Our learning curve continues upwards, a direction we have become used to on our walkabouts in this city of countless hills. We are using our French and learning Kinyarwanda. Our tutors are mainly restaurant servers, employees who work in our apartment building and colleagues at work.
The Kinyarwanda word for foreigner or white man is muzungu. We hear it sometimes as we pass workers or school children. We read on the Morgan in Africa blog that a good response to someone calling you "Foreigner" is, " Nitabwo nitwa mizungu. Nitwa Sheila." "My name isn't foreigner. My name is Sheila." Ha!
Lights Out!
Electricity went out in our neighborhood around 8 p.m. one of these past nights as we were headed to the Sundowner for pizza. Moto drivers were cruising the streets looking for potential passengers. They are more expensive than the buses but cheaper than the taxis. Wow, but what a ride sitting behind the driver as he courses up and down the hills at sometimes hair-raising speeds. Not for this couple...yet! Ha!
After walking about a kilometer out of our way, we arrived at the Sundowner and shared a small pizza for about $4.50. You can't beat these prices!
Observations on our Saturday afternoon and evening walks:
Street work is done quickly. Ditches are dug; cable is laid. A few hours/days later, holes are filled and streets are paved.
There are not a lot of people riding bicycles, but many take motos, buses and walk.
Children are children everywhere. They are curious, playful, and open. The girls seem shyer than the boys.
Neighborhoods on the many hills of the city are quiet. For a city of over a million people, the sounds are interesting: road traffic and work are noisy, roosters crow early in the morning, church singing is ubiquitous on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings, and music can be heard emanating from nightclubs, hotels, concerts, in buses, and from cell phones (KISS 102.3 FM is a favorite).
Road Work at Rubangura Apts., Birthday Party, Sunset over Town, and Sheila on the Balcony
Visiting Places We Have Read About
We continue to explore the city and have visited two places we read about before coming to Rwanda: Hotel des Mille Collines and Heaven (no, not THAT place!). The 2004 film, Hotel Rwanda, with Don Cheadle, tells the story of a Rwandan assistant hotel manager who protected families during the 1994 genocide. One of the books we read was a novel by Gil Courtemanche titled, A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali (noted in our first post -). The pool is the one at the Hotel. The other place is Heaven, a restaurant (and later an inn was added) written about in the book A Thousand Hills to Heaven by Josh Ruxin. Both are noted in our first post - Story 1 - and are enjoyable reads.
Three-Day In-Country Orientation
Staff at the American Embassy conducted a very thorough orientation about living and working in Rwanda. It included a welcome by the Deputy Public Affairs Officer, a tour of the Information Resource Center, cafeteria, swimming pool, and gym, classroom observations and meetings with faculty members at the Akilah Institute for Women, the Integrated Polytechnic Regional Center, and the Rwanda Tourism University College, lunch with Ambassador Erica Barks-Ruggles, a security briefing, a description of the two American Corners in Rwanda, MOOCs mentorship program, a tour of Kigali and more!
An Impressive Groupwork Assignment in a Class at Akilah Institute for Women - September 15, 2016
Observations after our orientation:
The security briefing was thorough and painted a clear picture of dire consequences that might result in any number of events. For example, the dangers of venturing into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to visit the active Kyiragongo Volcano or the gorillas in the Virunga Mountains both of which are easily accessible via Gisenyi, Rwanda.
Our Kinyarwanda lessons, taught by Magnifique, were truly magnifique!! Although brief (4 hours), we learned lots in a safe and stress-free environment. Murakoze cyani, Magnifique!
Jado, one of our contacts in the Public Affairs Office at the Embassy, has been extremely helpful in assisting all of us Fulbrighters in attaining our work visas and providing help in other ways (e.g., arranging for the transport of our four large boxes of books to our apartment). Murakoze cyani, Jado!
There seem to be many opportunities to do community outreach work. Through the American Corners, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC Clubs) in English are offered and volunteers are needed to facilitate these hybrid - online and face-to-face - courses. Also, community volunteers can propose and give presentations on American issues/culture at the Information Resource Center. Volunteers are needed to host Book Clubs and a Kigali College Club for students hopeful of attending universities in the States.
Last Night Before Fulbrighters Take Off for Their Sites
Five of the Fulbrighters, including Mark, have six to ten-month assignments in Kigali. The remaining three have been assigned to universities in Butare/Huye (in the south), Gitarama (about an hour and a half southwest of Kigali on the road to Huye), and Gisenyi (on the north shore of Lake Kivu near the Democratic Republic of the Congo). We gathered at our place for drinks and then went to dinner at the Sundowner.
A Recommendation
God Sleeps in Rwanda - a book and later a documentary - by Joseph Sebarenzi is a moving story of a Rwandan Tutsi who lost his parents and seven siblings in the 1994 genocide, later became speaker of parliament, and then was forced into exile when he became the target of an assassination plot. We were inspired by the author's life of love, compassion, and forgiveness when he could have chosen to be bitter and hateful.
God Sleeps in Rwanda - Documentary - 2005
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Come across a good travel book, film or documentary you might recommend? Suggestions to offer about any information in this post? Please comment and click here to contact us directly and/or receive future posts.