Overview

Ok, a substantial update about Rwanda is so ridiculously overdue that it would take me the next two weeks to write everything about my last couple of weeks in the country. A quick overview: after Kibuye, we had a week of classes and writing papers. The following weekend consisted of a “cultural exchange” with our host brothers and sisters (they showed us traditional dance, we gave a presentation on our states of origin, sang “Take me out to the ballgame” and some girls did a dance to Beyonce’s “single ladies” and then two girls showed off their hula-hooping skills), a party put on by the host brothers and sisters, a Halloween party at which my phone and $10 were stolen and after which I won $60 at the casino, and a trip to the gacaca courts. The last week was spent scrambling to finish papers on time and get everything together for the independent research project.

We were officially set free on Saturday, after a homestay party at which Beni ran around like the crazy child he was and was SO CUTE and I miss him SO MUCH!!! I had too much to do before I could go, and it’s impossible to get to or from the refugee camp on weekends anyways, so I stayed an extra two nights in Kigali with a few of the girls who are staying there for their ISPs (independent study project). It was absolutely lovely, and I’m definitely going to miss Rwanda! That said, I am sooooo excited for the refugee camp! We went back for the first time today, and I’ll write more about it later, but the point is, it’s going to be so amazing.

With that (very brief) overview out of the way, I figured I’d write a bit more about what I learned in Rwanda and sort of generally what I’m taking away from Rwanda. I was so fortunate here to have a family that I could really communicate with (in some ways it was much easier to communicate in French here than in English in Uganda, where even though we spoke the same language, there were so many barriers to understanding each other). My family in Rwanda was genuinely interested in life in the US, my opinion of Rwanda, and learning more about me. In Gulu, a lot of the time my homestay dad liked to tell me stuff about the US, with no interest in hearing a somewhat more informed opinion. My family here was so much more interested in learning about my real family and issues in the US – we would talk about some of the major problems and debates in Rwanda right now, and in exchange I could tell them a bit about race problems, or the self-perpetuating cycle of the wealth gap in the US. I really appreciated the fact that they were open to a dialogue, and I could share with them some of my experience.

The next couple of entries are going to be about major issues in Rwanda right now, to sort of wrap up what I got out of staying there. Sorry they’re going to be pretty boring and educational…