September 10, 2015
Kigali: rest day: Impressions of Rwanda
"You'll like Kigali, you won't stand out so much", a muzungu told us about being a muzungu in the city. And that has been true, we've not heard muzungu shouted at us or asked for money. Rwanda has received lots of help from the international community after the 1994 Genocide, so we see lots of muzungus walking/driving around. Makes for a nice break from being in the rural areas.
Today we took a local bus to the city center to find a big supermarket and walk around "Hotel Rwanda" (Hotel des Mille Collines). Finding the bus was made easier by a Mamba Club staff member walking us to the bus stop. Finding the bus to return to the Mamba club was a bit of trial and error...first thinking we were on the wrong bus as it wound around streets in the opposite direction. Then a half hour later, the bus waits at an intersection in the downtown area where we started. When the bus was full, then we were off across the valley and back to where we took the bus into the city center.
This next section is a bit early, however since we have only a few more days in Rwanda, we are taking advantage of time and internet to post our impressions of the country. Tomorrow, we visit the genocide memorial.
Impressions of Rwanda:
1. Saying Rwanda is a "land of a thousand hills is an understatement about hills! Rwanda also has beautiful lakes, forests and terraced hills.
2. There is a feeling of passivity and quiet acceptance of laws. No loud music in the towns, nothing sold by the side of the roads only in shops, as if everyone is just keeping their heads down doing their own work.
3. The question paper or plastic is answered...plastic bags are illegal by law
4. Rwanda is hilly!
5. Steep terraced hills, every inch of land produces something
6. Farming is organized into Cooperative: coffee, tea, onions, sweet potatoes, cabbages, fish farming
7. Colonial Belgium influence remains: french speaking, red tiled roofs, drive/ride on right side of road, landscaping with low hedges
8. Money is Rwandan Franc: 755 RFr =1 USD
9. Accommodations more expensive than Uganda
10. Did I mention the hills?
11. African cloth with much brighter colors (blue, yellow, green) and not used as sarongs but made into dresses, shirts or tops with matching head scarves
12. Muzungu muzungu, give money....give me icupa (bottle)....give me pen....
13. Moto taxi drivers are regulated wearing yellow vests, wear helmets, takes only one passenger who also wears a helmet
14. Bicycle taxis wear blue vests. It's impressive to watch how they can cycle with a person on the seat over the back tire. And it's impressive to watch the passenger balance on the seat without holding on
15. In the rural areas, most people walk.
16. Bicycles are still the "workhorse": large heavy bundles of almost anything on the back of the bicycles being pushed uphill
17. No more speed bumps like in Uganda!
18. Lanuage Kinyarwanda and French. In 2008 English replaced French as a national language
19. Not to be left off the list, Rwanda is hilly
20. Truck surfing...bicycle riders grab onto the back of the truck to go uphill and downhill
21. There is very little trash along the sides of the road or in villages
22. Even though the churches played a role in the 1994 Genocide by not saving people from being killed, Christianity (Catholic) is the predominate religion, 10% muslim
23. The country is rebuilding after the Genocide, shifting from thinking of themselves as Tutsi or Hutus but Rwandans
24. Umuganda Day: the last saturday of every month in the morning the whole country stops and works for the community i.e. cleaning streets, repairing roads
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