing in about 30 minutes for christmas and new year's and won't open until the 5th of january... and the 4x4 is not exactly fixed at the twist of a couple of screws... so at first I had a fit and decided to take it to another garage; but it's simply an illusion that the car would be running again by tomorrow. so I decided to leave it in the garage where at least I won't have to pay for the reparation as they only just fixed the 4x4 gear box - or so they said ;-))

so here I am waiting for a miracle, smiling nonetheless because I have no other option - and practising my patience once again - after all, t.i.a., this is africa - and things always work out in the end - so 'vous patientez un peu' - whereby 'un peu' can be anything from 3 minutes to 3 months; the clue is 'patientez' - have a little patience. and don't give up the faith!

how did one of the most impatient people I know end up on this continent where everything is about patience? well I guess that is the miracle of life - always takes you where you need to be ;-))

and in that spirit - merry christmas!