Running on Low

I think, when you are busy, you're able to get more done. When I wasn't working as much, anything seemed like a task, and it was good to spread it out a bit. Now, things are so crazy that I'm amazed at how much I can get done.

Yesterday, Jovin and I set off in the wee hours of the morning for Nyagatare District-my field office, which is about a 2.5-3hr drive. It is amazing how comfortable we have become with eachother-we have our routine now, and settle in to comfortable silence or Jovin telling me stories from the genocide or history of the region we travel through. We have our water spots, the same homeless man who finds me whenever I drive through town- it's good. So up we went, where we had a very quick meeting for an hour and a half, managed to get a lot of stuff done, then piled back into the car and whipped back to Kigali. We got back around 2pm, I got some emails done, and then I went to the opening of the "Institute of Research and Dialogue for Peace', a new peafce consolidation centre that is being sponsored in conjunction with the Japanese government. That was great, whipped back to the office, edited some terms of reference, and then was off to french class for the evening. Sometime in there I ended up at an Iranian trade fair (don't ask me how), and that was hilarious-a combo of the Richmond night market and...well, a market in Iran? It reminded me a lot of the trade shows I used to go with Saidou to in Cameroon. Kind of like home. With a lot of dodgy plastic flowers.

Indeed, things are moving, but I don't know how much longer I can keep this pace up. I've been asked to draft a chapter in a book, so I do that on weekends, and in my spare time (of which I have none), I am applying for a fellowship back in Canada, a process which takes forever. With french three nights a week on top of all that, along with two ridiculously busy projects with the UN, I'm starting to get burnt out. I was considering the other night what was going to have to go, and at first I was thinking the french, but after my tutoring session today I can see I'm really getting it, so I don't want to bail now. A tricky predicament indeed. Im supposed to be there again in an hour-I'm seriously considering bailing for the night. I got another 5am text-seriously, love you guys, stop sending me stuff in the middle of the night it wakes me up and I can't sleep and one of these days I'm going to lose it on one of you. Consider yourselves forewarned!

Also got some bad news this morning-the grandpa of a family to whom I am very close with is not doing well. Grandpa and I have a particularly unique connection, and before I left he promised me he'd live to 101, so he has a few years to go. Let me tell you how unimpressed I'm going to be if he bails on our deal. He was in the hospital just before I left with a minor problem and I marched in to give him a what for and he got out. Here's hoping the same thing happens this time. But it's not sounding good. So I'm feeling pretty down about that, and after shedding a tear or two, had to get it together for a meeting at the National Police HQ here in Kigali. It's been another ridiculously busy day. If anyone a) wants to be my secretary or b) has an idea of how to increase the hours in a day or the days in a week, do tell.
Back to the slog...