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Mystical Mystique
May. 26th, 2006 09:29 amThursday 5:41 pm
Public Entry
I'll admit that some of the mystique of Goma has worn off -- there's a definite feeling of calm now, whereas things seemed really tense beforehand. People are already excited about the elections -- they've been moved to the end of July -- and there are already 32 candidates and we saw the Mai Mai actively campaigning with flags and matatus this afternoon.
I guess too that, with the sense of danger removed, and actually "knowing" the town, how to get around, and that I don't need a car to get me everywhere makes the familiarity of Goma seem reassuring. I'm also happy with our new house. We have a living room that's chimp-free and I bought a grass mat to put on the floor and it's already feeling like home.
In fact, finding a grass mat (a common commodity in Uganda) was nearly impossible to find OR describe in French. While Willi and I were cruising on our moto, he stopped suddenly and, alarmed, I was like, "Eek? What?" and he cried "Mats!" because there was this ancient woman by the side of the road with ONE mat for sale. We bargained her down to $2 too and I rode off with Willi, my mat tucked under my arm.
I will say too that I'm a bit of a moto junkie now, and was a little disappointed when Willi and I didn't end up having time in Gisenyi to rent a moto and explore on the nice smooth Rwandan roads. Disappointing especially because, not knowing anyone else who drives a moto, it was probably the only chance I really had to ever explore Gisenyi like that. Ah well.
Willi and I headed into Rwanda yesterday afternoon after a bit of a delay and decided to be white people for a day, staying at the Kivu Sun for swimming and tasty food. Willi was impressed as it was, as promised, posh to the extreme despite the broken DSTV. We headed down to Lake Kivu first thing and he complained bitterly about how cold it was, but as a beach, the Gisenyi shoreline is as close to idyllic as one can get.
It took them forever to bring us some towels too, so we froze and drank imported beer. I can't even describe how beautiful it was watching the sun set over Goma. We also mocked the Goma-izens mercilessly as we watched this huge rainstorm bypass us entirely and hail down on Goma. Suckers!!
It was decided that we should have room service instead of eating in the restaurant, and it certainly made us laugh to continue calling down to get Willi more cigarettes and us more beer.
Hot showers were also had. A lot of them. We'd put down a bathmat and, when we'd both finished showering, the bathmat was BLACK from the dirt on our feet. But my feet, at least for a little while, were clean. And we smelled nice, and had no chimp poop on our persons.
Hurrah! The things you take for granted, really.
We slept in rather late today (well, 9 am) but we'd managed to stay up past midnight the night before (very late by our standards). Today was an EXCEPTIONALLY beautiful day, and it was so windy that Lake Kivu actually had a surf and waves, crashing down onto the beach.
It reminded me a lot of weekends on Fire Island, listening to the Atlantic crashing against the sand, minus that sweet salty smell in the air. I finished my book (William Gibson's Pattern Recognition) while Willi slept more and I took a 2 hour hot bath.
We eventually meandered down to the poolside and sunbathed. Again, the pool was way too cold for Herr Heger, so he jumped in, promptly jumped out and didn't swim again. I spent more time in the pool, but around noonish we thought it'd be nice to go and get a moto and cruise around. Schedules had changed a bit, however, and Liz needed us to run some errands on the Congo side, including picking up Willi's MOP for his flight back to Uganda tomorrow (Friday) from the UN-MONUC offices.
I sort of wish there was more time for exploration and touristy stuff, since I usually don't have an excuse to do any of it. Or a partner in crime. Willi and I have now driven ALL over Goma -- good areas, bad areas, but the fact that I've cruised through at least once on our trusty moto is just awesome.
I'll admit I'm itching for some alone time, but I guess I'll get it soon enough.
I also don't write as much with Willi here, because we're always doing other things.
Public Entry
I'll admit that some of the mystique of Goma has worn off -- there's a definite feeling of calm now, whereas things seemed really tense beforehand. People are already excited about the elections -- they've been moved to the end of July -- and there are already 32 candidates and we saw the Mai Mai actively campaigning with flags and matatus this afternoon.
I guess too that, with the sense of danger removed, and actually "knowing" the town, how to get around, and that I don't need a car to get me everywhere makes the familiarity of Goma seem reassuring. I'm also happy with our new house. We have a living room that's chimp-free and I bought a grass mat to put on the floor and it's already feeling like home.
In fact, finding a grass mat (a common commodity in Uganda) was nearly impossible to find OR describe in French. While Willi and I were cruising on our moto, he stopped suddenly and, alarmed, I was like, "Eek? What?" and he cried "Mats!" because there was this ancient woman by the side of the road with ONE mat for sale. We bargained her down to $2 too and I rode off with Willi, my mat tucked under my arm.
I will say too that I'm a bit of a moto junkie now, and was a little disappointed when Willi and I didn't end up having time in Gisenyi to rent a moto and explore on the nice smooth Rwandan roads. Disappointing especially because, not knowing anyone else who drives a moto, it was probably the only chance I really had to ever explore Gisenyi like that. Ah well.
Willi and I headed into Rwanda yesterday afternoon after a bit of a delay and decided to be white people for a day, staying at the Kivu Sun for swimming and tasty food. Willi was impressed as it was, as promised, posh to the extreme despite the broken DSTV. We headed down to Lake Kivu first thing and he complained bitterly about how cold it was, but as a beach, the Gisenyi shoreline is as close to idyllic as one can get.
It took them forever to bring us some towels too, so we froze and drank imported beer. I can't even describe how beautiful it was watching the sun set over Goma. We also mocked the Goma-izens mercilessly as we watched this huge rainstorm bypass us entirely and hail down on Goma. Suckers!!
It was decided that we should have room service instead of eating in the restaurant, and it certainly made us laugh to continue calling down to get Willi more cigarettes and us more beer.
Hot showers were also had. A lot of them. We'd put down a bathmat and, when we'd both finished showering, the bathmat was BLACK from the dirt on our feet. But my feet, at least for a little while, were clean. And we smelled nice, and had no chimp poop on our persons.
Hurrah! The things you take for granted, really.
We slept in rather late today (well, 9 am) but we'd managed to stay up past midnight the night before (very late by our standards). Today was an EXCEPTIONALLY beautiful day, and it was so windy that Lake Kivu actually had a surf and waves, crashing down onto the beach.
It reminded me a lot of weekends on Fire Island, listening to the Atlantic crashing against the sand, minus that sweet salty smell in the air. I finished my book (William Gibson's Pattern Recognition) while Willi slept more and I took a 2 hour hot bath.
We eventually meandered down to the poolside and sunbathed. Again, the pool was way too cold for Herr Heger, so he jumped in, promptly jumped out and didn't swim again. I spent more time in the pool, but around noonish we thought it'd be nice to go and get a moto and cruise around. Schedules had changed a bit, however, and Liz needed us to run some errands on the Congo side, including picking up Willi's MOP for his flight back to Uganda tomorrow (Friday) from the UN-MONUC offices.
I sort of wish there was more time for exploration and touristy stuff, since I usually don't have an excuse to do any of it. Or a partner in crime. Willi and I have now driven ALL over Goma -- good areas, bad areas, but the fact that I've cruised through at least once on our trusty moto is just awesome.
I'll admit I'm itching for some alone time, but I guess I'll get it soon enough.
I also don't write as much with Willi here, because we're always doing other things.
