1st Days in Rwanda

Well, Matt has inspired me to write down some of my memories so I can share them with my.... self someday. Being here and seeing life through such a novel lens has also turned my brain on in new ways. It is incredible to be surrounded by all new people, places, and products (except for Coke, which is everywhere).

I left Washington DC yesterday (or the day before...or three days ago, im not sure) on Ethiopian Air very aware that last week this airline had a major crash over the mediterranean. I watched closely from the airport as the plane was "inspected" - someone glances at the engines, kicks the tires a few times and walks slowly around the plane. This thorough inspection left me with the utmost confidence that we would fly safely to Africa. I was right. The trip to Rome was smooth and I got to watch Michael Jackson's "This is It" which was pretty entertaining. We refueled and headed to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where we changed planes. At the "security checkpoint" the metal detector and baggage scanner lost power and we had to wait while practically every airport employee came to confirm that sure enough the power was out. Eventually, someone in a white labcoat came to fix the thing and we were on our way to Entebbe, Uganda. Almost everyone, 200 out of 210, got off the plane in Uganda and I seriously wondered if maybe I shouldn't be getting off in this popular place. I didn't, and I met a nice man from Rwanda who had just gotten his PhD in the States. I asked him everything I could think of about Rwanda. I was at ease. Although that could have been the wine.

I arrived in Kigali, Rwanda and was so happy to be greeted by a smiling Ariana. Fortunately, a Rwandan friend of hers happened to be dropping someone off at the airport that day and was able to wait and give us a ride home. It was extremely hot and I still had my sweater on from the cold of Washington DC. We had a ten minute ride to the house and I quickly realized that I never want to drive in Rwanda. It is fast and there are no rules. Well, maybe their are rules but with thousands of motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic it was chaotic to say the least. We arrived home and I met Jamie who is from the States and on a similar internship journey to Ariana.

Shortly after arriving home, we walked about a mile up to the closest market. It was primarily a fruit and vegetable market, but also had every other thing you can imagine. I got my first dose of what it is to be a white person or "Mizungu" in Rwanda, as the kids come up shouting "Mizungu" followed usually very quickly followed by... Cash?. It is mostly playful and you just have to say No, but we are definitely seen as priveleged and rich. We are. The market is all about bargaining and everyone has special Mizungu prices. Jamie is a pro and she was able to get us a giant bag of locally grown fruits and vegetables for about $15 (7500 Rw. Francs.) We came home and had dinner and half a beer and I was curled up under our mosquito net by 7:45.

Day 2 - We woke up about 8:00 and had some breakfast (fresh pineapple & scrambled eggs). We made a plan to head to downtown Kigali for the day. With Jamie, we walked back to the bus stop, a huge empty dirt lot next to the market that has tons of 15 passenger vans waiting to depart to all areas of the city. We found one for downtown and once it was full, we had about a 20 minute ride to the downtown "bus station." (on a side note, I feel like I could put everything in quotes because the developing world is such a far cry from a modern nation. It does not feel destitute or desperate, but life seems more based around survival than work or "progress.") After arriving downtown, we walked around some busy commercial streets. The interaction of motorized traffic and pedestrian traffic is an ongoing dance and I am amazed that more people are not run over. There are people everywhere. Everywhere. The business scene is full of small (10x10) nooks that sell any crap that the Chinese can manufacture. We eventually made our way to a market that sold African arts & crafts and I was pleasantly surprised by what we found. While most of it is made in massive quantities, it is not plastic and it is not from China. We perused for a while, bought a few things and headed to the bank. We tried a couple banks and were unsuccesful in finding anyone who would cash a travelers check. These seem to be reserved for the western world. Eventually I changed some cash to local currency and we were on our way. Ari and I walked for a bit discovering lots of little shops and then ventured to the school where Ari had her classes and had a nice picnic lunch (fresh bagels... made by an organization that is teaching kids marketable skills like cooking bagels... tomatoes, and avocado). We stopped by the Cafe Bourbon for a very Western fruit smoothie and it was like stepping out of Rwanda and into your local coffee shop. Such a strange juxtaposition of wealth and poverty here. We met back up with Jamie and visited a few more shops, checked out the bus station that Ari and I will use for our excursion to Western Rwanda later this week, and then went to a local artists collective to check out some amazing paintings. It was in the middle of a residential neighborhood and nearly everyone had a glance at us, said Mizungu, hello, or bonjour. Ari and Jamie are both beautiful and make quite an impression walking down the street, I am not sure if anyone even saw me! Ari bought an amazing painting and I will be back later to buy another! This was the truly local art where we could be sure the money was helping the artists. We walked a bit more, had a Fanta, and headed home.... it was a hot and dirty day and we all needed a "shower" (rinse under a waist high cold water faucet.) I have just finished a couple of local beers and we are headed to a friends house for some more cocktails!

On the whole, Rwanda is a fascinating place with lots of friendly people going about their business. I feel incredibly fortunate for the life I have already and have lots of difficult contrasts of culture and class to work out in my head. I am so glad to with Ariana and a house full of other Mizungus with to share stories with at the end of each day!