(no subject)
Good to know that civilization has reached Rwanda. :-)
After a relaxing morning, since the party outside our window continued until 4ish last night, and some online research, we got the passes for the Gorilla tour at the local official Rwanda tourism office. No trouble with the credit card this time. Ran into a couple of other white student looking folks, who turned out to be from Atlanta, and also going on the tour this Wednesday, so we'll doubtless see them again. I wish I remembered their names. Gary? Garett? We meet our guide at 7 am on Wednesday (8th), so tomorrow we'll catch a bus to head out to Ruhengeri, about 2 hours northwest, and from there probably to the Kinigi Guest House at the base of the volcano near the park entrance, so we can sleep close by.
We called a professor Mandy had plans to meet with for dinner tonight, and he said "hey, come over now". So we grabbed our things and headed off to the Novatel Hotel near the Senate (which I recognized as we passed, since it's on the money) to chat with Professor José Kagabo. This was very interesting, and the first in depth actual research I've gotten to help with. Professor Kagabo is a Tutsi ex-patriot now living in France. He was and continues to be politically active as a professor and academic for the last several decades. He had a lot to say about how France was involved in the civil war, the genocide, and continues to influence politics thereafter, as it struggles to deal with the collapse of neo-colonialism and its shame at failure on multiple levels throughout the 1994 crises. Apparently there was a significant French military presence throughout the crisis, and they could have defeated the RPF (invading/repatriating Tutsi army), or the indigent Hutu army, but politics, lack of clear orders, etc. mostly resulted in them doing nothing, and later helping to defend the Hutu Government/Troops as they escaped in defeat to the Congo and surrounding areas. Apparently French media has been largely quiet or misleading about this. There were also thoughts that the RPF were really a front for American troops, invading as they were from Uganda (an anglosaxon colony) into Rwanda (a francophone country). Part of the reason the French remained steadfastly in support of the Hutu was the belief that they faced Americans. It is also far less shameful to be defeated by an American army than by a purely African army, especially one that used to be (almost, it was Belgian) your colony. That and the context of the civil war, and the very justified fears that the Tutsi were coming back to re-establish their dominance over the Hutu and re-enslave them (essentially), helps one understand how they continued to defend the Hutu. And then the details of the massacres were not really understood by many, especially white people taking orders from Europe, until much later. Could the French have stopped the genocide if they had stepped back and looked at things more clearly? Probably. Could they have done worse and defeated the Tutsi RPF and thus allowed the genocide/Hutu Power to continue and be even worse? Definitely. Perhaps sometimes inaction is safer, despite the horror of it through the lens of history. Would the Americans have done better if it had been us there? Vietnam? Korea? Unlikely. Frightening to realize how much the influence of colonialism still guides foreign policy - ambassadors and ministers in their 50s grew up with these lands still as colonies wholly owned and controlled. No wonder that they think Rwanda can't really do it's own thing, diplomatically, militarily, etc., without it really being a French action, or American action, or otherwise driven by a "civilized" power. It seems that relations between Rwanda and France will not be good for some time to come now. It also seems like the Western nations still have a lot of growing up to do, and reparations to make, for all the damage they've set in motion and continue to set in motion here.... and in the middle east... and in Asia.
Professor José Kagabo was obviously a passionate and intelligent man, and also very kind in that he was willing to spend a couple of hours chatting with two random Americans. We also saw greet and chat with half a dozen others who walked by in our time there- including an ex ambassador, and other politicians. Though only here on business now, he's clearly well connected still. I feel fortunate to have been able to talk to him.
The Novatel is a classic rich western style hotel. Swimming pool, clay tennis courts, servants everywhere and everything done up to a T. Unsurprisingly we saw many more white folk there than anywhere else. In the city it's less than 1/100, probably more like 1/1000, far more heterogeneous than Ann Arbor, or even Walled Lake. Listening to them talk as they went by, seeing their clusters and interactions, I'm glad we're staying at the Sky Hotel. Granted the quieter atmosphere and faster internet would be nice, but that's not why we're here.
I took lots of pictures from the Taxi on the way there and back (costs about 4000 Frw aka RWF to go b/w the Kigali city center and the Novatel). A few more observations. First of all, horns are used often. They mean
1) Please stop driving in the middle of the clearly marked two lane road so I can use the left lane to pass you, at which point I will commence driving in the center of the road myself.
2) Look out pedestrian! I am using the road/sidewalk to drive on and will soon be barreling into you at 50 km/hr, on a road which in the US would have a speed limit of about 20 km/hr.
3) I am a Taxi - need a ride?
The motorcycle taxis and the four wheeled taxis seem to take turns urgently needing to get past each other, and use the signals above. There appears to be a wide range in speeds that drivers are comfortable driving at- we've now had cabs going at speeds ranging from comfortable to terrifying. Road use is rather chaotic, so it's easy to see why horns are so necessary. Pavement does shift fluidly from sidewalk to motorcycle path to road, with sidewalk space appearing and disappearing randomly too. Yet it seems to work, I haven't seen anyone get killed yet, and I also haven't seen anyone respond in anger. Note that "I hate you and everyone who looks like you!" wasn't on the list of meanings above, at least so far as I've seen. Everyone seems to share nicely.
We had a pleasant buffet lunch at a small diner/cafe near the center of Kigali. The entire meal cost 4000 Frw, about the same as our taxi ride, for 2 full plates of food and 2 sodas. I had Coke, Mandy had Fanta Citron, which seems to be the 2nd most popular beverage around here after Coke. Diet Coke, not so much - that was actually about 3 times more expensive in Heaven, and unavailable elsewhere. Red Bull, also a Coke product, does seem to be growing in popularity here too. As far as email, Yahoo seems to have won that one, as near as I can tell looking over people's shoulders at the internet cafes. But compare 4000 Frw for that meal, to 4000 Frw for a 10 minute taxi ride. I don't think you could even open the door of a taxi in the US for less than $10 (5000 Frw). But then at Heaven the other night the meal was 20,000 Frw, or about $40. Granted 9,000 of that were the two well worth it Mojitos I had. :-) (and which, thankfully, I haven't gotten sick from despite the often advised against ice/water included). So while the alcohol was pricey there, the food prices seem Ann Arborish at highest and much cheaper elsewhere. I'm sure as we get away from the capital, and the places trying to cater to us rich tourists, it will get even cheaper. Oh yes, and during the buffet lunch, we heard Kenny Rogers and John Denver and similar country type artists playing.
I feel like we ran into more beggars today. We are definitely singled out as white people. Sometimes they speak English, or at least can say "please" or "hungry". Other times they say something I don't understand, but hold their hands out palm-up in the universal gesture for begging. Along with all the natives I don't give them anything. I try to at least smile and acknowledge their existence, but still I shake my head no and keep walking, just like I do in Ann Arbor. My logic is that I'm not even qualified to judge who's being honest and who's scamming in the US, much less here. I don't know how to have a long term beneficial impact, I could be helping, I could be making things worse. And I also don't want to encourage this sort of behavior, or the impression that white folks have money falling out of their pockets. I turn down street vendors who follow us down the street even if they're selling something I want. So I move on, but feel guilty anyway. I take solace in our $1000+ donation to the Gorilla fund, and all the money we're spending here in general. I also donated money at the Novatel to a fund to build the first ever local library. I also take note to research what charities are actually doing good work here and to donate to them. Paul Farmer's Partners in Health comes to mind, they're working here now as well as Haiti. I know it's a fuzzy line between rationalization of callous disregard and rational calculation of how to maximize benefit. I think about it a lot. I also took note that the guy I saw walking down the street with no hands wasn't one of the beggars. I want to find out how to help him.
On our way out earlier today we ran into two friends Mandy made here at the hotel- Jack and Jobe, both Kenyan, here on business. That was fun, in the capital city of a foreign country to randomly run into friends on the street. :-) We'll probably go out for dinner some night soon with them too. Last night in the lobby we ran into a man who had studied for his MBA in Detroit. By the time we get back to the states Mandy will have a great many things to write about, from many different perspectives.
The road outside sings on- the low echo of conversation, and often laughter, the steady buzzing of motorcycles, occasional horn tooting, and the more rare rumbles of larger vehicles and trucks. The sky is silent. Despite heavy clouds and winds, I've yet to see more than a few drops of rain. I think I've exhausted all of my thoughts for now, more adventures tomorrow!
Another set of pictures linked below, mostly from a cab ride to the Novatel.
http://www.thecathouse.homeftp.net/Filez/20081006
And also if you're curious, here's what the money looks like... and what it looks like when I experiment with different camera angles and the tradeoff between flash glare and insufficient lighting. :-)
http://www.thecathouse.homeftp.net/Filez/Money