On Saturday morning, 6 August, Hayley and I had special breakfast plans—bagels! Specifically, bagels from the African Bagel Company, which is probably the only place you can get them around here. ABC is run by some expats (of course) and on Saturday mornings the place is hopping with the Kigali expat community. We decided to check it out to see who was there. And I for sure didn’t want to miss an opportunity to eat a bagel. And a doughnut. And some coffee. It was delicious. It also made me excited for the Bloomington coffee shops. This year I’m going to try to spend more time studying in coffee shops as opposed to my room, which will certainly put a larger dent in my bank account but will probably be better for my stress levels. And because I love bagels and cookies and coffee. Ha.
After our bagels and doughnuts, Hayley and I caught motos to the genocide memorial centre, which is just outside of town. It was cool to take these longer moto rides and see the city. Kigali is spread over four hills and simply walking around probably does wonders for one’s calf muscles. It is also nothing like Nairobi. There are strict litter laws (even besides the ban of plastic bags) so the streets are actually clean! And the traffic situation seems fine—not much congestion at all. It’s much nicer to ride motos when you aren’t afraid of being crushed in the traffic jam. Also, apparently street vendors aren’t allowed, nor is thatched roof housing. Traveling through the countryside, one can see houses with giant red X’s painted on the doors. This denotes a run-down building that is set to be demolished because it is unsightly and right by the road. It is pretty clear that President Kagame and the Rwandan government are making great efforts to make the country look nice.
The genocide memorial centre is split into a few parts. The first part details the 1994 genocide (including a brief history of Rwanda leading up to the genocide and a final section with several walls covered in photos of the victims that were donated by family and friends), the second gives brief descriptions of a number of other genocides that have occurred around the world, and the third part is the gardens outside. The gardens are located over several mass graves, containing up to 250,000 bodies. It was haunting, to say the least.
The gardens at the centre.
It’s strange to walk around Kigali, imagining that some 15 years previously this now clean and organized city was in a turmoil of gross violence with bodies lying everywhere in the streets. In Kigali now, there is little obvious evidence to show that happened but there are a few small signs. One is the scarcity of dogs. In other places I’ve been in the region, there are at least some stray dogs running about, but not really in Kigali. Apparently many people in Rwanda harbor a strong fear of dogs because during the genocide dogs were eating the bodies. Apparently after the genocide most dogs were killed. But anyway, knowing there is this extremely dark recent history under the seemingly calm surface of Kigali is unnerving. I felt similar when I was in Berlin and when I was in Saint Petersburg (sense a common thread behind some of my academic interests?) but in Kigali this feeling is probably the starkest because the genocide happened not long ago. Think about it, I was four years old when it took place—certainly old enough to have memories of it. Therefore, almost all Rwandans around my age or older lived through it and remember. Walking down the street I would sometimes look at people and wonder what role they played, for good, evil, or as victim. I did learn at the centre that Saint Paul’s (it was its guesthouse that we were staying at) provided refuge for about 2000 people.
View of Kigali from the memorial centre.
To lighten up after visiting the centre, Hayley and I wandered to a shop where traditional Rwandan handicrafts were sold and then to the UTC to hunt for postcards and to explore the Nakumatt (East Africa’s version of Walmart). Then, across the street to Shake and Sip again, where we split a tasty veggie burger. After that we spent a relaxing Saturday night in our guesthouse, reading and figuring out our upcoming travel plans.
The next morning, Hayley and I shouldered our packs and walked over the hotel we were moving to. Then, partly because most things are closed on Sunday, we settled in at Bourbon Coffee. Bourbon Coffee is, obviously, a coffee shop in downtown Kigali but there are also joints in a few other Kigali locations such as the airport, and apparently there are even locations in D.C. and NYC! It was a pretty standard nice Westerny coffee shop (and therefore had Western prices). I’m not complaining though because it is nice to get real coffee and not Nescafe every chance I can! Furthermore, they had tasty zucchini bread. Hayley and I relaxed there for a bit before doing a bit more internet research and then heading to a trade expo that was taking place in the city.
Hayley, her tea, and my coffee hanging out at Bourbon.
The trade expo was a lot like a state fair. There were vendors selling popcorn, ice cream, and other junk foods one would find at a fair (though no fried Snickers [or if you’re from Texas, fried beer]). There were several large tents that housed booths of vendors. Most people were selling different crafts that you could find around the city elsewhere, but there were some other interesting stalls. There were a handful of vendors selling Indian slippers for example, and I curse my wide feet that wouldn’t fit comfortably in them. There was also a guy from the U.S. embassy giving information on some sort of trade/corporation stuff (okay, I don’t really remember) and representatives from other companies. It was pretty interesting, though I quickly got tired because it was completely jam-packed with people! This was compounded by the fact that in East Africa, people tend not to respect lines. If you don’t queue up right behind the person who is in front of you, people will cut. And they usually do anyway unless you physically prevent them from doing so, if that’s possible. So there were no organized viewing patterns here, just people shoving through. By the time Hayley got a call from Cher-wen, a former intern that lived with Hayley’s current host family and now works in Rwanda, I was ready to go and meet her.
Off we were again, this time to Khana Khazana, an Indian restaurant! Alas, we got there a bit after 5pm and it didn’t open until 6pm. But no problem, Cher-wen was coming from outside the city and would arrive after us anyway so Hayley and I went to Heaven, a restaurant one street over, for an appetizer. I got some really nice iced tea and we split some guacamole (yes, more avocadoes!) with chapatti chips. There was still a bit of guac left on the plate after we finished the chips so I shamefully asked for a spoon. Waste not! The waiters were kind and amused by us (me) and brought even more chips. Win. And at 6pm we walked back over to the Indian joint, met up with Cher-wen, and had some wonderful Indian food. It was really interesting to meet with Cher-wen and to learn about what she is doing now (working for FACE AIDS/Partners in Health), how she got there, and her experience in Kenya. After talking with these ladies who now live in Kigali but have also lived in Kenya, I feel a bit gratified because a lot of my feelings (especially those regarding, well, gender relations) were echoed by them. We all agreed that one thing we really liked about Kigali is that it felt safe. We could walk around even after dark and not have to worry (something I would not do in Nairobi). Further, I experienced much less harassment from people (mostly from vendors and men). I honestly felt like I could be myself walking around Kigali, not constantly on the defense, and that was one of the things I liked best about being there. I really liked Kigali.
Sadly, after our delicious Indian dinner, Hayley got ill (though probably not from that food specifically). Luckily, we had rearranged plans for the next day. Originally, we were planning on heading to Musanze and the Virunga Mountains (where the mountain gorillas live) the next day (Monday) but we had delayed our departure until Tuesday evening because we had been offered a free night at the Kigali Serena, courtesy of my contact. Still not sure why, but oh well. Anyway, not wanting to pass up free lodging and food for a day (especially this free lodging) we had changed plans. After running some errands around town Monday morning while Hayley rested, I checked us out of our hotel and got a taxi for the two of us to the Serena. It was good because Hayley got to relax and I didn’t mind wandering around the hotel and reading by the pool.
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, these hotels are truly swanky and I’m sure it will be a long time before I stay someplace like this again. The room was huge with all sorts of stuff (including q-tips that I stole) and a great shower. The hotel also had a spa, an exercise room, and a nurse who came to check on Hayley (who was starting to feel better). As Hayley and I had dinner the hotel manager sent a waiter to let us know that part of our bill was going to be covered by him! We paid nothing for the time we spent there. It was good to relax and to take a nice shower and to have a buffet with a ton of special cheeses and fruits and goodies, certainly (though overall the food was mediocre). To be honest, though, I was getting a bit annoyed at the hotel. I felt this before, but it’s just weird to be staying at a place like that when it’s stationed in a really poor region of the world. I can imagine people coming and going from places like these and never seeing the countries themselves for what they actually are. Sitting and re-reading The Master and Margarita by the pool I was actually started to feel a combination of annoyance and guilt at being there. I could be doing that at a nice pool almost anywhere in the world, but I can’t wander Kigali anywhere else… but it was free lodging, a kind of a gift I guess… Blah. I got more annoyed when I turned on the TV that night and saw that they had a station devoted to detailing all of the hotels and lodges in the chain. One of the adverts proclaimed, “come visit the real Kenya!” Hell no, that’s not the real Kenya. But anyway.
After my nice shower and my müsli and fruit breakfast, Hayley and I went back to the UTC (of course) for errands: namely exchanging money at the forex, getting plane tickets from Kigali to Mombasa, checking the internet, and getting our bus tickets to Musanze that evening. Then we crossed the street (!) to go to a collection of souvenir stalls and look around. Then, back across to Bourbon to relax and eat a late lunch/early dinner before our bus ride. I got a veggie burger. I ate a lot of those in Kigali. And then, we walked to the bus station and were off to Musanze!
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