Milles Collines & A Great Burger!

When we woke up this morning we walked around the central part of Kigali for a while and did a little shopping and then made our way over to the Hotel des Milles Collines (Hotel Rwanda). We sat by the pool for most of the day, had a cheeseburger for lunch, and just people watched.

The Hotel Milles Collines was of course made famous by the film, "Hotel Rwanda." Paul Rusesabagina managed to save thousands of Tutsis by hiding them in the hotel during the genocide. The hotel is in direct view of the US Embassy and was in direct view of UN headquarters during the genocde. For many years, it was the center of Kigali's political and social scene. Much "business" took place at this pool in Kigali.

In the evening we met a man named Egde and his family who are visiting Rwanda from St. Paul. Egide's son and daughter (Paul and Ruth) are Tutsi survivors of the Genocide and his niece and nephew. After Paul and Ruth's family were killed, they managed to survive on their own for 2 months. Egide and his wife Kristen adopted Paul and Ruth in the late '90's. Both attend Central High School in St. Paul.

Kibuye, Kivu & Barf

So, last night when we returned to the hotel, Felix the cab driver showed up. We went out to talk with him and made small talk for about five minutes and then tried to say goodbye. He then demanded we pay the balance for his services (about $40). We argued for several minutes in the lobby of the hotel, had the desk clerk translating, and finally settled on half the balance to end the argument.

This morning we hopped on a bus to visit the town of Kibuye. The ride lasted about 3 hours and we spent only 4 hours in town before returning to Kigali.

We visited another church where 11,400 Tutsis were massacred in the genocide. It was a beautiful Catholic church with several stained glass windows. We spent about thirty minutes sitting in the pews enjoying the peaceful setting. A young woman who is a parishoner at the church sat down to talk to us for a while. She was born in Kibuye in 1988. Both of her parents were killed in the genocide at the church. She still attends mass at the parish and is an accounting student in the city of Gitarama.

We ate lunch at a very nice guest house on Lake Kivu before making the 3 hour trek back to Kigali.

Roosters Crowing, Loud Sweeping, Honking, Yelling (And Futbol)

Rwanda is a very loud place during the waking hours. We have been going to bed around 9 or 10 p.m. as Rwandans wake up and start their days just as the sun rises. We have only had to set an alarm one morning, up in Kinigi next to Volcanoes National Park. The other mornings, the sounds of Rwanda have awakened us: roosters crowing, loud sweeping, honking, yelling, you name it.

After having breakfast, we set out to do some shopping (just our thing). We wandered down to the main market of Kigali. Even on a Sunday morning, the place is loud and bustling. As we've said before, Rwandans buy most of their things in markets rather than in stores, so we didn't have much luck finding gifty/souvenir type things.

We broke out James' travel guide (Dave left his in the back of a truck hitchhiking), and found a handicrafts cooperative not far from the center of the city. We found many authentic Rwandan crafts in the co-op and plan to go back.

After returning to our hotel and dropping our things, we grabbed some lunch at our new favorite restaurant-Sole Luna before going to the soccer match. The teams today were much better and there were between four and five thousand people in the stadium today. It was evidently a big match for the team from Kigali, Rayan Sports. They were playing a team from Cyangugu called Estoile. The Rayan Sports team started the first half slowly and the score was tied at the half. During the second half, R.S. dominated and won the game 3-1.

The best part was the celebration after the game. People left the stadium with their blue and white flags and cheered through the streets. We were slapping fives on the backs of motos on our way back to the hotel.

Fun day in Kigali. Milli Way (Good Afternoon)

James and Dave

Felix (Take 2) and Rain in the Dry Season

We think we've mentioned before that time in Rwanda in elastic. We ate breakfast at our guest house and decided to read a little before Felix showed up to pick us up at 9:30am. We read until about 10:15, got scared by the biggest bumble bee in the southern hemisphere, and then contined to read (Seriously! we took a photo and laughed very hard!). We read until 11:00 am. Felix had not shown up. We told the staff at the guest house that we were going to walk into town and that if Felix should show up, that's where we'd be. (It woudn't be hard to find us in the town of Kibungo). We waited around until about 11:30 and finally decided that Felix had probably ditched us. Luckily a mini-bus left for Kigali at 11:45.

A mini-bus in Rwanda is about the size of a Volkswagen bus (or more recently a Vanagon) and in the US, 10 people and the family dog would fit rather nicely. Well with James' head smashed into the ceiling and his knees into the back of the seat in front of him all 19 people! took off for the 2 hour trip to Kigali. Now this was an express bus which must mean something different in Rwanda. After 5 or 6 other stops we made it to Kigali.

Our plan was to go to Amahoro stadium and watch a soccer match. As we were leaving the guest house it started to rain! To rain! In the dry season in Africa! For 2 hours! Anyway we made it to the game, watched a fun match then went to a Mexican restaraunt. Not bad.

Things here are great and winding down. We will try to see Kibuye beginning of next week (Immaculee's hometown) then our last night will be spent at the Milles Collines (Hotel Rwanda)

Lates.

Cave & Kuntz.

Felix, Nyrabuye & Rusumo Falls

This morning we woke up and secured transportation to the village of Nyrabuye and Rusomo. We drove for about an hour southeast of Kigali and then turned off the main road. We drove for another hour or so up a very rocky and bumpy dirt road until we came to the small village of Nyarbuye.

We found the genocide memorial at the church that we were looking for and we were told that it was closed. Felix, our taxi driver helped us get in touch with the "Executive of the Kibungo District." We conviced this person that we were indeed teachers and doing research on the genocide. After several minutes, they finally agreed to let us into the site. About 25,000 people were killed in the school attached to the church in Nyrabuye. This is one of the more infamous massacre sites of the genocide.

Before commiting the murders at Nyrabuye, the killers surrounded the church compound (a school, priest residence and church) and waited to kill. They cut tendons and waited longer. One of the most moving part of the site were 4 large rocks that were worn smooth by the killers sharpening thier machettes. Very hard to explain the impact that this site had on both of us.

After finishing up at the site, we continued on to the border town of Rusomo. We had planned to stay there for the night but when we arrived we decided it was best to return to the town of Kibungo. Rusomo is right on the Tanzanian border and there is a fairly large waterfall under a bridge separating the two countries. We walked out on the bridge and, flirting with the Tanzanian border, we took some picture.

Once we arrived in Kibungo, we found a nice guest house to stay in. Felix had some family to visit in town so we made a plan for him to pick us up tomorrow at 9:30am.

Interesting day. Mulaho.

James and Dave

Some Observations

We have been making some general observations about Rwandan culture that we thought we would share with you before we tell you about our day.

Rwandans are very busy all of the time. They are working or on their way to work. If they live in the country, they are working in their fields or bringing crops to and from the market.

Most Rwandans walk from point A to point B. In the United States, these walks would be extremely long. For example, if a family lives 12 km from the market, they would walk there and back almost everyday.

People walking are constantly dodging traffic and vice versa. Vehicles often come within inches of pedestrians.

Honking, swerving, and cutting people off is the norm. Road rage, or even road anger are very rare.

Very few Rwandans are overweight.

Very few visit grocery stores. Most frequent the market to buy what they need for their homes. The markets in towns are similar to the farmer's markets in Minneapolis and St. Paul except on a much bigger scale.

Homes within cities are walled, and Rwandans lock everything. We have had up to 5 keys for one hotel room.

We have found no ice in Rwanda. Both drinks and food are usually lukewarm.

People stare at Muzungos intently but most respond with a large smile and a head nod when we greet them with some Kinyarwanda.

Rwandans have very few material posessions. This is due to obvious economic circumstances, but we have noticed that Rwandans don't necessarily desire material things.

Most people we've met have a very favorable view of the US and are very interested in our country and its people.

Rwandans are generally very optimistic.

There does not seem to be a negative overtone left over from the genocide. Our cab driver today said that the genocide was an event in the past. He said that Rwandans are now trying hard to invite others to their tables for meals.

Most Rwandans are very religious and practice some sort of Christianity (75% Catholic).

Meals sometimes take a long time to prepare. If you come here and get frusturated and ask yourself, "What, are they killing the chicken?" they may very well be.

Nyamata & Ntrama

We woke up and ate breakfast at the hotel. The plan for the day was to visit two churces about 30km outside of Kigali. Both were sites where mass slaughters took place during the genocide.

James and Dave decided to take a taxi to both of the sites so that we could take our time, look around, talk, and take pictures. We negotiated a price with a French-speaking cab driver and went on our way. On the way to the town of Nyamata where the first church was located, we saw several Gacaca processes happening in villages. We asked the cab driver about this, and he said that most villages set aside time on Thursdays for the Justice in the Grass procedures (see above for an explanation).

Upon arriving in Nyamata, we located the church, and it was closed. A church staff member was driving by and he said to go on in even though the gate was locked. He and our cab driver fooled around with the gate until it opened.

Some background on the church: Around 10,000 people hid inside the church when the genocide started. After about a week, the genocidaires arrived and killed everyone inside with either guns, machetes, or clubs.

This is what we saw: Upon entering the church, we were drawn to the altar which was covered by a cloth. James remembered about this part of the church in one of the books we read. The cloth on the altar was bloodstained about halfway up as it had soaked up the blood of the victims from the floor. Similarly there were blood stains on the walls and the pews. There were several caskets in the church. We're not sure if there were bodies inside them or not. In the basement of the church, officials have encased about 200 skulls and a variety of other bones from the victims in a clear glass case. Below the case was a single coffin draped in a white cloth with a purple cross. The guide (who showed up after we had walked through the site) informed us that the coffin contained the body of a woman who was not killed with the others. She had been raped many times by the killers before they killed her.

Behind the church were two tombs. The tombs contain over 40,000 victims from the Nyamata area. The first tomb we entered contained caskets similar to the one inside the church. The second tomb contained racks of skulls and bones. Each rack contained hundreds of skulls or bones, and there were dozens of racks.

After we discovered that the guide had arrived, we sat down to ask her some questions. She was a very soft spoken person and seemed reluctant to talk with us. She gave us a brief account of what happened at the site. We asked her about a book we have both read called, Machette Season. She said that she knew the author and had talked with him. Then she ended the conversation.



Our next stop was the village of Ntarama, about 10km away. This site has been preserved in an interesting way. As we entered the church, there was a rack which again contained skulls, pelvic bones, and other remains from the victims. As we turned toward the interior of the church, we saw the clothes the victims had been wearing at their times of death. They were draped from the sides of the walls and the ceiling beams. Up at the altar lay a single casket. Next to the casket was a rack of the personal effects of the victims: suitcases, jewelry, pens, glasses, rosaries (many), wathces, and many other items. Next to the door was a chest with the identification cards and diaries of the victims.

The guide at this site was a little more willing to talk to us. There were 5,000 Tutsis who hid in the small church (approximately 50 ft by 150 ft). When the genocidaires arrived at the church, they were unable to break down the doors. Instead, they broke the windows and threw grenades inside. Those who were not killed by the grenades were finished off with machettes and other weapons as they ran stunned from the church. There were shrapnel holes in the ceiling and large gaping holes in the walls where the grenades had exploded.



We asked the guide about the book, and she took a look at it. We showed her a picture of the genocidaires that were interviewed for its contact. The setting of Machette Season takes place in this area. She recognized and knows one of the genocidaires. He was in prison up until recently. In order for him to reeenter the community, he had to go through a Justice in the Grass procedure. We asked if he had indeed been welcomed back into the community and granted forgiveness. She said "yes."

This was our day. Amahoro.

James and Dave

Senator & Memorial & Futbol

So what a night! We didn't sleep, didn't have a waste basket in our room, our sheets were dirty and we were awake off and on until 3 a.m! Feeling groggy and a tad dirty, we check ed out of our room (argued with the counter worker), then took a cab to see former Senator Dave Durenberger and Congolese priest Fr. Jean-Piere Bongila. Both of them were in central Africa doing some business for St. Thomas University. When we walked in the gate for the Serena Hotel, we both laughed. This was the nicest hotel in all of Rwanda!

We had a pleasant breakfast with Father and the Senator, then parted ways after about an hour. We took another cab to a new hotel. Nice.

After getting settled in, we took motos to the Rwandan Genocide Memorial/Museum. This museum was noticibly inspired by the Holocaust Museum in DC, but it was uniquely African. We were greeted at the reception desk and taken outside to see the meditation garden and the mass graves housed behind the building. Over 258,000 Rwandans who were killed during the genocide are buried in the graves. Many of the graves had flowers on them from previous visitors and one of the graves was open. It contained caskets draped in white cloths with purple crosses. Inside the musuem, the exhibits chronicled the history of the genocide from beginning to end, and its aftermath. Needless to say, the experience at the memorial was very moving and somber.

After the musuem, we ate lunch at a good Italian restaurant and made our way to Center Murembo for our football game. The kids were just finishing up classes when we arrived. When they were done, they immediately went to retrieve their football equipment to put on. It was great to see how appreciative they were of the equipment and how much they valued it.

We made the 25-minute walk to the "field" which was mostly dirt surrounded by very tall grass which was still inbounds. They were very formal and stretched and prayed before the game, and we played two full halves. Many of the kids were very skilled, and it was a joy to play with them. They were very competitive as well. We're not sure of the final score, but both James and Dave scored a goal.

We're back near our hotel now, and going to grab a bite.

Mwala Muchea (good night)

James and Dave

The Worst Hotel Ever!

Today we woke up at the Paradis Guest House and left farily early for Kigali. We booked a ticket on the Belvedere Business Class line for about $4 for the 3-hour ride. They had a TV on the bus and played several videos including a very violent Tanzanian TV show and music videos from the US that were unedited. If you know what we mean.

About 20 minutes into the ride, the bus was stopped by the Rwandan police. Everyone got out of the bus and was required to show identification. Luckily, both James and I had our passports on our person. We discovered that the police were looking for illeagal immigrants (probably Congolese) that were on the bus without visas. It was a little scary but worked out fine.

When we returned to Kigali, we checked into the Sky Hotel. Upon arriving in the hotel, we found that the power was out. We were told it would be turned on at 6 p..m, which was fine. When we got to the room, the water didn't work either. We were told that it would go on with the electricity at 6 p.m.

We were both pretty hungry after the bus ride and looking for something a little different. We went to the Shanghai restaurant and had Chinese food, which was really pretty good.

After lunch, we paid another visit to Center Merembo. The kids were learning modern dance, and the class was disrupted when the two Muzungos from last week strolled in. The kids and teachers invited us back for a soccer match tomorrow afternoon at 2:30. We're looking forward to playing soccer with the kids and seeing them use the equipment some of you donated.

When we got back to the hotel around 6:30, the electricity was indeed on. When we got to the room however, the water was still not working. Over the next couple of hours, we were told three times that the water would be turned on; they just had to start the pump. It never came on. We had been travelling all day and were hot and sweaty and needed a shower as we had our meeting with Senator Dave Durnenberger in the morning. At around 7 p.m., very loud music started in the nightclub that was directly underneath our room. It was over at 11 p.m., but the partygoers hung around until about 3 a.m. These events made for a long night.

Thanks again for reading. Amahoro!

James and Dave

Goma and Guns and Guns

What a difference a border makes. Today, after we woke up, we took moto-taxis from our guest house to the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After having our passports checked on both sides (we have the stamps to prove it), it was suggested that we use a guide to navigate the streets of Goma. A man named Kenneth picked us up in a Volkswagen bus and drove us to the center of the city to the tourism office. There, a man named Emanuel arrived who would give us a walking tour of the city.

Goma experienced a volcanic eruption in 2002, and the city is still recovering. The lava flow from the volcano came out the side and made a destructive path through the center of town down to Lake Kivu.

Emanuel told us on several occasions that if we weren't with him, it was likely that we would have been harassed by the police and possibly arrested. Good thing we took the advice at the border. There is a very large military and police presence in Goma and the UN is there as well. There were lots of guns, trucks with guns, and soldiers with guns. Did we mention that there were a lot of guns in Goma?

From what we can tell, Rwanda is much better off economically than the DRC and is much better organized.

Now that we are back in Gisenyi, we will take moto-taxis back to the guest house which is near a large fish market. This morning as we woke up, a boat was returning to the market with a large catch to a cheering crowd. Great stuff. Perhaps we will get a standing ovation after each 40-minute class this fall at BSM.

We are safe and happy. Thanks for reading the blog and keeping us in your thoughts.

Amahoro!

James and Dave

Bus Rides, Barf & Gisenyi

We woke today and had a breakfast of tea (our stomaches were still a little sketchie-if you know what I mean). We walked to the town center with our backpacks and purchased a ticket for the bus Gisenyi (on the northern tip of Lake Kivu).

The bus ride was only 1:15 hours but boy it seemed longer. A kid barfed one row behind Kuntz, and we found that Rwandans don't like to open bus windows... can anyone say hot sweats!? Too bad because the scenery in the hills is really amazing, not like Dome dog amazing but like sunrise amazing...

We arrived in Gisenyi around 10:30 a.m. and walked around for awhile before discovering paradise...the Paradise Guesthouse that is. The PGH is located in the Rumona district. It is right on Lake Kivu and really feels like Hawaii (a great breeze off the lake, sand, huts, etc..).

After lunch (you all need to know one thing about Rwanda--time is elastic! We waited over 1 hour for lunch with no one else at the restaraunt!), we hitch-hiked to the town center (I don't recommend this for those youngsters reading this at home however). We found an internet cafe with a big poster for Britney Spears and R. Kelly. Weird.

We will proceed to the market to purchase some mild food for dinner then hitch or take a motorcycle taxi back to the guest house.

Thanks for following our journey. Remember to e-mail us if you have questions. We can answer them on this site.

Tomorrow we plan on traveling to Goma, DRC, to eat lunch and hike up an active volcano (at least part of the way). And on Tuesday, we plan to travel to Imbabzi Orpanage (Roz Carr's-BTW read her book Land of 1,000 Hills).

Take care.

Kuntz and Cave

Incredible Views, BG Guesthouse & Delphine

Our day started early with a breakfast of warm tea and milk and white bread with butter. After talking about Rwandan history and politics with Justin, we said our good bye's. Justin and his family have certainly been a highlight of our short trip thus far.

At 8 a.m., our chaperones brought us to a village where they make urgwagwa or banana beer. We saw the process but did not taste the wares. Afterwards we went to a tea plantation and viewed the entire process of tea production from the planting of the tea plant to the shipping of the tea. Rwanda has the best tea in the world!

As we were going up the hills and coming down, we saw some of the most awe-striking scenery! We don't think that our photos will do the views justice. (Watch for the photos after the first of August!)

Once done, we said our good-byes to our guides, and went back to the market to walk around. We ate and inquired about our next stop: Geisyi (on the north tip of Lake Kivu).

Well, we met 3 guys from Dartmouth College who are working on a project to try to use methane gas for ovens and stoves. They were staying at the BG guesthouse where we were staying. One of them asked if we had had any health problems since being in Rwanda. No more than an hour later, both James and Dave experience stomach cramping and other lower G.I. issues for the rest of the night. We're pretty sure it was the very fresh milk straight from the cow that we drank the other night.

The host of the Guest house was a Rwandan woman named Delphine. She was a wonderful host. She prepared our dinner (a traditional Rwandan meal of boiled potatoes, tomatos and peas all with Ugandan tea. Delish. Delphine is someone who we will miss and a great part of our trip.

Thanks for following along, and keep checking.

We love you all for your support.

Kuntz and Cave

Bricks, Milk from the Teat & Justin!

This morning we started our cultural tour experience with Amahoro Tours. They are an excellent organization that gives 50% of the money they make back to the community and the Rwandans who host tourists.

After being picked up by our guide, Hassan, we were taken to a brick making factory about an hour outside of the city. There, workers were making bricks from mud and laying them in very neat rows in the sun to dry. James and Dave had the opporuntiy to get their hands dirty for about an hour. We were taught how to put the mud into molds, squeeze the air out and place the brick in the row. Needless to say, our bricks were very sloppy and several were a total waste. After our aching backs could take no more, we took a break and enjoyed a traditional Rwandan drink made from fermented sorghum. After the bricks are made and dry in the sun for a week, they are fired in a huge oven fueled by oil.

After our brick-making experience, we drove up to two lakes and enjoyed an outstanding view of the valley of Ruhengeri district.

After making bricks and viewing the lakes, Dave and James went to the popular market to purchase a chicken for our host family and our friend Bosco. We also purchased rice, potatoes, tomatos, oil, carrots and onions. We named the chicken Egide.

James and Dave had the opportunity to spend the night with a Rwandan family last night. Justin, the father in the family, greeted us when we arrived. Justin is the Director of Volcanoes National Park in Kinigi. He took James and Dave out for a drink and goat brochettes, a Rwandan tradition we have come to love. We have enjoyed them each day we have been here. Justin and his wife cooked a very good meal. We had very small fish (about the size of minnows) from Lake Kivu, cassava leaves, pasta, and an excellent bananna dish mixed with tomatoes. To drink, we had very warm milk straight from the cow's utter--a custom we're getting used to.

After we finished eating, James, Dave and Justin's family sat down to watch a Nigererian TV show called "Worlds Apart." It was a loose version of Cinderella. We went to bed around 10 p.m. after a very rich day.

Gorillas (and buggie Belgians)!

We woke up early at the Kinigi Guest House and ate breakfast. After we finished eating we drove up to the headquarters of the Rwandan Office of Tourism and National Parks at Volcanoes National Park to start our gorilla trek. After getting briefed by our guide, Francois, we drove for about 20 minutes where we would start our hike. From there, we walked for about 30 mins through cultivated fields near the town of Kinigi and came upon the rock wall that determines the park boundary.

After climbing the wall, we walked for an hour through a dense bamboo forest and were told we were getting close to the gorillas. After 10 minutes or so, we came upon a full-grown silverback gorilla. The guide established a 15 meter boundary between our group and the gorillas. The space was violated on several occasions both by us and the gorillas. James and I at different times were within 3-10 feet of both adult and juvenile gorillas. The group we visited has one silverback and five adult females, each of which has a baby. They range from 2 weeks to 2 years old. Our gorilla trek was an amazing experience and we both have excellent pictures of the morning.

After returning to the guest house, we drove back to Ruhengeri with Bosco, the man who picked us up from Kinigi Guest House in the morning. He has been a very helpful man and took us to his favorite restaurant in Ruhengeri for lunch.

We will spend the rest of the day in Ruhengeri and start our experience with Amahoro Tours in the morning. Tomorrow, we will be working in a brick factory, staying the night with a Rwandan family, and working on a tea plantation on Wednesday.

We hope you are all doing well. Thanks for reading.

Dave and James

Muzungo! Muzungo!

So, today we hung out in Kigali for a few hours. Did some walking and looking. Went to a church (St. Famille) that was a shelter during the Genocide. Very peaceful and very moving. We then proceeded to the transportation center of Kigali to look into catching a bus to Ruhengeri. It cost us 1000 Frw (less than $2.00) for a 1:45 trip.

The roads were very steep and curvey. We were in a bus that was packed. During our trip we saw many interesting things: many farmers, many hills, and we saw something called "justice in the grass". Justice in the grass is a rural Rwandan way of handling disputes. I speculate that there were 5 perpetrators of the Genocide pleading their case to return to the hill.

We arrived in a small village called Ruhengeri in the Northeast. We looked very humorous with our backpacks and being the only white people anywhere. We dined on bruschette (in this case we had goat intestine. Cave liked it, Kuntz not so much). We walked around Rhuengeri for several hours, went to a Genocide memorial and looked around. All the while hearing "Muzungo! Muzungo!" which means "white person." Yes we are.

Finally we located a person to drive us to Kinigi. Kinigi is a very small, rural goat village in the north. We checked into our guest house then played futbol with village kids for about an hour (Cave scored a goal and both of us Muzugos played very well).

We gave the team some soccer balls.

We went to sleep very early (10:00 knowing we had a big day ahead of us). (BTW-real mosquito netting from the ceiling!)

Thanks for reading. We are looking forward to 2 more weeks of this trip.

Both Kuntz and Cave would like to say hi to our families. We love you very much and hope to bring you here someday.

Reunification!

Reunification occurred at 6:05a.m. Nairobi time which is 10:05 p.m. CST. The next couple of hours were filled with stress as we tried to transfer Dave's bags from airline to airline and pick up his boarding pass from Kenya Airways. While Dave had a 2 hr layover in Nairobi, most of this happened in the last 10 minutes. James offered no sympathy because he had just spent 8 hours trying to sleep behind a bank of chairs, on the floor of the main (and only) concourse in the Nairobi airport.

The flights to Burundi then to Kigali went very smoothly and our dynamic duo was very relieved and very surprised to find that all 9 bags they were traveling with (2 of their own and 7 of soccer equipment for Centre Marembo) made it through to Kigali.

D and J were met at the airport by Nicolle, a trustee of Centre Marembo, and brought to drop off the soccer gear and meet the boys. (Centre Marembo is a center for 33 boys who have been orphaned because of the Genocide. It is also a drop-in center for other street kids.) The boys were curious and loved poking fun at our Kinyarwanda (although we think it is pretty good).

Our new friends, Nicolette, Santiana, and Nicola (a Brit from the Ministry of Finance), took D and J to a cabaret for lunch. We ate a traditional Rwandan meal called a brochette. This consists of goat and beef meat, and vegetables roasted on a skewer. The meal came with chips (fries) and bananna crisps. YUM!

Cultural note: whenever a drink is ordered in a bottle, the bottle is brought with the cap on and opened in front of you to prove that the drink has not been tampered with in any way.

Kigali is a busy city unlike any place we've ever been. There is lots of traffic with motorcycle taxis, children, people in wheelchairs, buses, and trucks all trying to share the same road. The hills surrounding the city are beautiful. The people so far have been very curious and friendly. We heard the word myzungu several times tonight as we walked around central Kigali. We saw the ORTPN headquarters where we will pick up our gorilla permits in the morning, the Hotel de Milles Collines (Hotel Rwanda), the US Embassy and dined on, "the best burger in Kigali." It wasn't.

We're both pretty tired from our travels and very much in need of a shower. We'll hopefully write more tomorrow as we are on our way to Kinigi Guest House near Parc National Volcans to see the mountain gorillas on Thursday.

Muramukeho

Greetings From London

Well, we are on our way. James and I met at MSP yesterday at 11:30am. We successfully got the soccer equipment that was generously donated from many of you checked through to Kigali. We can't wait to make the donation of the equipment and play some soccer in Rwanda.

After we checked in, James and I shared some thoughts about our trip over a soda before we parted ways. We are flying on separate itineraries, and I left about an hour before James. We will reunite in Nairobi, Kenya and then fly together to Kigali. James, I'll see you in the morning if you get the chance to read this.

Hopefully our next update will be from Kigali. Love to KAL.

Dave Kuntz

So, I have had a very long day (or days, I am not sure what day it is right now). After Kuntz and I parted, I sat at the gate and read. I had an 8-hour plane ride to Amsterdam, a 4-hour lay-over, then another 8-hour flight to Nairobi Kenya. (This is where the fun began!) I stood in line for 2 hours to get my boarding pass to Kigali. Then I had luggage issues (more later), then I went to the sleep-over rooms because I have a 12-hour lay-over in Nairobi. Well, guess what, all of the rooms are full. The floor will be my bed 2-nyt.

Other than this stuff in NBO things have been great.

More from Kigali!

Cave

(Hey and love you all at home!)

Muraho!

It is just one week before our trip to Rwanda! Wow, it seems hard to believe. Since we booked our airline tickets, we have been very busy meeting to discuss logistics, creating a rough itinerary, solving practical issues (what to bring, how much money, transportation, etc) and discussing expectations, wishes and desires (to avoid any potential “conflicts of interests”). After a “sinking gut feeling” that we were overplanning. we decided to “Go where Rwanda takes us."

That being said, we both very much look forward to seeing a soccer match in Kigali, seeing Lake Kivu, standing on the Rwanda/Tanzania border watching the Rusumo Falls, hiking up an active volcano outside of Goma, DRC, distributing soccer equipment to kids, playing soccer with kids, hiking to see the mountain gorillas in Volcans National Park, doing a home stay and working with the Rwanda people through a cultural tourism organization (Amahoro Tours), and visiting Imbabazi Orphanage (the one Roz Carr started in 1994), Centre Marembo and other orphanages and organizations created after the 1994 Genocide. We also anticipate deep emotional experiences when visiting Genocide sites such as the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center, the town of Kubuye (Immaculee’s house and bathroom) and the church Nyarubuye (to name just a few).

The thing we anticipate most however is just talking to the people of Rwanda and getting a feel for a culture that is so unlike ours.

We would love to say that we will make a blog entry everyday; however, we are unsure of internet access, etc. We even hope to include photos! Hang in there with us if we are inconsistent or sporadic.

We would like to thank everyone who has been so supportive of us, the class and this trip. We have gotten great advice and love.
If you would like to ask us a question during the trip or just drop a note of hello, please e-mail jcave@bsm-online.org or dkuntz@bsm-online.org. We will do our best to answer your Rwanda and/or Genocide questions.

Murakoze and murabeho!

Dave Kuntz and James Cave.