Thursday afternoon was fantastic, as we went out shopping and for our last trip around
Kigali. Everyone laughed as I bought some souvenirs, then changed my mind and traded them for others. Our group was equally impressed as three separate times, friends from my Sunday conversation on the streets came up to wish me well and ask about our future plans. That night we ended our homestay going to a local bar and watching salsa dancing in a packed house!
We left Jean and Innocent on Friday morning, leaving our gifts they really liked, and even playing soccer in the morning before we left, before the ball feel down a hole so deep I couldn't see the bottom. Innocent started to climb down it, and with no one else home I conveyed to him not to do that until Jean returned.
The trip to Butare was uncomfortable but hilarious. We jammed as much stuff into a passenger van as it can possibly hold, and then didn't move for the next two and a half hours!! Our first impressions of Butare are comparisons to Chapel Hill!! It's a college town, built around the National University of Rwanda, but, well, the food and nightlife lets say isn't as good.
Actually, the food has been a real struggle. Service was a little frustrating in Kigali, here it is unbearable. There are two good places, a Lebanese supermarket and a hotel, and everything else we try has taken over an hour toserve something like a sandwish, and thats if we get the food at all!!! We think they wait 30 minutes before starting to cook our order, and that they treat Rwandans much better. While most people are very welcoming, we've been targetted for pickpocketing and discriminated against getting on the bus (a woman, aided by the minibus operator, jumped in front of us for the last seat on the bus during rush hour. It's probably the first time I've ever been discriminated against, and it really put things in perspective as to our country's history).
We arrived in Butare on Friday and toured the school. People were joking that it was just like junior year in high school, visiting colleges, all over again, until our second stop was the genocide memorial, commemorating the 500 students murdered here in 1994 by their classmates and led by some professors. I just can't imagine, but they have no choice but to push forward.
The school was very nice, with a quad, a forest, basketball court and soccer field just like an American school. One major difference is that students start their freshman year in medical or law school though, and attend class from 8-5 no matter what "faculty" they study. Needless to say, I feel fortunate to be in our flexible and engaging system at UNC!!
I don't remember what we did Friday night or Saturday morning, but Saturday afternoon we visited a coffee plantation. The economics of the place was fascinating. Over 200 farmers had formed a cooperative with their land and with the help of USAID built a washing station to increase the value of the exports. Even though the cooperative had earned the international standard for fair trade coffee, workers at the washing station were paid one dollar a day and farmers grossed less than $200 per year! I can't imagine what coffee isn't fair trade...
We got back and played another game of catch with the frisbee in the yard of our guesthouse. It's a game my American and Rwandan friends have both adopted! Our guesthouse itself is ridiculously nice, but there's a good story. They showed us to these very, very nice and spacious rooms with TVs and huge beds. We were thrilled, only to find out upon our return that it was double the original price. I led the negotiating party (bargaining is my favorite activity I've decided) and got it down to $6 per person per night, which is totally worth it!!
Saturday night was an adventure, as we all gathered at the hotel for drinks and conversation. Io think the same is in store tonight, as we just finished our exam today!! I ended up going out later to the only club for a girls birthday, but it was pretty weak, and we got back in around 2, only to stay up until 5 talking about anything and everything.
Sunday we slept in, waited on a terrible lunch experience, and tried out the national museum. It was really interesting, with a traditional hut, games, dances, and discussion of environmental problems that put our drive to Gisenyi in much better context. It noticeably left out any discussion of the genocide, but it focused on material before 1990.
Anyways, on the way back I got my haircut! I had an audience and watched in awe as I got the fastest and most thorough buzz cut I've ever had, for $4. It was hilarious and a little scary to watch them lubricate the clippers with bicycle grease right before it went into my hair, and may explain the rash I have on my neck now, but it was quite fun! Dinner was another experience, as we went to the local chinese place we had heard great things about. An hour and a half after we placed our order without any signs of food, the power of the whole city went out. Frustrated and hungry, we bought bread at the market for a cheap and fitting end to the true experience of eating out in a developing country.
Monday we had class about agriculture, land use, and the environment, and it was the most fascinating economic implications I've seen on this trip. I have the lecturer's contact information, and am going to try to write my honors thesis on some of the policies on land use and issuance of deeds! We spent the rest of the day studying for our exam.
The exam was straightforward, and as a large portion of our grade, I got 100% on one and 92% on the other. Sweet!! The afternoon was very promising, with an economics PhD student lecturing on trade and Rwanda, but he was terrible and didn't teach anyone anything.
The time is going by incredibly fast- we only have 3 nights left in Africa!!!!
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