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)
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