Thursday (12/8), I called Nicole to wish her a happy birthday, and then went into work for a few hours before jumping on a bus to meet Jon at the airport. We got really bored trying to figure out what to do in Kigali and eventually went and ate dinner at the Chinese restaurant before meeting up with Adam and the others.
Friday, we caught a bus up to Gisenyi and met up with Portia who was letting us crash at her house. We walked around town, saw areas of Gisenyi I’ve never been to before and ate some lunch. I tried asking the guy if the croque madame was made with eggs and cheese and he just kind of grunted, so I asked again to no avail and finally just asked if there was meat on it and he said yes. I asked him if I could get a sandwich with egg, cheese and tomato and he said sure (which is amazing b/c most Rwandese make you order EXACTLY what’s on the menu and you cannot change anything up! Example: I tried to get an omelet with onions, tomatoes and cheese and the guy said it was impossible, even though there was an omelet on the menu with onions and tomatoes and one with tomatoes and cheese. After a long debate and me telling him exactly how much more I would pay, he went into the kitchen and came back saying it was possible and that I should pay the amount I had previously stated). When my food came, it was an omelet with cheese, tomatoes and toast imbedded in the eggs! It was hilarious and I took a picture that I’ll try and post soon. I was a little concerned when he wrote down, in this order:
Eggs
Tomatoes
Cheese
Sandwich
I think sandwich is code for slice of bread. It was pretty tasty though. Last time I was in Gisenyi for Nicole’s birthday, I ordered an omelet with tomato, onion and cheese and I pronounce tomato the French way so as not to confuse her, but I got an omelet with onion, cheese and fries (potato). Ariko, the French word for potato sounds NOTHING like tomato (pomme de terre).
Okay, back to Gisenyi this time around. The whole omelet sandwich thing ended up being extremely expensive, so I asked to see the menu and we agreed on a fairer price afterwards (ex. A whole circle of cheese is about 2700 and he was charging me 1000 for putting a few pieces in my omelet). That night we ended up going back to the same restaurant for salads and they were pretty delicious. Saturday morning, we got up, went over to Portia’s school where she helps with the deaf education unit and since Jon is a deaf ed volunteer in Kenya, he wanted to meet some of the kids. They weren’t there that day, but we did get to see Portia’s permagarden she built with the kids. Then we walked over to the Serena (the fancy hotel on the lake) and got beach chairs on the sand and laid in the sun and swam in the lake, read some books, listened to music, ate a yummy lunch and took a nice shower. A very buff Rwandan was walking around the beach and he caught Jon’s eye and we were both staring at him when his friend walked up and asked if we would take a picture with him. Turns out he’s a model and thought we were attractive enough to take a picture with. Jon took a picture with him on his camera, so I’ll have to get the photo from him first before posting it. It was a wonderfully relaxing day. We weren’t really hungry after a day in the sun and our big lunch, so we just went and got tea and a chapatti at the restaurant next to Portia’s house for dinner. Sunday morning, we got up and went to the bus station for the bus back to Kigali. We got in around noon and ate lunch at the cheap Indian restaurant and then hopped back on a bus to Butare. We ended up running into Trish who was on the same bus as us and as we were walking up to Simba (a supermarket with an outdoor café) to get a drink before the bus, my wallet was stolen! Some jerk stole all my money, my PC ID, my ATM card and our bus tickets! I LOVED that wallet too!!!! I was super upset but knew there was nothing I could do. I think the thief was probably pretty upset that he robbed the poor muzungu in town though. My ATM receipt was in there and my PC ID, so he could see how pathetic my bank account balance was and that I was a volunteer, so hopefully he felt bad about robbing me. We were able to get on the bus anyways after explaining to the bus people that we had already paid for tickets but they were stolen, along with everything else. They were all really nice about it. We got into Butare and dropped off our bags at the my house, then went over to Abdoul’s with Ryan for a breaking of the fast with him and his family. There was lots of food and it was pretty delicious.
Monday, I took Jon into my work and introduced him to people at the office. I did a bit of work and let Jon use the internet and then we went to lunch with Ryan. After lunch the boys went to the museum and I just waited for them at the house. We hung out at the house and I cooked dinner. I made ‘biryani’ (pretty much just fried rice with Indian spices, cashew nuts and raisins). It tasted really good though! Then we watched ‘creep show’ some 80’s horror flick someone at PC office put into the case for Ghosts of Rwanda. It was terrible. We made Ryan watch Glee and he liked it! Tuesday, I taught my HIV, sexual decision-making lesson while Ryan and Jon went to Murambi, one of the genocide memorial sites. I didn’t think I could take being there again and I had to teach, so just let them go themselves. The lesson was pretty fun and I think it really got them thinking because afterwards they were all sitting and standing around discussing.
Wednesday, Jon and I stayed in Butare and walked over to the Arboretum for a short hike, had some ice cream and met up with some other PCVs who were there. We sat and chatted with them for a while and walked back into downtown together. We bought some chapatti at a restaurant and cooked fajitas for dinner with guacamole. Ryan came over again and we watched some Glee. Thursday, Jon and I went into Kigali and ate some pizza for lunch before going to the genocide memorial there. The taxi driver who drove us came in with us and went through the whole thing with us and took us back for only 5000! It was a good 2+ hours. After, we took Jon’s bags to Adam’s house and laid there for a bit before heading over to the Ethiopian restaurant for Gavin’s birthday dinner. We were so early, we sat and had a drink and they brought us small bowls of popcorn. There was a little kid there with his parents who kept trying to give Jon his food. He was very entertaining running around and playing with the waiters, so we weren’t bored. My and Jon’s food was good, Adam and Gavin’s food was terrible and they both were so disappointed and swore off Ethiopian food forever. We then went out for a bit to the bar and then home. Jon left early Friday morning back to Nairobi and Mombasa.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Elections!
SPREAD got an intern, Ryan, from Texas A&M for a month. He’s pretty cool and now I have someone to hang out with again. Had a 4-day weekend this weekend (6/8-10/8) due to the presidential elections. Friday, I had a half-day at work then went home and pretty much stayed there. Saturday, I woke up, did some laundry and then Ryan came over and we went out around town. Went and watched Eclipse in the cinema (which was pretty apparent it was a pirated copy), then walked over to the theater because earlier in the day a Rwandese friend of mine told me she was putting on a play at 7 that evening, so we went and met her outside and she told us it was going to start late. Walked in and sat down and then picked up one of the few programs scattered on seats (1 to every 10 or so) and realized it was in French, so went back to the cinema and watched the new Alice and Wonderland, then went home to bed. Sunday, Ryan and I were going to meet at the market and get food to cook dinner, but it was closed (he’s tired of hotel food). We ended up going over to Abdoul’s house and since it was elections the next day, his houseboy left to go to his hometown to vote, so we ended up making the dinner. Abdoul and I peeled and cut up a million potatoes to make fries and we started the fire and then his sister took over after our batch of frites weren’t too good (they were pretty soggy and not at all crispy, but still tasted fine). We had fries, rice, beans, avocado and tea with an apple for desert with Abdoul and his family and two friends. We watched Hitch and Enemy of the State from a disc of all Will Smith movies (they sell DVD’s here with about 5-6 movies on them).
Monday, while I was lying on the couch reading, Ryan banged on my gate. I wasn't too keen on walking around and disrupting the election process, but he said that not much was going on, he didn't see many people walking around in town, and besides everything was closed until the afternoon. We played checkers at my place and afterwards went out to the video store and rented ‘Thank You For Smoking’ only to take it back and find out that it’s a French copy. We returned to the shop and exchanged it for ‘True Blood’ (after making sure it was in English). It’s a pretty good show so far. Only watched 2 episodes. I stopped in one of the bars to see if there was any news about the elections yet, but it was all in Kinyarwanda and there was no data being shown, so I just moved on. Got a text from Adam though telling me that PK won by a landslide (to be expected).
Tuesday was a holiday because of the elections Monday, so no work. My cleaning lady came and cleaned the floors and did laundry and I went into the office for a bit. Afterwards, I went jean shopping and got a new pair I really like! On my way home, I saw two women standing and staring into a tree. So, as I got closer I stared into the tree too and saw a group of monkeys and a boy throwing rocks at them. Two jumped across the road into the field and one ran up my steps, jumped up onto my wall and then onto my roof. I was kind of scared to go into my house and turned to the ladies when I saw he was headed into my house and told them “crap! That’s my house!” (eh! n’inzu yanjye!!) They just laughed and I got into my gate with no problem, then went and got my camera and took some pictures of the guy. He stayed on the roof for a bit, then came back down onto my wall and finally jumped into my mango tree and off to find the others. My cleaning lady and I were laughing about it together.
Wednesday, went into work, found my boss, she told me another family member died (that’s 3 in the 2 months I’ve been here!) and left. So here I am, yet again, alone in my office with nothing to do.
Monday, while I was lying on the couch reading, Ryan banged on my gate. I wasn't too keen on walking around and disrupting the election process, but he said that not much was going on, he didn't see many people walking around in town, and besides everything was closed until the afternoon. We played checkers at my place and afterwards went out to the video store and rented ‘Thank You For Smoking’ only to take it back and find out that it’s a French copy. We returned to the shop and exchanged it for ‘True Blood’ (after making sure it was in English). It’s a pretty good show so far. Only watched 2 episodes. I stopped in one of the bars to see if there was any news about the elections yet, but it was all in Kinyarwanda and there was no data being shown, so I just moved on. Got a text from Adam though telling me that PK won by a landslide (to be expected).
Tuesday was a holiday because of the elections Monday, so no work. My cleaning lady came and cleaned the floors and did laundry and I went into the office for a bit. Afterwards, I went jean shopping and got a new pair I really like! On my way home, I saw two women standing and staring into a tree. So, as I got closer I stared into the tree too and saw a group of monkeys and a boy throwing rocks at them. Two jumped across the road into the field and one ran up my steps, jumped up onto my wall and then onto my roof. I was kind of scared to go into my house and turned to the ladies when I saw he was headed into my house and told them “crap! That’s my house!” (eh! n’inzu yanjye!!) They just laughed and I got into my gate with no problem, then went and got my camera and took some pictures of the guy. He stayed on the roof for a bit, then came back down onto my wall and finally jumped into my mango tree and off to find the others. My cleaning lady and I were laughing about it together.
Wednesday, went into work, found my boss, she told me another family member died (that’s 3 in the 2 months I’ve been here!) and left. So here I am, yet again, alone in my office with nothing to do.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
End of July to kigali and back
Wednesday (21/7), when I went into work my boss asked me to go to a conference for her in Kigali and take notes. She told me about it, but forgot to send me the email, so when I got into work Thursday and asked her again when the conference was, she goes “um, I think its today and tomorrow. I didn’t send you the email?” So, she sent the email and I saw that it started at 8am Thursday. She asked me to go for Friday’s session anyways, so I stayed at work, went and ate some lunch and bought a ticket to Kigali. Then Peace Corps came to take a look at my new house and gave me a ride to Kigali. I went out to dinner with Marine at a Chinese restaurant and then went to Adam’s. The conference was at 8am and Adam’s cousin was leaving the house at the same time and offered to give me a ride. I got there a few minutes late, but the whole thing didn’t start until after 9 anyways. It was pretty interesting, but there were a lot of arguments. We were working on the country action plan for women, girls, gender equality and HIV. They were making recommendations about how it should be changed to be gender equitable and how to include specific policies that focus on girls and women. There was a lot of arguing and people repeating things over and over and then someone would get the mic and just go on a rant. The host needed to be stricter and tear the mic away from them and get things moving. We were about 2-2 ½ hours behind and I had to catch my bus back to Butare. I went and saw Adam at his new job and we hung out for a bit, then jumped on a bus to Butare. The University students had gotten out of school, so all the buses were full. I had a friend call and reserve me a ticket, but when I showed up they said that I wasn’t on the list. I got lucky though b/c a guy at the ticket desk wanted to change his 4pm ticket to 5:30, so I got his! Got home and met up with Imogen and Trish and we went out to dinner. Marine jumped on a bus after work and met up with us and we all had a fun night. Saturday morning, we tried to get a bus to Cyangugu to go to the kickball tournament in Nyamasheke, but they were all full also. We thought about staying in Butare for the weekend, but the girls weren’t too keen on the idea, so we jumped on a bus again for Kigali, after some shopping at the coop and Kenya market, eating some ice cream and having a beer by the pool. So, my weekend consisted of a bus to Kigali Thursday, bus to Butare Friday, back to Kigali Saturday and again to Butare Sunday. Kind of ridiculous, but it was fun.
A bunch of PCVs returning from the kickball tournament stopped in Butare for the night on Monday because they were unable to make it back to site before dark. So, I met up with them after work at the ice cream parlor and while sitting outside eating our deliciousness, I saw a large line of identical white Hilux trucks going past. I started counting and there were 21! All with almost identical mud markings and only one person in the car, the driver. I thought it was crazy, but Wednesday, I saw one (this time empty and clean) and told my driver about what I saw on Monday, and he said it was probably a shipment of trucks going to Burundi. Two PCV’s stayed the night at my house Monday evening. We went out to dinner and were going to watch a movie at the cinema but instead stayed at the restaurant too late and ended up going home and to bed before 10!
On the way to work on Tuesday I saw a giant bird that I think might have been a parrot at American corner. It was grey with black and a little bit of white on the wings. I don’t think there are any grey, black and white parrots, but it looked like one.
My boss’s father died Tuesday, so Wednesday, for the Family Planning training with USAID, I had to go by myself in her place. The training was at the US Embassy, and when I first got in, I had to surrender my cell phone, computer and ID and then walk through a metal detector. Then I went into the building and was told to sit and wait because I needed to have someone escort me around the premises. I sat and waited and waited, while talking to the guard in Kinyarwanda and reading Ebony magazine the guard gave to me. When I realized that it had to be 2pm already (there was no clock, I wasn’t wearing a watch and didn’t have my cell phone), I went up to him and asked what the heck was up. He finally got me someone to take me there and I was a half hour late. I HATE being late to things, especially when its for some ridiculous reason. The training was pretty interesting and there were big wigs from PSI, FHI, JSI, and other international NGOs and then there was me, a volunteer from the smallest organization present. I think I held my own though and made a good impression. I participated in the conversations, gave some correct answers and interesting insights on a few topics. Hopefully a few of them will remember me when its time for me to get a job. We drove back Wednesday evening and Thursday and Friday, I was in the office by myself working on a few things, but mainly checking email and Facebook. I did manage to finish a course on the USAID center for global health education though.
The whole week (26/7 – 30/7), the entire town was getting ready for President Kagame who was coming to town Friday. Everyone was working hard to decorate (trees all the way from Kigali to Butare were painted white and banana trees were placed alongside the road). There were banners and streamers, and a big sign dug into the hill and then filled with white chalk saying “Tora Kagame” (Vote for Kagame). Prisoners were recruited and spent the whole week working to clean up the area next to the stadium (the stadium was too small to fit all the people) and constructing the stage and site. Friday morning, on my way to work, I saw villagers singing and dancing down the street waving a PK poster, bus loads of people singing and banging the sides on their way to the stadium. I got frisked by some soldiers because my office is right next to the stadium, but didn’t even get to go into work b/c we were closed for the day because of all the activity. I went into Kigali Friday evening with Imogen, ate dinner at the wonderful Indian restaurant, went with the boys to the Sports Club and had a few drinks and watched TV while they exercised, then went to the shady bar and then Papyrus. Saturday, we tried to drive to the lake to go swimming, but the car overheated and we ended up going to Bambino’s. We sat in a village at a bar drinking while they “fixed” the car. Were at the roadside town a good 2+ hours when we finally got going again but the car quickly overheated again. We stopped, added water, but decided to go back towards Kigali, which is where we found Bambino’s fun city (or something like that). It has a pool and fair rides, like the swinging chairs one and a Ferris wheel, but by then it was dark, so we didn’t swim or go on the rides, but got some food. Then we went to a small bar by Adam’s house and went home early. Sunday, Adam and I just stayed home most of the day watching movies, and then I had to catch my bus back to Butare.
Went into work Monday and Tuesday, but no one was there. Tuesday, Imogen came back from Kigali and packed up all her things and I took her to Kigali to do her gift shopping and spent one last night with her in Kigali. Her flight was supposed to be at 4 the next day, so we ran around town getting everything done before 2 and then around 6:30 I get a call from her saying she’s stuck in Rwanda, her flight has been cancelled! They put her up in a hotel room and around 10:30 she said they told her she’s flying out at 1am. So, now my house is empty, just me. Not too bad so far.
From some of my PC friends:
A 2 year old cutting grass with a machete taller than themselves = normal
Carrying a backpack on your head = normal
Men holding hands = normal
Women holding/carrying babies on motorcycles = normal
Things I’ve seen on the back of a bicycle:
People, side saddle or straddle, including women with babies tied to their backs
Goats
Pigs
Big inconspicuous bundles in rice sacks
Tables and chairs stacked upon one another and tied down
Jerry cans
Bag of rabbits (alive and skwirming)
Giant bags of charcoal
Hanging live chickens (though they're usually tied onto the handlebars)
A bunch of PCVs returning from the kickball tournament stopped in Butare for the night on Monday because they were unable to make it back to site before dark. So, I met up with them after work at the ice cream parlor and while sitting outside eating our deliciousness, I saw a large line of identical white Hilux trucks going past. I started counting and there were 21! All with almost identical mud markings and only one person in the car, the driver. I thought it was crazy, but Wednesday, I saw one (this time empty and clean) and told my driver about what I saw on Monday, and he said it was probably a shipment of trucks going to Burundi. Two PCV’s stayed the night at my house Monday evening. We went out to dinner and were going to watch a movie at the cinema but instead stayed at the restaurant too late and ended up going home and to bed before 10!
On the way to work on Tuesday I saw a giant bird that I think might have been a parrot at American corner. It was grey with black and a little bit of white on the wings. I don’t think there are any grey, black and white parrots, but it looked like one.
My boss’s father died Tuesday, so Wednesday, for the Family Planning training with USAID, I had to go by myself in her place. The training was at the US Embassy, and when I first got in, I had to surrender my cell phone, computer and ID and then walk through a metal detector. Then I went into the building and was told to sit and wait because I needed to have someone escort me around the premises. I sat and waited and waited, while talking to the guard in Kinyarwanda and reading Ebony magazine the guard gave to me. When I realized that it had to be 2pm already (there was no clock, I wasn’t wearing a watch and didn’t have my cell phone), I went up to him and asked what the heck was up. He finally got me someone to take me there and I was a half hour late. I HATE being late to things, especially when its for some ridiculous reason. The training was pretty interesting and there were big wigs from PSI, FHI, JSI, and other international NGOs and then there was me, a volunteer from the smallest organization present. I think I held my own though and made a good impression. I participated in the conversations, gave some correct answers and interesting insights on a few topics. Hopefully a few of them will remember me when its time for me to get a job. We drove back Wednesday evening and Thursday and Friday, I was in the office by myself working on a few things, but mainly checking email and Facebook. I did manage to finish a course on the USAID center for global health education though.
The whole week (26/7 – 30/7), the entire town was getting ready for President Kagame who was coming to town Friday. Everyone was working hard to decorate (trees all the way from Kigali to Butare were painted white and banana trees were placed alongside the road). There were banners and streamers, and a big sign dug into the hill and then filled with white chalk saying “Tora Kagame” (Vote for Kagame). Prisoners were recruited and spent the whole week working to clean up the area next to the stadium (the stadium was too small to fit all the people) and constructing the stage and site. Friday morning, on my way to work, I saw villagers singing and dancing down the street waving a PK poster, bus loads of people singing and banging the sides on their way to the stadium. I got frisked by some soldiers because my office is right next to the stadium, but didn’t even get to go into work b/c we were closed for the day because of all the activity. I went into Kigali Friday evening with Imogen, ate dinner at the wonderful Indian restaurant, went with the boys to the Sports Club and had a few drinks and watched TV while they exercised, then went to the shady bar and then Papyrus. Saturday, we tried to drive to the lake to go swimming, but the car overheated and we ended up going to Bambino’s. We sat in a village at a bar drinking while they “fixed” the car. Were at the roadside town a good 2+ hours when we finally got going again but the car quickly overheated again. We stopped, added water, but decided to go back towards Kigali, which is where we found Bambino’s fun city (or something like that). It has a pool and fair rides, like the swinging chairs one and a Ferris wheel, but by then it was dark, so we didn’t swim or go on the rides, but got some food. Then we went to a small bar by Adam’s house and went home early. Sunday, Adam and I just stayed home most of the day watching movies, and then I had to catch my bus back to Butare.
Went into work Monday and Tuesday, but no one was there. Tuesday, Imogen came back from Kigali and packed up all her things and I took her to Kigali to do her gift shopping and spent one last night with her in Kigali. Her flight was supposed to be at 4 the next day, so we ran around town getting everything done before 2 and then around 6:30 I get a call from her saying she’s stuck in Rwanda, her flight has been cancelled! They put her up in a hotel room and around 10:30 she said they told her she’s flying out at 1am. So, now my house is empty, just me. Not too bad so far.
From some of my PC friends:
A 2 year old cutting grass with a machete taller than themselves = normal
Carrying a backpack on your head = normal
Men holding hands = normal
Women holding/carrying babies on motorcycles = normal
Things I’ve seen on the back of a bicycle:
People, side saddle or straddle, including women with babies tied to their backs
Goats
Pigs
Big inconspicuous bundles in rice sacks
Tables and chairs stacked upon one another and tied down
Jerry cans
Bag of rabbits (alive and skwirming)
Giant bags of charcoal
Hanging live chickens (though they're usually tied onto the handlebars)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)