Well, I've been back in England for less than a week. Its cold, its damp, its busy... and I haven't stopped all week! On the other hand, I'm living near to my friends, I can phone people any time I like, and people understand what I am saying first time without me having to simplify my English or explain things another way. On Monday I was glad to be back in England, on Tuesday I would have given anything to get on a plane and go back to Rwanda, on Wednesday I definitely decided that I preferred Rwandan stresses to English stresses, on Thursday I spent more time thinking about Rwanda than England, and on Friday I had a hot bath instead of a cold shower which cheered me up for a while...and then I just got exhausted! Now I have the heating on, I've done a music workshop with some great children at Foston Primary School this afternoon, I've got three new flute pupils and an exciting job with the arts council in the pipeline and England is not seeming so bad! I also have a comfortable bed to get into any minute!! I also happen to know that Pam is staying in the guest house in Kigali tonight with the cockroaches, mosquitoes and nets that don't stretch over the bed, so I'm counting my blessings!
Rwanda is a very special place, and there are some very special people living out there who I miss greatly when I'm here. It has its stresses, but they are very different to the stresses here - a welcome difference. I really enjoyed my month out there - playing with the children, recording and collecting music to teach to people in England, swimming in the lake, photographing birds of prey, relaxing in the heat, making a difference to Pam and her workload (if only for a month), seeing some of the most beautiful scenery I have seen all year... the list continues. But now I am lucky to be able to convey all the wonderful things about the country to the people here - my job allows me to share my experiences with others...in a music way or an informative way. Of course, there are issues that I cannot and would not want to share with the public - Rwanda has a history which clearly still affects the minds of its people. But every culture has its negative aspects - and England cannot even blame its negatives on a genocide! To travel into another culture, particularly one as different as Africa, always causes you to re-evaluate of your own culture as well as the alien one and I highly recommend it...even if it does lead to mild confusion.
I shouldn't have called this entry "Conclusion" because I've gone into degree essay mode!! Sorry, before I get too deep and philosophical I think I'd better go to bed! Right now the moon is out in Rwanda and its the same one I can see from my little house in York. If only I were the moon I'd be able to keep an eye on what was going on wherever I shone on people.
...Yep, I definitely need to go to bed. I guess I'll sign off until next time I go to Africa. Thank you for reading, you've been a wonderful audience :-)
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