As I always say, taking the village out of a villager can be an uphill task for any rightful thinking person.

As for me, that analogy seems not to hold much water; I wouldn’t rubbish it whole sale because I know, there are some few circumstances when the village may take the better of me.  

That said and done, I can conclude that, I am the "rightfool” or is it rightful ambassador of all the villagers, else, why am I called a Villager (no insult intended)? As you read this story, I am in the comfort of one of the best Air-conditioners of this world, located in one of the biggest cities on the face of the Arabian Desert.  

Now, why should I complain about anything, hasn’t God been so generous to me? Alahu Akbar!  I have to work when it is time to work, take a holiday and have fun when it is time for fun, or else when will I have that fun, when in past tense?  The obvious answer to that is of course a big no!

This time around, I sent my passport to a popular travel agency in Kigali that trades as Satguru (don’t ask me what that is meaning, please oblign me), I had to cough a cool US$120 for the Visa (not a mean feat for a villager, eh), it is amazing how these Arabians work, twenty four hours from the day of depositing, I had the Visa email sent to me, simple as saying 123!  That is as much as it takes to have your visa sorted out.

However, these chaps are not so good and not so bad either (read between the lines), they only give a single entry VISA that is valid for only 14 days.  

That means, you must first carry out all your "home work” properly before you apply for the visa or else you may stand to lose a cool US$120!  When I inquired as to why they give such tight terms, I was told that, they do not want too many aliens roaming about freely for so long.  

I suppose, it is in the interest of their peace and serenity that, we the aliens are given as short a time as possible.
As for ever getting a job in Dubai, that is not advisable; this is because, there is an abundant labour supply from the Indian subcontinent that, an African can easily be out competed in terms of the lowest wage one can settle for.  

We Africans are too proud to earn the almost nothing wages that the Indians would not mind earning.  Yes, they have the saving culture that we do not have and hence, they can earn anything and turn it around into a fortune!    
A year or so ago, I was here just before the "Crisse Economique” set in, then, Dubai was a bee hive of activities. By then, the Burji Dubai (tallest building on earth) was reaching it’s completion, they were working plans to build yet another tower that would break the Burji Dubai tower’s record as the tallest building.  

However, this never came to be, the rest you can all guess! As of now, the Burji Dubai has been renamed to "Burji Khalifa”.  I’m told that, it has been renamed in honour of the current UAE President.
      
mfashumwana@fastmail.fm