September 13th 2005, 2040B
his is likely going to be a fairly short post, given that I’m already in bed & I’m just waiting for the drugs to kick in before I switch this off for the night. Also the last few days have been even quieter than is the norm, so I haven’t really got much to talk about.
As I mentioned in the last post I’ve deployed out of Bujumbura again, though it’s a little erroneous to say that I’m “out” of the capital right now – I don’t even think I’m outside the city limits actually. Currently I’m at the site of the new camp that’s being built for the SA contingent, though whether we actually get to see much use out of it remains to be seen, given the uncertainty around how much longer our involvement here is going to be. I’ll be here till around the 26th or so, & unfortunately it looks like I’m going to be pretty much out of contact with everyone till then as there isn’t a phone or net connection here, or until I can get a sim card for my cell. That should hopefully be on Thursday or so, when I get paid again.
Conditions here at the base are something of a contrast to be honest. The accommodation is quite nice, as we’re staying in prefabs rather than in tents, & they all have power & aircon. They’re built to accommodate 4 to 6 people, though I’m only sharing the one I’m in with the other medic. That I can live with for now, but when the time comes for us to move in here properly & I have to share with 3 – 5 others, I have a feeling that I’m going to miss the privacy my chopper tent has afforded me till now. Still, aircon in this part of the world makes up for a lot of that :P
The bathrooms are also a very large improvement over what we have at the existing base, but right now there are serious problems with the water supply, so it’s not so much a shower as an exercise in hopping around trying to get wet. There’s also no hot water here as yet, but that has to do with there being insufficient pressure to fill the geysers, so when the supply is sorted out we’ll get hot water. How long that will take remains to be seen though, but it’s not that the water is exactly freezing either so I can live with it for now.
So far so good, & over all I’m comfortable enough here. It’s a lot quieter here than the base in town, there are far fewer mozzies, & the weather is also much better – it’s actually warmer, but the humidity is lower. There’s only one real problem with this place, & that’s the mess. It’s very much a “work in progress” – the only reason we have troops here at all is because the locals were stealing anything not nailed down – so the place is far from finished, or even neat & tidy. There are half constructed prefabs everywhere, trenches dug for piping all over the place, & large areas that are just bare foundations. Worst of all though is the dust, which is literally ankle deep in places. We’re far enough out of the city, about 10km, that there aren’t any buildings to obstruct the wind so it comes howling through here, and it often looks like you’re in the middle of a desert sand-storm. We’re talking “can’t see 3 feet in front of you” kind of visibility at times, & that dust gets in everywhere. Even my cigarettes have a certain crunchiness to them :P
In all honesty it isn’t bad here, but I’d far rather be in Kabezi right now though, which is where I’d been trying to deploy to this rotation. One reason is that there’s nothing much I’ve seen to point the camera at since I got here, other than the locals hanging around outside the wire. And given that they’re doing their usual annoying “Gimme! Gimme!” act, I’m disinclined to have even so little to do with them. I’m growing increasingly resentful & contemptuous of the Burundians, and I know it’s not a good thing. For one, all an attitude like that is going to do is ensure that I’m pretty much constantly pissed off all the time, & that’s going to make the next 8 months seem very long. It’s also hardly an appropriate attitude to have towards the locals, given that this is a humanitarian mission. I’m supposed to be here to help make a difference for these people, not to hold them in contempt or view them with disdain, and certainly not over trivial little things like behaviour which I see as rude & ungracious. There’s more to it than that, but that really pisses me off. As I may have mentioned previously :P
Enough of the locals getting on my tits again though. Or as usual, or whatever. I’d been looking forward to getting out to Kabezi this time, because it’s a beautiful area & I’d been hoping to get some shots of the sunset across the lake, and also because my friend Tiaan is also deployed there at the moment, so I’d have had decent company. Still, this is only for two weeks & there’ll be other chances I’m sure. I’ll have chance to deploy to all the outside bases in the time that I’m here, given that there are only three of them really – I’m not going to count what I’m doing right now as a deployment to an outside base. Other than Mwaro & Kabezi which I’ve already mentioned, there is also a deployment at a place called Muramvya, & I’m quite keen to get out there at some point fairly soon. I’ve not seen the place yet, or even really know where it is, but I’ve heard promising things about it & I’m looking forward to seeing for myself. And I’m pretty sure Wes would appreciate some scenery shots of places other than just Mwaro & the 2-3 of Kabezi I uploaded the other day :P
Speaking of which, I was actually very pleasantly surprised that I had chance to upload the photos that I did the last time I was on the net connected pc – my plan of arriving a little later than usual seemed to bear fruit, & it was over an hour before anyone else came along wanting to use the computer, so I made good use of the extra time.
I’m somewhat bummed that I’m not likely going to see any feedback on the photos I uploaded till I’m back in town proper at the end of the month, as I’m doing the whole “well, I like ‘em, but what if everyone else hates them?” thing. It’s funny how self-conscious & insecure we become at times, isn’t it? :P
Having a little extra time online also meant that I had chance to send a few mails to people I’ve not been able to get on the phone till now. I’m starting to think I may just be jinxed when it comes to comms with Cheezy Gareth though – I’ve never been able to get through on the phone, & the bloody mail I sent bounced back as undeliverable too. So much for technology & modern communications making the world smaller, I guess. I’ll keep trying though, & something will get through eventually I’m sure lol
I also managed to have a look at Ninja Gareths’ blog, & was both impressed and entertained by what I’ve read so far. I didn’t get chance to read through it properly though, so the next time I have opportunity I’ll be saving it so that I can read all of it at my leisure.
In addition to being a good read, his blog also reminded that I’ve left a great bunch of people behind in
Anyway, I think that’s about it for now as the drugs are doing their groovy thing again, making me all slow & fuzzy. It might be a few days before I update this as there is literally bugger all that goes on here, or at least that’s been the case so far. But I’ll make note of anything interesting for the next post.
Ciao for now ;)
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