Hear’say

Yes they are still big somewhere. As we drove across town form the heliport to the YMCA, the local radio announcer introduced Hear’say’s ‘Pure and Simple’ with the words “and now for the song you all just can’t stop singing…”

Surreal.

There is no national electricity system here, so people who can afford it use generators to power them. At the YMCA, they have enough diesel daily to have power from 7pm until midnight. Then it runs out and all goes dark. As we ere taken to our rooms as we arrived very late, we were given a paraffin lamp and told we’d soon be in darkness. The paraffin lamp brought back memories of my year in Zimbabwe 10 years ago. Have I changed so much since then? For a year I lived with no electricity and running water, yet the thought of the power going off in half and hour or so sent me into a spiral of anxiety.

Still I survived the night. I think much of the anxiety is just being somewhere for the first night, the strange smells, sounds and feelings. Arriving at night is always difficult anyway, as you have no real concept of the place you are coming to, its boundaries and yours. So last night was fairly difficult. There are so many songs, prayers and poems about everything turning out fine in the morning, and there is a reason. Its usually so true. So after muddling through the nights sleep, by the time the sun rose, I felt calm, settled and ready to start work. And ready to start exploring what looked such an amazing city as the sun rose over the stunning view from my room