Hakuna Matata. Like the song in the film says, it means “No Worries.” But “no worries” might actually mean, no worries; or it might mean “I have not understood a single word you have just said, but I’m going to pretend that I did so that I don’t offend you”; or it might mean, “I understand exactly what you are saying, but I’m going to ignore you and do exactly what I want anyway. Stiff cheese.”
It’s one of the most annoying, frustrating habits of my African brothers and sisters, along with the habit of telling you what they think you want to hear, regardless of how accurate or otherwise that information might be.
From the time I began planning this trip, I have been indicating that where possible my preference is to travel on Mondays. This is simply because there is usually not much happening ministry-wise on Mondays or Tuesdays, so if I am waiting till mid-week to travel I have unused days at the start of the week, and am using possible ministry days for travel. And there is no way I would want to travel on a Sunday, that being the main ministry day.
For at least the last three months I have been telling the people here in Burundi and in Congo that I would be here from 12th to 26th February, then in Congo from 26th February till 4th March. Hakuna Matata.
Six weeks ago, after finding it impossible to line up a connection between Kalemie and Kinshasa for my ongoing journey to Benin, I asked our pastor in Congo if it would be possible for me to come back to Bujumbura at the end of his week and connect from here. Hakuna Matata. So I went ahead and booked my flights for Tuesday 5th, giving me time to get back here on Monday – or so I thought.
Yesterday afternoon I learned that the ship to Kalemie goes only once a week – at 2pm Sunday. I am booked to preach on Sunday morning at one of the big churches in town, and they have already promoted it. Why on earth could the people from Congo have not told me this earlier? If I had know, I could have worked around it some way – but two days before???!!!
But wait, it gets worse. Today I learned that (a) the ship on Sunday travels overnight, arriving on Monday; and (b) the return ship leaves Kalemie on Thursday, arriving back here on Friday. This means that, if I go ahead with the trip, I will have only two and a half days in Congo. I am seriously wondering whether it is worth it, particularly given the cost of the ship – not to mention that I am REALLY ticked off with our Congo contacts. Surely they knew all this ahead of time – why leave it till the very last minute to inform me? Of course, Hakuna Matata.
I probably will go, if only for the sake of the people because I don’t want to disappoint them. Besides which, after the drama I had getting the visa it would be a shame to not use it. But there is also another issue – I have to have US dollars for the fare, so unless the ATM that dispenses US cash is open tomorrow afternoon (I am preaching in the morning) then either they will have to pay for my ticket and I will reimburse them when I can get US cash, or I won’t be able to go.
Domitien is up country today for a funeral, I’m expecting him back around 5 and hoping that he will be able to come over with the Congo guys and see what we can sort out.