There may be nothing more striking in the entire world than the difference in the American concept of time and the Rwandan concept of time. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but believe you me, the difference is HUGE.
America rushes. Don’t believe me? Ask the traffic police who issues speeding tickets or the barista at the Starbucks drive-thru window. We get angry at the person in the minivan who pulls out in front of us because, heaven forbid, we are now going to be 10 seconds later meeting our friends at the fast-food restaurant.
I understand that feeling. I have always been very punctual. I think I inherited the trait from my mother. I am almost always early, sometimes on time, and almost never late.
I’ve had to throw all of that out the window since I moved to Africa. Exams that are supposed to start at 7:30, may or may not get going around 8:15. Meetings at 10:00am may or may not happen for three or four days. Football games that start at 3:30pm SHARP may or may not start around 5. But you know, life goes on. The waiting teaches me patience and gives me a chance to read a book or have a conversation I otherwise wouldn’t have had.
Okay, I admit, sometimes I don’t want to wait ten minutes to get a menu and then ten more to get my drink and then ten more to take my order and then forty-five to get my food and then ten to get my bill and then fifteen more to get my change. But sometimes I don’t so much mind sitting back and relaxing and not feeling any sense of urgency.
You forgot to tell everybody what the Rwandans like to say: "You muzungus wear watches and you're always out of time; we don't wear watches but we HAVE the time!"
ReplyDelete~ Christine, Tom Allen blog watcher and fellow Kigali resident