Gufungura - to eat

I think I have never eatten so often and so much in my life. In fact, the verb to eat is the first word I learnt upon arrival, it was spoken so often.

When I was in the southern part of Burundi, I have been told that whenever they have guests, announced or not, they have to offer a meal. We went to three different places that day.

First few days in Burundi

I arrived sunday evening at Bujumbura. There is no internet connexion where I am staying and I have no internet connexion on my cellphone yet, so I won't be able to update often. I visited the southern part of the country and I went to Tanganyika lake. The people over there don't get to see white people often so they stare.. my friend told me to stare them down.. it works, but not always, a guy waggled his eyebrows at me.

I'll put more details when I get a computer.

Get set

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go*... There is only a few hours left until I go to the airport. I hope I am not forgetting anything. I am first going to Montreal, then Belgium and finally Burundi!!

* Lyrics from Leaving on a jet plane by John Denver (original) or Chantal Kreviazuk

Ready?

Well, almost! I am nearly done packing, although, it's quite hard finding clothes to wear nowadays...

Things I ought not to forget:

Malaria

I remembered that I didn't speak much about this... It's a parasite transmitted via mosquito bites. Those mosquitoes only go out at night. There are no effective vaccines yet, although medication, like Malarone, can prevent it. It's quite expensive, so it's better to have an health insurance.

Mosquito repellents with DEET work fine and it's also a good idea to sleep with a net around the bed.