Welcome to Rwanda! Mwaramutse!

I have now officially entered the second part of my study abroad; the Rwanda portion. I was looking forward to this as you all knew, and now it is here! It really is impossible to compare Rwanda to Uganda because they are so completely different. Both have gone through extreme tragedy and are coming out the other side in very different ways. In the case of Rwanda, development has become the main focus. This is why once you enter the Kigali suburbs you see nice sidewalks, internet cafes, electricity, restaurants and hotels as far as the eye can see. In Uganda we had these things, but never consistently; especially the electricity part. Kigali reminds me of pieces of other cities I have visited: Chicago with the wide clean streets with so many trees, Sydney with the cultural and language differences and the influence of Asians on both business and population, and even Richmond, Va at times because of the beautiful rolling hills.

At night, when you are atop one of the mille collines (1,000 hills) you can see the beautiful twinkling city lights. It really is quite a different image than the Ugandan night scenery. In Uganda once the cities electricity went out around 7pm (not always), the only lights were businesses with generators to run their power. Walking around in the city at night was actually somewhat scary. I do miss Uganda however. Mainly the comfort of knowing where the good food is, how to get to and from school, what my family expected of me, etc.

Here in Kigali everyone knows and remembers the genocide, but it is not openly talked about. In fact the city has become so developed it feels like a European city, but there is an air of secrecy or false normalcy everywhere. We have all been told to watch what we say to who about the killings, identity (hutu and tutsi and twa) and the government. I am doing a good job of that so far, but when you ask certain questions you can pick up on the truth and sadness that lies behind the answer that is given.

I moved into my new homestay family tonight at 8ish. I have a lot of sisters, a mother, and a few “nieces and nephews” and/or cousins. This time our academic coordinators found our families by going through a local high school, asking the older students learning English if they wanted to host an American student. I think that was a really great idea because some of our families know each other, all the high school kids can talk about our/their experiences just as we do amongst ourselves and we both are leaning new languages. In terms of languages, Rwanda est beacoup difficile parler (lots harder to talk/speak). Everyone speaks Kinyarwanda (which I am learning for 2 hours a day for 6 days), many people speak French, and not so many speak English. I am really hoping to pick up a good amount of Kinyarwanda because it is the most useful for getting around and interacting with my family, but at the same time my 4-5 years of french education is totally coming in handy! I really wish I had brushed up on my french more, or brought a dictionary or something, but I didn't so I am butchering everything I say and taking forever thinking of what I want to say. I think my french will also get better with time here.

In my family, as far as I can tell, the 18 year old Rosette has the best English and understands some of my french. My two other sisters have spoken English to me briefly, but it seems the language of the household is Kinyarwanda, which is to be expected. Recently my mom has been trying to speak the few English phrases she knows to me when we are together, which is not too often. She owns and runs a small breakfast and milk restaurant. She works all day and doesn't come home until after 8 pm, so we only interact when I stop by her shop which is located at the local bus park. Lets just say the milk, or amata, here is not exactly what I'm used to at home. They poured me a glass which was more like unsweetened yogurt than milk. Yuckky, but I tried it which is what matters to my family. Overall the food here is good, it's just African... which means bland and carb filled. I feel like I am always bloated here. And for those of you that know me, I am not an anti-carb person, but they are in everything you eat here and you begin to notice how unhealthy it feels to be eating this way. We have potatoes and rice at every meal, and bread is served as a snack or breakfast also. As funny as it sounds coming from me, I miss fresh veggies and berries! We aren't aloud to eat salad here because the water the veggies are cooked in is not safe for our system, but it is also just not something they eat. Most people do not have refrigerators, so if you can't boil it, you can't eat it!

Kigali really is such a comfortable place to be for me though. First of all there are so many westerners in the city center all the time. I actually counted 12 white people in cars in the morning traffic today, and that was only along one block. Of course I am still called Muzungu, and there are places (my neighborhood) where I am the only white person as far as the eye can see, but it's less unsettling now that I am used to it.

Overall I would have to say I feel great here, it is hard to adjust to a new family again, but everyone is so welcoming that those apprehensions go away pretty fast. I definitely think I will stay here for awhile, but at the same time I miss Gulu and Uganda a lot too when I think about it. I'd say, at this moment I am not ready to come home at all. I love it here in East Africa and would like to enjoy as much of it as I can. I know I have to come home, but I want to stay for awhile!

Lots of love from Rwanda to all my friends and family.

Mwiriwe.