I started a substack to send some of my works right to you. I am excited and grateful to anyone who would join me on this journey. https://substack.com/@lozaadmassu?r=5dtu64&utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-page

These days I like orange. I see it in so many places; warm and bright. I made a short list. May the warmth of an orange find you too. 😊

I saw somewhere that Chimamanda had a writer's block hence why she couldn't publish a book for 10 years. I heard her explain it as scary among other things but it consoled me. As a person who goes through writer's block from time to time there is nothing more consoling than knowing even a 'real' author gets it.

She recently published a book titled 'Dream Count' and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I listened to some of the interviews she did including the podcast with Trevor Noah (which I am yet to finish but couldn't help but admire how relaxed she looked and how much she was having fun with Trevor and Christella) and I wished to read it.

I read the first sample pages from some site.

Then as I went to the city for work, I stopped by a library called Ikirezi in Kigali. I knew I would find it there. I just knew. It is this big bookstore with so many books and I knew Dream Count definitely had made it there.

I climbed the stairs past the couple who were walking out and there it was. White. With the fire like cover. I picked it up. Heavy on my hands. Smells so good. I flipped some of the pages. Very beautiful fonts. I imagined life with it. With this beautiful big book. My dad used to say he would imagine his afternoon whenever he borrowed books from his vendor on Saturday mornings.
I imagined it all. How it would look on our living room shelf. How Helen can read it once I am done. How I probably would stay up at night reading it.

Then I walked carrying it to the seller. I asked how much it was. He checked on his computer and said 32,500 RWF.

I said, what?

Because I am not in a very financially comfortable phase of my life, that is a significant amount of money for me.

But even if I were, it still is a lot of money.

It is equivalent to half of my internship salary in Ethiopia.
32,500 RWF is more expensive than our monthly WiFi bill. 5 kg of rice. Among other things.

He told me it is expensive because it is new.
I understood. Adichie is important. She tells our stories and does a wonderful job at it. She also said it is important for her that she is read in Africa hence made sure it is available which I assume is not an easy job.
The other day, a friend told me John Green sells his book 'Everything is tuberculosis' on paperback for 30 dollars in the US.
I looked at the book a little bit and returned it where it was. I thanked the guy and told him I simply can't afford this book. He told me they will run out if I don't buy it now. I laughed and said I seriously can't afford it. I am just a girl.

I thought I would be able to buy books to my heart content when I grew up. That is how I consoled my little heart when I couldn't find a book as a child.

But it is a good thing I saw it. It looked beautiful.
@coffeeandscribblings

Memoirs from Mayange
Special mention @MelkamFekadu @coffeeandscribblings

ዛሬ እንደአውሮፓውያን አቆጣጠር ሚያዚያ 7፣ ከ31 አመታት በፊት በቱትሲዎች ላይ በሩዋንዳ የደረሰው የዘር ጭፍጨፋ መጀመሪያ የሚታሰብበት እለት ነው። ለ100 ቀናት የቀጠለው ይህ የዘር ፍጅት፣ ከ1 ሚሊዮን በላይ ሰዎች ሞተውበታል።
ሩዋንዳ እና የሩዋንዳ ወዳጆች ዛሬን እና መጪውን ሳምንት፣ ይህን ክፉ ጊዜ ያስቡታል፣ እንዳይደገምም ቃልኪዳናቸውን ያድሳሉ።

ሔለን እና እኔ ለአንድ አመት ሩዋንዳ ስንኖር፣ ስለዚህ ጉዳይ የተማርነውን እና የተሰማንን ሁላችንም እንማርበት ዘንድ እንደሚከተለው ተቀዳን።

ብታዳምጡን በጣም ደስ ይለናል።

@coffeeandscribblings

https://youtu.be/vi9uW2X-jlQ