Umuganda

Text to Jo this morning: 

EPIC FAIL. Which numpty totally forgot it was umuganda today and went out shopping? Doh!

The last Saturday of each month is umuganda. It's basically national community service day, when everyone gets together in their local community to do something like plant trees, build a road, tidy up. The best way to describe Rwanda on umuganda is sort of like Spain during siesta: nothing is open, you can't get public transport, and the streets are deserted.

There's me, having lived in Rwanda for over two years, tramping up the street thinking 'Ooh, I wonder why all of those people are sitting on the village green listening to that man talking?'... 'Ooh, I wonder where all the motos have gone?'... 'Ooh, I wonder why there's no traffic on the street?'

I was wandering about because I had run out of food. I decided to check out Sawa City, as Jo said it sold good bread. I managed to hook a moto up to the MTN Centre to grab some cash, but then I couldn't find a moto to take me to town. There's usually half-a-dozen of them outside the gate.

As I was standing there, scratching my head, this guy came up to me and told me about a new restaurant opening near where I live. He handed me a voucher for a free goat brochette, so I think I'll check it out.

When I finally managed to get a moto, I headed down to Sawa City which was, of course, closed.

In a quick change of plan, I decided to wait it out in Brioche, so on we went to mumugi (town).

It was, of course, closed.

As was all of town. Not a soul on the streets.

I felt like a complete melon. 

Luckily umuganda ends at around mid-day, and the staff at Brioche took pity on me, taking my order so that my food was in front of me dot-on twelve. I treated myself to their club sandwich and a pot of tea. It's a really nice place to hang out.

I sat and read my book, munching on a baguette, until most of town was buzzing again, then decided to head over to UTC and shop at Nakumatt. This is a Kenyan chain store which revolutionised Rwanda shortly after I first arrived in 2007. 

When it first opened, you would see dozens of Rwandans and Muzungus alike bumping into each other because they were so dazzled by the display of white goods (washing machines, fridges, toastie makers, televisions) - it was like snow blindness. 

Today, I relived that experience. There are now twice as many washing machines, fridges, toastie makers and televisions. There is also a shoe shop, a bookshop, clothes, children's toys, an entire floor devoted to garden furniture, and... well, just about everything really. 

It used to be the really expensive place to shop. I still reckon you can get vegetables cheaper at the market, but quite a lot of it was cheaper than T2000 (the big Chinese supermarket), and I managed to buy a giant bag full of stuff for under £30. I'm definitely going to head there for shoes in the near future.

I pinched those from a Google Image search, but it truly is quite incredible. The quality has improved a lot since I was last here. There's something comforting about knowing Nakumatt exists. I hardly ever shop there, but at least I know that if I desperately need something, they're pretty much guaranteed to have it.

I stumbled out of there barely able to carry the bag I had taken with me (you remember plastic bags are illegal here, right? Groceries come in cloth or paper bags - great for recycling).

Managed to do a circus-style balancing act on the back of a moto. I know it's naughty, but I couldn't resist doing a little covert filming, just to show family back home my neighbourhood. Not great quality or camera work, but this is my daily commute. The area is known for its big posh houses, but, as you can see, we do a bit of off-roading to get to our place. It's like living in a council estate in Bath, with all its magnificent facade. Normal people still live behind all of that stuff.

I had a bit of a sore bum when I got back. Having balanced a half-hundred weight of shopping on my lap and travelled over just about every speed bump in Kigali, I think I crushed my coccyx. Serves me right for not doing umuganda, I suppose.

Filled this with rice, flour, vegetables, fruit (including mangoes, bananas, green peppers, courgette, a grapefruit and a coconut), fresh brown bread (sliced before my eyes), (liquid) milk (now quite prevalent in Rwanda), toiletries: shampoo, conditioner, soap, body lotion, eggs, some fizzy pop and a bottle of this stuff. 

It's marakuja (passion fruit) cordial made in Rwanda. One of those quintessentially Rwandan things like peanut butter, cheese, and ikivuguto (sour yogurt). I'm sure it used to be about FRW 1,800 for a large one, but it's now about 8,000 in T200. Maybe I'm exaggerating, but I remember being quite shocked at the price. So I treated myself to a mini bottle for 2,800 as it is really nice.

Plus, I can make it last a long time with all the water from our mega filter. I'm going to get all geeky now. I just find it fascinating that chalk candles can turn yellow tap water...

...into crystal clear drinking water. I mean, that is pretty impressive, right?

One of the down-sides to sharing a house is that you sometimes need to be a little protective over your food. The line between what's communal and what isn't gets a bit blurred, so I've started only buying for myself. Especially when you have that craving for a cheese toastie, you don't want to get to the kitchen to find your cheese is there but there's no bread. So, this is pretty much my pantry.

I always make sure to have something sweet in there. Either chocolate sent from home, some chocolate biscuits from Ndoli's, or a tube of sweets. It's almost as important to have a treat cupboard as it is to remember to top-up the water filter.

The other thing water is good for, is making tea. This made me laugh: Highland Tea (made in Rwanda). What I found particularly interesting is that this is about 300 francs cheaper than the leading brand, only it's so much better! Rwandan tea tends to be pretty weak. I think this is to do with the teabag. The leading brand seems to have a slightly smaller bag, plus a piece of string attached to a paper tab, so that you can take the bag out without needing a spoon. I think that's what you're actually paying for. These, on the other hand, are just bog standard square teabags. But they seem to allow the tea to move around better, leading to a stronger cuppa.

Excuse me for being anal - I am British. Still, 300 francs less and you get better tea. What's not to like?

Talking about better deals... We always used to refer to MTN as the Missing Telephone Network. I used to get so pissed off with their service that I once wrote a poem about it, basically suggesting that if there was one other competitor in Rwanda, they'd lose all their business.

How wrong was I? There are now two competitors: Tigo and Airtel. What have MTN done in light of this? 

Improved, it would seem. 

Airtel ripped me off a blinder. I have a receipt saying I bought one month's internet from them on 27th May. Yet it stopped working at midnight on 25th June. I was fiddled out of a whole day's internet!

In desperation, I went down to the MTN Centre. The staff were lovely, kitted me out for less than Airtel, and hopefully it will work for the full month I've paid for.

With both Airtel and MTN I get 1.5GB a day usage. With Airtel, I could only stay connected for long enough to use about 500MB of that, and only then if I sat in a very particular spot in the garden. With MTN I am happily typing this from the desk in my room. I love it.

So, some things do change for the better. 

Quite a lot, actually.