Family in Kigali

Family in Kigali!

My homestay family in Kigali is so wonderful!! I have a “mom,” a “dad,” a 17-year-old brother who has been showing me around but had to go back to school today, a 16-year-old brother who is in Butare studying to become a priest, a 3-year-old brother who is actually insane, a 20-year-old sister who was adopted, a “grandmother” who doesn’t speak any English or French, and a few other people who are sort of in and out – uncles and aunts and household “help.” The father and the 17-yr-old and one of the uncles all speak various degrees of English, but most of the time we all speak in French because that’s the language we can all understand the most of. They have electricity and indoor plumbing, though they don’t get enough running water, so they have big basins of water in the bathroom and outside (it’s still sooooo much better than the pit latrine!!)

The first night I got there, we were hanging out in their sitting room talking about Rwanda, the US, why I decided to come here, etc. I had a cold, which was really draining for me… I was struggling to keep my eyes open. All of a sudden, all of the women came out of the kitchen with this big birthday cake that said “Happy Birthday Danielle B. 20 yrs” with 20 candles around the edge, singing happy birthday in three different languages! It was the sweetest thing ever!

On Saturday evening, the 17-yr-old asked me to show him how to use my computer. I quickly figured out that he was really just interested in watching music videos, and was very disappointed that I didn’t have any on my computer. He settled on listening to my (very limited) collection of R&B/rap songs, which prompted Beni, the crazy three-year-old, to start dancing around like crazy, jumping on the bed, throwing pillows and making gangster faces. It was actually one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen in my life. A picture is worth a hundred words, so hopefully this completely candid photo will capture some of the ridiculousness:



So not only was Beni running around like a chipmunk on hallucinogenics, but shortly after exhausting my R&B collection, my “brother” found the Michael Jackson songs. Before I knew it, my skinny-ass 17-year-old homestay brother named, of all things, Chaste, starts doing a Michael Jackson impression to Billie Jean. It was actually pretty good… definitely had the crotch-grabbing and hip jerking motions down. Awkward.

Beni is the funniest thing ever. He likes to jump around on the couches, stand on chairs and reach across the dinner table, spit out chewed up pieces of meat, play with my hair, pull my arm hair, run away from me, climb all over people, refuse to eat, etc etc. I don’t know how the family members put up with it – he would drive me crazy if he was my real brother, but since it’s all new to me, I think it’s hilarious. I know I’m such a bad influence and that my laughing at him just encourages him, but I can’t help it. He’s started running around yelling, “My seestah. Nevah fohget you.” So cute!

So that’s basically the family. They haven’t told me the story about what happened to them in the genocide, though I know they’ve been living in that house since 1990. I can’t tell if I’m supposed to ask or not. I know that they love Kagame, their president. When they heard that Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize, they were like, “Oh, Kagame’s probably going to get it next.” Overall, it’s great so far, and their invitation to stay with them during the research period is pretty appealing. Actually, speaking of research, I’m supposed to be meeting with someone from UNHCR soon, so I should go!