See, this is the thing: I can be sitting here on this pretty beach, in the cool shade, enjoying a cold beverage, looking at the beautiful mountains across the shimmering lake, and just 15 minutes down the road, this fragile political situation may or may not be unfolding. It's a contradiction of the highest order.

The other day a colleague of mine was explaining how he was trapped for 4 days in a guesthouse in a capital city with nothing but the bottles of juice and bread that he had somewhat on a whim purchased the night before. Well the next four days was serious city-wide rioting so intense that guesthouse staff wouldn't even cross the road to come to the guesthouse. So there my colleague was, all alone, rationing his juice and bread. At the end of this story, he sighs and says, "Ah, Africa", conveying in one succinct phrase a deep and passionate love, and at the same time an equally passionate frustration.

While I am not much more than a glorified tourist, I have some sense of what my colleague was expressing. This place can make one profoundly happy, and at the same time drive one mind numbingly crazy.

The good news it seems to me, is that people seem pretty willing to talk about the political situation. And fairly open about complaining about the government. That's got to be a good indicator doesn't it? Isn't that what we do in democracies, complain? 

Day 5 of 8: There's something very sad about the fact that I am in Africa this week and so far I've talked more about my luggage than anything else. This may be a bad sign, I'm not sure.

On the other hand, I'm really don't know what else to talk about. Talk about work would go mostly like this:
'Had some meetings. Talked about some stuff. Agreed on some stuff. Set dates to do some stuff. Talked about more stuff."

I can barely think about writing about that, let alone imagining that someone wants to read about it.

Of course the really big topic is politics here in Burundi. Things are very tense right now with elections beginning next month (ish). But I don't feel like I can talk about that either for a couple of reasons. One, much of what I know is based on rumour and speculation. I just don't think I have any business posting that. Two, the more official news you can easily find by doing some responsible internet research yourself. I would warn you though that you will likely discover articles that say everything is great, everything is fine. Myself, I am not qualified to comment on the validity of such claims, but recommend that if you find articles like that, you keep looking for other articles with a different perspective.

I will venture to say that it feels very much like things are on a hair-trigger. For a myriad of reasons, social, historical, cultural, political, economic, even environmental, there is potential for the situation to take a turn for the worse very quickly and without much warning. So, an entire nation holds their breath, waiting and hoping. Like the Scout motto I suppose--I think it's a Scout motto--"Hope for the best but prepare for the worst". If you're the praying type, now would be a very good time to do so. If you're not the praying type, well, think positive thoughts or something. It is not an exaggeration to say that what happens in the next couple of months could be the difference between a nation with a promising future, or a terrible tragedy.

End of day 1. Flight was good, no delays, and about 20 hours which is probably the fastest I've ever made it to Bujumbura. Somebody met me at the airport to pick me up. My hotel room is clean. The electricity works. There's hot water. No rioting in the streets. Yup overall a good day.

29 minutes 10 seconds from entrance to gate. YYZ. Slower than usual because I had to actually talk to a ticketing agent rather than using a machine. Which was more pleasant than using a machine anyways, I have no complaints about the service. Just that it's drawing down my average check in time.

This is day 1 of 8. Easy trip. At least logistics wise. I expect within that 8 days there will be about 4
fairly complicated hours and the rest should be the proverbial walk in the park.

I'm trying a new luggage configuration--yes, I'm sitting in an airport and there's not a whole lot to do, so I'm blogging about my luggage. This is a 15 litre rolling briefcase and an 18 litre backpack. This is about a 45% volume reduction compared to the other system I use. Plenty of room for one week I think. And I've finally caved in and got rolling luggage. I knew this day was inevitable, but sadly it is here. Sad because I'm giving in to gravity. Resistance is futile I guess, but all these years I've felt compelled to actually carry my stuff rather than roll it.