Dear Readers,

Curious to know if anyone might have a suggestion or tip with regards to avoiding the insanity that invariably ensues from the cabin fever that one ineluctably catches whilst living here in the boondocks of Rwanda? You see, due to the incessant staring and unwanted attention one receives upon exiting one's compound, one invariably becomes loath to exit...and one to two years later one unavoidably becomes insane.

Interested to hear if anyone's developed a methodology or trick to combating this derangement-inducing 'compound mentality'?

Cheerio,

Sean

Ha! Good one. After 4 years in Ruhengeri, this is all I managed to come up with:

(1) Visit someone else's house = change of scenery without staring masses. Driving between the houses is recommended, otherwise you may arrive in a foul mood.
(2) Get thee to a nunnery. Literally. Visit the Foyer du Charite for a place to stroll peacefully with a stunning view over Ruhondo/Bulera. I managed to do this exactly once, but should have done it much, much more often.
(4) Gisenyi, for the beach at the Kivu Sun (now Serena?), stroll on the grounds, eat chocolate cake and have a nice coffee.
(5) Camping at Akagera = vast open spaces with no one else around, ability to go for walks, sit outside and read a book, etc. without attracting throngs. Admittedly this takes planning and driving, thus is not good for daily relief from your house, but great for a 3-day weekend.
(6) Yoga, in my house (or friend's house, see #1). I found that it relieved stress (ahhhh....), and sent me to my happy place.
(7) Long, hot baths. Yes, a disgusting and frivolous use of huge quantities of hot water, but it was either that or blow my stack more often (and no one needed that). This was an almost daily indulgence, and I would sit there until the water was almost cold, reading crap gossip magazines. No one stared at me while I was in the bath, except for my cat, which was perfectly acceptable. I miss that bath tub!
(8) Give in to the insanity! Spend a weekend day with the curtains drawn, not speaking to anyone outside the house. Watch DVDs, esp. cliff-hanger type series such as 24 or Lost. Good escapism, best with ear buds firmly implanted.

But you're out of there in 5 days! Best of luck with your recovery...

Ah shucks, forgot to post my reply here, as well, back in June when I posted the following on my regular 'update' blog:

GOOD MORNING RWANDA!

It's 7:17 here in our little northwestern corner of Rwanda and today's sunrise was a spectacular orange omelette rising behind a moldy cheesecloth of cloud.

In EXCITING ClinicsRising.com News: we received our first-ever response in our 'Discuss CCHIPS Story' section!! And what a sparkling gem it is too!! It's from an anonymous source (we know who she is) who lived here in Ruhengeri for several years and is supplying the following gilded advice just as we're leaving!!!! :-(

It's quite difficult and probably near impossible to convey what it's like to live here for an extended period of time (years) - but F's advice perhaps comes closest:

So I would like to thank F for this priceless advice and am sorry only to be receiving it now, three days before our departure. However, that being as it may, after this 2-year tour-of-duty here in Ruhengier, I can safely say that F's advice is wrought from the most solid of stuff and anyone moving here would do well to heed it...and to heed it well.

- Sean