Lots of Hangin' Out

Shout out! Thanks for the e-mail and reading Sarah. We will see you at the cabin on Thursday morning.

Also, we know that many of you have been reading this and are not sure why. My wife thinks it gets too long but reads anyways. Devotion.

Yesterday we spent the early morning wrapping up some shopping. We purchased some Rwanda sandals at the wholesale district off the main circle in Kigali. Very crazy, loud, dusty but great. We then headed back to the MC, dropped off our bag-o-sandals and moto'd down to the Ciplaki art market. We purchased a few more things (the kids are always disappointed or uninterested with the gifts. Oh well). After saying good-bye to our art market friends (Francide loved us-we supported her family well the past 2 days) be moto'd back to the MC for rest and relaxation.

We spent the morning having water and Fanta Orange Aconje (cold) and reading. At 3pm we had an appointment for a 1 1/2 massage in the hotel spa. It was only $30.00. Nice. Afterwards we both agreed it was worth it but it was more like 1 1/4 gentle rub.

Still smelling of massage oil we went back to the pool and had a cheeseburger. Delish! We cannot express enough how good that burger and fries were.

After reading for an hour so we decided because we are so wild and crazy that we would head back to our room, pack and watch TV.

After a crazy night of watching Ugly Betty and that Bill Murray movie where he is an underwater documentarian we had the best night sleep of the trip.

Thanks for reading.

Amahoro.

Kuntz and Cave

The Milles Collines, Politicians, Super Slivers and the Souvenir Cooperative

Shout outs! Thanks for the reassuring words Lisa, Drew, we are excited to bring you all here as well. It will be great. Melissa, we knew some and didn't know some. We did not know tonsils was an elective surgery!

Wardrobe Update-We're on day two of our second set of pants. We did get some laundry done so our wardrobe will be more versatile as we finish off this adventure.


Ever have one of those days that is extremely busy but at the end you feel like you have accomplished nothing? This was our day.

We woke up early at the Isimbi (If you call not sleeping really much because of mosquitos, mosque call and busy working noises...) and quickly made our way to the Hotel Milles Collines (Hotel Rwanda. BTW-Our check-in early for free breakfast scheme was sniffed out pretty quickly). Last year we stayed here at the end of the trip as well. Purely for the historical significance of the site. The hotel has an excellent view of the hills surrounding Kigali and was at one time the tallest building in Kigali. It has since been dwarfed by bank buildings and the Serena Hotel (See last year's post about meeting Senator Dave Durenberger).

The room we were origninally assigned was not overlooking the pool. We switched to pool side and are now happy.

Last night, we were finally able to make an appointment with Mr. Charles Murigande, former Minister of Foreign Relations for Rwanda. He is now a special advisor to the Prime Minister. Mr. Murigande has been very busy the last couple of days as Rwanda has hosted the East African Economic Conference.

It was very good of him to work us into his schedule (It would be like meeting Condy!).

We met Mr. Murigande in the lobby of the Milles Collines and went to the pool. He and James ordered African tea and Dave ordered coffee. It was good that it took a long time for the beverages to arrive as it was clear that Mr. Murigande was meeting us as a favor. We exchanged pleasentries about his country and how much we loved Rwandas people. The conversation was marked with several periods of uncomfortable silence.

We finally had to talk about the weather (Can you believe we went to the weather after only 15 minutes!!).

Mr. Murigande was a very nice man but very quiet and probably pretty uninterested in us. But really, why would he be? (We had clean pants on so it could not have been the smell, right?!)

We do seriously want to thank Senator Durenberger for arranging this meeting. It was great for us even though it was not so great for Mr. Murigande.

After our meeting we quickly hopped motos and made our way to the Kigali Genocide Memorial. Last summer when we visited there were just over 280,000 victims of the Genocide buried in mass graves on the hill below the memorial building. As of now, there are close to 300,000 victims buried there. We filmed the outside of the memorial but we were unable to take pictures inside. Next year this memorial will be a great first stop for a good history of Rwanda leading to the Genocide.

There were several survivors and families of victims visiting the memorial today. One woman entered the building and started to sob uncontrollably while her family helped her up the stairs into the section of the memorial that honors the lives of the children lost during the Genocide. Unfortunatley, this is something that is probably not an uncommon occurrence at the Kigali Genocide Memorial.

(For a more detailed description of the Kigali Genocide Memorial, you can look at our entries from last year).

We made our way from the memorial to our favorite Italian restaurant, the O Sole Luna for a pizza and refreshments. It had been a long day already. We enjoyed our lunch and quickly continued with our day (Meaning off to the Centre Marembo which is just a short 5 minute walk from OSL).

Once there we were greeted by some of the boys who rely on CM for their schooling and other needs (Centre Marembo provides housing and school for 33 street boys and other services for another 66 or so). It was just a short time that we waited (and hugged many kids we remembered from last year) before Nicole (and her American friend Emily from VA), Nicollette and Santi joined us. Santi and Nicolette were the first 2 people we met in Rwanda last year and the first ones to bring us to have brochettes.

It was very good to see them.

As we were saying goodbyes and gathering up 2 duffles bags we needed to bring back to the states, Kuntz started to scream very loudly (uncomfortably loud actually). Cave looked over and Kuntz had reached to pick up his backpack that he had laid on the side of a wicker chair and rammed a sliver the size of a stake you would kill a vampire with under one of his fingernails! Ack!

Kuntz excused himself to go vomit (he was now sweating like a large man in a sweater in July and was the color of snow-in January).

We tried to get the stake out with a forecepts and alcohol wipes but to no avail.

At this point Kuntz just wanted to go to our hotel. Santi (who BTW is the worst driver in all of Rwanda er, wait, maybe the world) offered us a ride.

Now, for a very long reason Kuntz had told Santi we were still in the Isimbi Hotel. So we had ato fib (Children, fibbing is wrong. Do as I say not as I do!) and say we were meeting someone at the MC.

Once in our room, Kuntz used a nail clipper to cut down his nail to expose the stake. With a huge pull and a yelp, the stake was out! (Kathy, I made Dave keep it to show you but that may make his check on too heavy. We will see).

Well, I must say that Kuntz rebounded rather nicely and we were on motos down to the handicraft cooperative within a few minutes.

After about 2 hours of shopping (BTW-When a large bus of Muzungu missionairies from south Georgia, USA shows up, prices go up for everyone!). After a good time practicing our Kinyarwanda and learning new phrases (Thanks Francine and Deo for taking all of our shopping money-"good price for you because it is a Sunday") we took a cab back to the MC (we had 2 large duffle bags full of gifts that our kids won't like anyway).

The Euro Futbol championships are tonight in about an hour so we plan on eating by the pool at the Milles Collines, having a Fanta and a snack and enjoying the match (and some good people watching).

We will sign off tomorrow. We anticipate a full 12+hours of free breakfast buffet overlooking Kigali, wearing pants by the pool, the best cheese burger in Rwanda, reading, napping and reflecting a great trip.

Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Amahoro!

Kuntz and Cave

National Day of Community Service, Nyamata, Ntarama

National Day of Community Service, Nyamata, Ntarama, and the Hotel Isimbi

I wish we had a hit calculator on this blog. We are sure it would be up to 8 by now!

Shout-outs to Melissa Abrams (always great to read your e-mails), Kitty Prentice our best new teacher friend at BSM, and Lisa Lenhart-Murphy (We thought about just exchanging pants not just underwear. We will see).

A special shout out to Zoe Cave. Zoe broke her foot on the last day of her arts camp at Cretin-Derham Hall on Friday. What a bummer to have to wear a cast all summer! I am thinking of you Zoebert and you are a strong girl who will be cruising around on your crutches in now time. I love you.

Here it is, today's big announcement: WE HAVE CHANGED OUR PANTS! They really could have gone several more days, but we thought we would consider the senses of those around us. Our new pants have both started out green. Stay tuned for changes. You know they will.

Silence, noise, we just can't win. We decided to change hotels after waking up after a fitful night's sleep at the Iris guesthouse. Hard boiled eggs were on the menu for breakfast at the Iris along with the usual, a dinner roll, some jam, and fresh fruit. The breakfast is included with the night's rate at the Iris. After paying for our room we stashed some of our luggage in the hotel's office and set out for a busy day. Our plan was to travel to the Genocide sites of Nyamata and Ntarama, two sites we visited last year. We wanted to get them on film. We would then return to Kigali to visit the Genocide Memorial and the Belgian Troop Memorial and then switch hotels.

Three hundred and fifty three days a year, Kigali is a busy and loud city. On one Saturday a month, Rwandans drop their normal routines to participate in the National Day of Community Work. All shops are closed, public transportation ceases, and people spend their time making Rwanda look more beautiful than it already is. Last year, we were very surprised at how clean and orderly Rwanda was/is. This is because of these monthly days of work and because Rwandans take pride in their homes and country.

Our plan for our busy day came to a crashing halt. Kigali was like a ghost town this morning. There were people here and there sweeping sidewalks and picking up trash, and that's about it. There was no traffic on the streets, no people, no yelling, no honking. It was very strange. We wandered aimlessly around the city trying to get out to Nyamata without any luck.

After an hour and a half, we ended up at the Belgian Troop Memorial. As luck would have it, the docent was just showing up and let us in. He was kind enough to show us around as James filmed the memorial.

On the night the Genocide started, the FAR (military arm of Hutu extremism) surrounded the home of the acting Prime Minister who was a moderate Hutu. She was assassinated and the nine Belgian soldiers guarding her were captured by FAR troops. They were tortured for hours before finally being killed. The Interhamwe believed that if the Belgian troops who were part of the small UN force were killed, the west would stay out of the conflict. They were right.

The Memorial honors their service in Rwanda and their lives. As is the norm in Rwanda, the memorial is a military barracks that has been left as it was in 1994. Bullet holes and blood stains in the walls, family writing on the walls and a small genocide "museum" in the back. This site is simple but adds a dimension to the story of genocide. (BTW-The site of this killing is just across the street from the 2nd most popular hotel in Kigali at the time of the genocide (the Dipolmat).

Finally after visiting the Memorial, things started to pick up again (the National Day of Community Work only lasts half the day). We made our way to the chaotic main taxi and bus station in Kigali at Nyarbogogo (See video from 2007 in the right side-bar). We secured a mini-bus to Nyamata. The town is about a one hour drive south of the capital. Once off at the main road we had about a 30 minute walk to the memorial.

The Nyamata Genocide Memorial has changed in the past year. On all of the pews inside the small church, the clothing of the victims of the massacre have been laid out for viewing. Bullet holes still let shining streams of light in through the ceiling and the blood soaked altar cloth still lies in its place. There is a memorial below the sanctuary to a woman who was separated from the group and raped innumerable times before being killed. Behind the Church are two crypts that hold the remains of many of the people that were killed. One of the crypts holds coffins and the other holds skulls and femur bones.

Even though we were here last year, the impact of the Memorial is no less moving.

We decided to take moto-taxis back down the road to the town of Ntarama. After the 5k moto trip to Ntrama we asked the moto guys to stay (the memorial was about 2 miles off the of main road and we were both hungry and tired of the heat--it was the hottest day in Rwanda on the coolest day in Minnesota) and did not want to get stuck in the small, small village of Ntrama.

We entered the memorial and were met by the docent. We remember her from last year. When we asked if we could film inside the memorial she told us only outside.

Ntrama was the site of a massacre of 5,000 Tutsis. The members of this village fled to the church when the Genocide started and waited, locked inside for 3 days. When the Interhamwe arrived the found 5,000 Tutsis hiding in a place about the size of an SA. The gates and windows were locked. The Interhamwe threw grenades into the windows killing many. When the survivors tried to flee from the church they were hacked by machettes (If you had money you could pay to be shot with a gun).

Inside the memorial (see the side videos of our 2007 trip where we filmed both Nyamata and Ntrama) clothes have been hanged from the rafters and personal effects like pens, rosaries, eye glasses, etc. are on display.

As stated before, seeing if for a second time has just as much impact as last year.

After leaving the memorial we negotiated with the moto guys to take us to Kigali. We originally decided we would take a mini-bus but since we were in the middle of nowhere we had better secure two motos.

For about $10 were were able to get a ride, via moto, 20k into the center of Kigali and we were stopped by the police only once (We know that our moms are not too happy to hear about all of this moto talk. What can we say, we are rebels!). This was a good deal since we were more than happy with paying only $10 and both moto guys, from the small village of Nyamata, were over-top-happy to get $6,000 rwf.

On the Office Michael Scott calls that Win-Win.

We arrived the Iris Guest House about 3:30pm, got our bags and took a cab (TaGeeSee) to the Isimbi Hotel in the noisy, busy central part of Kigali. It will cost us half and will be not quieter.

We have been invited to eat at Chez Lando with Greg from Ruhengeri.

We plan on checking out tomorrow as early as possible and checking into the Milles Collines Hotel (we hope early enough so we can eat the free breakfast buffet).

Take care and keep thinking about us (Bueller, Bueller, tumbleweed, cricket, tumbleweed, Bueller...)

Amahoro.

Kuntz and Cave

Butare, The Virgin Mary, and a Lot of Red Dust

First, today's shout outs:

Thanks to Janna-it was probably just the hormones. Kern-Thanks for the great questions. We'll be expecting a call from Pulitzer. Are you nominating? Unc-Can't wait to decorate for the 4th. M,Z,Z,E,P,I and K,A,L,F,-we miss you very much. We think and talk about you all the time. All of our love.

Pants Update-Still got 'em (the same ones on we mean).

Funny, after a while you get used to sleeping with the sounds of the developing world outside your door or window. There is usually sweeping, honking, yelling, laughter, diesel engines, etc. At the Hotel Faucon (which used to be the home of the Belgian colonial governor) the walls are about two feet thick. The rooms are 100 yards from the street. Last night was eerily quiet. We both had trouble sleeping without the familiar sounds of life in Rwanda directly outside.

After waking up we went to the hotel restaurant for omelettes. We both ordered tomato and cheese in our eggs since that is what was offered. We enjoyed some delightful hot dog buns with honey and tea and coffee as we waited. After waiting for about a half an hour, we were informed that they were out of cheese. We said that that would be fine, a tomato omelette sounded delightful. We then ate some fresh fruit and received our bill. No eggs either I guess. Oh well.

Butare is considered the cultural capitol of the country. The National Museum is there as well as the National University. Until the change of power in 1959, it was the capital city and home of the Mwami Kings.

We made our way to the National Museum. It had seven rooms that exhibited Rwanda's history from prehistory to present. It actually took us only about 45 minutes to walk through and we weren't necessarily rushing. The museum exhibited very little about the Genocide. Interesting.

We decided to go the village of Kibeho which has been famous for the last 25 years because people have seen apparitions of the Virgin Mary on top of the hill. After debating about whether or not to hire a cab for about $30 U.S., or take a mini-bus, we decided to travel with the locals. We walked to the bus station in town and we were directed to the Kibeho bus. It was non-stop party bus from then on. We exhibited our skills in Kinyarwanda and showed everyone on the bus pictures of our families. We felt very fortunate to get this bus when we did, it is the only one going to Kibeho today.

As we started to drive we realized that we were not going to be traveling on paved roads. As we wound throught neighborhoods then villages, then country sides the red dust started wauffeding (sp) up through the holes in the floorboards and through the cracks in the windows and doors. After about 15 minutes we both were covered with red dust; our teeth, our arms, our clothes, and our pants!

After a drive of about 1 1/4 hours we arrived. Arrived where we were not sure. Nothing. So we started walking.

Dave turned to James and said "good thing we managed to get on the last bus to Kibeho." Both started laughing, James said, "that means that we just got off the last bus departing from Kibeho!" We would problem solve that one later.

As was mentioned Kibeho is internationally famous among Christians because of the Mary sighting 25 years ago. It is the only Catholic church approved apparition site in Africa. Needless to say, many from around the world have pillgrimaged to see the site.

When we arrived at the top of the hill we saw two churches. The first was one was newer as it was created to honor the Virgin Mary. We walked in and spent some quiet time in this holy place.

We left the church and found a small memorial in the back and just before a school. We met a girl named Jean or Margaret (we are not sure) who was studying at the foot of Mary (a statue). We asked her about the Virgin and about the Genocide memorial site. She lead us to a small chapel where perpetual adoration was taking places before leading us the the original Kibeho church.

As she led us up to Genocide site, she informed us that her mother and father had been killed during the Genocide in Kibeho. She is still living in the town on top of this remote hill. The Genocide memorial was closed when we got up there but we did get to go inside the church. During the Genocide there were 25000 people killed inside the church. The inside was about the size of a quarter of a football field. It has since been restored and the people of Kibeho celebrate mass there again.

Shortly before the Genocide started, the first lady of Rwanda, Agathe Habyarimana, visited Kibeho and announced that she too had seen the Virgin Mary and that she had been told that the elimination of the Tutsis was going to happen. Just another piece of propaganda to justify the slaughter of a million people in three months.

After several minutes we exited the church and reminded ourselves that we were kind of stuck 30 kilometers from Butare on top of a hill. We had four options. Sleep in Kibeho, take a bike taxi, start walking, or try to find a moto-taxi. As luck would have it, a moto-taxi pulled up. He said that he would find another moto and that we could go to Butare for 3500RWF ($7). He returned shortly with his riding buddy and inflation and the fact that we are white caused the price to rise to $4000 RWF ($8). We quickly strapped on the helmets, crossed our fingers, and hopped on the back.

As we mentioned before, the mini-bus ride up to Kibeho was very dusty. The motos travelled much more quickly, but were much more dirty. As we sit here now in the internet cafe in downtown Kigali, people are staring at us wondering why these two muzungus are wearing red shirts, red pants, red socks, red shoes, red teeth, red boogers. After the promised 30 minute trip became 60 minutes (you should see a pattern here), we finally arrived back in Butare.

Travelling to Kibeho and back makes one hungry. We returned to the Faucon to have brochettes and Fantas and watch the world go by. Debi, the woman we met in Ruhengeri was going by with the world. She had just finished her last day as an intern at the hospital in Butare. We small talked for a while with her and then invited her to sit down. Surprisingly she declined. Who wouldn't want to have lunch with two large white men caked in red dirt from head to toe? She's weird.

Rather than stay in Butare for a hot shower and a relaxing evening. We decided to return to Kigali. We bought bus tickets on the 4:30 Volcano Express to Kigali. The ride would take two hours. Driving at night in Rwanda is an experience. In addition to buses there are other vehicles driving on the road and a steady stream of people returning to their homes along the side. Two and a half hours later we arrived in Kigali. Here we sit, still covered in dust, we have to pee, and gearing up for our 2000 mile trek to the Iris.

Make sure to stay tuned for very exciting announcement tomorrow.

Millibeho (Good Night)

Walking, Luxury Buses, Motos, Mini-Buses, and Murambi Genocide Memorial

First, we have to give a shout out to Mick Hawkins, English teacher extrodinaire, Melissa Abrams, parent extrodinaire, Rachel Rennicke, who couldn't be silent for more than 30 seconds, and to Sly for sending us e-mails. Dan, we've finally got the tech issues resolved. Management of the equipment has changed hands. It's always nice to hear what's going on back in Minnesota. Thanks for reading the blog and keeping us updated

Clothing update-We've both logged eight days in the same pair of pants (we each are wearing our own of course). Are Dave's tan, or brown, or gray, or just an earth tone tye-dye? Are James' green, or brown? Why does he have to walk like he's wearing two full leg braces?

Anyway, on to our day:

We woke up early this morning at the Iris Guesthouse (/hotel/place for loud football fans to watch the Turkey vs. Germany match until late at night). After eating a traditional Rwandan breakfast of tea or coffee, bread and jam, and pineapple, we checked out and made our way to central bus station. Needless to say, we had a much easier time navigating the bus station this year compared to the intimidation we experienced early in our travels last year.

We were told by several people including Debbie and Bjorn that the trip from Kigali to Butare would take two hours. It took two and a half. Muzungus who have been in Rwanda too long adopt the elasticity of time.

The drive to Butare was of course beautiful. The hills are less steep then they are in the north but the scenary is just as breathtaking. We both secured window seats with plenty of ventilation and foot room. We decided to pack lightly, leaving most of our clothing at the Iris GH. James is carrying a small backpack with the video camera equipment and some persnal effects. Dave is carrying the bathroom supplies, sport shorts for each of us, and an extra pair of grunders. We change these way more often then we do our pants.

After arriving in Butare we quickly found the Hotel Faucon and decided to sit down and have some lunch. The goat brochette rivaled the skewers we had the other night with Justin and Justin in Ruhengeri. As we were sitting at our table, relaxing and watching the traffic go by on the main street of Butare, we saw a familiar face pass by in a luxury bus. Steve-O passed with an ear to ear grin and waving like a six year old in a school bus. We waited for about ten minutes for him to show up and then decided to leave.

After paying our bill, we checked into our room. The Faucon is just as the Bradt Guide describes-sparsely furnished but clean and a lot of wasted space in the room. Our room is about the size of Room 129 at BSM with a bed, a chair, and a small table. We think it may be a great place to stay for Rwanda '09.

We decided to leave and Stevie-O was waiting for us out on the street in front of the hotel. He had been no the bus one stop too long and it took him a while to backtrack to the Faucon. He decided to accompany us to the Genocide Memorial at Murambi.

The three of us hopped on a moto-taxi to the main bus station at Butare and secured a mini-bus to the town of Ginkongoro. The ride (more on these later) took about 45 minutes and our destination was 25km from Butare. Mini-buses are the size of mini-vans in the U.S.. On our way back from Murambi, there were 24 people inside the bus. The capacity is 20 people. Fun. When we got dropped, off, we again took moto-taxis to the Genocide site.

When the Genocide started in early April of 1994, many of the inhabitants of Gikongoro sought shelter in the technical school that was still being built on the hill of Murambi (about 2km north of town). By the time the Interhamwe arrived on April 21, 1994, There were over 50,000 people hiding in the many buildings on the school's campus. They had been there for over two weeks without food and water. Over the next couple of days, the Interhamwe used grenades, guns, machetes, hoes, and other weapons to kill all of the Tutsis hiding at the school.

Shortly after we arrived at the site, a docent named Francois also arrived on a bike-taxi. He agreed to be filmed and to wear a wireless microphone to tell us the story of Murambi. Alternating between English and French, Francois guided us around the site.

After the massacre was over, the Interhamwe and FAR soldiers who were responsible dug four mass graves just adjacent to the building of the campus and dumped thousands of corpses in them. After the Genocide had ended, the site was guarded by the French military, just months after the massacre. According to Francois, the French played volleyball 20 feet from the graves with full knowledge of what lay beside them.

Francois also shared with us his personal story. He survived the Genocide because he happened to be in Burundi when the President's plane was shot down. He left behind brothers, sisters, and his parents. When he returned to Gikongoro which had been destroyed by the Genocidaires, he discovered that his entire family had been massacred at Murambi. After going through years of unexplainable anger and sorrow, he has come to the point where he can lead visitors around the site to honor the lives of those killed at Murambi, including his family.

Murambi, is a unique site. The corpses that were buried in the mass graves were exhumed and are now on display on low tables in 24 of the rooms. There are six rooms in each building. There are over 800 bodies on display that have been covered in lye to help with preservation. This is very hard. Many of the victims were still wearing their clothes and/or jewelry, young children died being clutched by their mothers, and it was very clear how many of the victims met their fate.

Outside the buildings the mass graves, volleyball court, and the site of the French flag are all marked by signs.

We spent an hour and half walking through the site as Francois described to us what we were seeing.

We made our way back to Butare where we ate a quiet dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Both of us talked to our wives at the internet cafe. We love you. We'll be going to sleep early tonight.

Sleepin' In, Barf-burps, Kigali and O Sole Luna

So today we slept-in the best we could (8:15am or so-Actually I averaged-Cave woke up at 7:30am and Kuntz woke up at 9:00am-Kuntz's snoring may be as loud as the dynamite blast we heard yesterday!).

Once we actually got out of our beds, we had Rwandan tea and bread with peanut butter for breakfast. We then headed out to say good bye to our friends in Ruhengeri.

First we saw Hassan.

Then Greg. We paid for our rooms and made tentative plans to continue to work with him to organize our 2009 trip.

Then Delphine.

We love Delphine. Delphine is the young woman who takes care of the guest house and is funny as heck. She likes watching MTV and Nigerian soap operahs.

Byes done, we got our gear and headed to the bus station (we are heading to Kigali today) with two Americans. Steve (who was mentioned in the previous entry) and Debbie (seriously) who we call Deb (Do you have any boondoggle key chains Napoleon?!). Deb is working as a nursing student/exchange thing (not sure exactly) in Butare in the southwestern part of Rwanda. (In fact we are heading to Butare-more in a minute-I have to be linear).

Once we got on the bus it was totally packed. Now a bus in Rwanda was a 24 passenger truck that has folding chair seats in the aisle to maximize the fares. Of course Cave was in the folding chair and Kuntz was jammed in the backseat with his travel backpack, his daypack the tripod and video camera case (which looks like a Columbian drug lord's case) restricting his movement and the bloodflow to his legs.

As we were traveling Cave felt the sweat coming and started to get hot, pale and queezy. His stomache was rolling around with every turn. There were kids crying, BO, (Did I mention Rwandans do not open windows-We fought over that one for the better part of 2 hours-I won). Well, up, up, up and finally out came a barfburp (You know what I mean). After that things seemed to settle down and I am happy to report that there were no further false alarms or spew (which is good).

Once in Kigali we walked (why, why...BTW-what makes Rwanda so beautiful and unique-the hills-makes it a real pain to walk) to our guest house. It is a lovely guest house in the diplomat district of Kigali. It opens into a garden but the rooms are a little pricey ($35.00) by Rwandan standards. We dropped our stuff and headed to our favorite Italian restaurant in the world, O Sole Luna. After about a 10 minute moto ride we arrived (we met Stevie there).

We had a salad, Fanta/Coke and pizza. Yummers.

Moto back, walk 2,000 miles to the internet cafe on the main street (it is paved) in Kigali and now my fingers are getting tired.

Another 2,000 mile walk in a minute.

To bed in about an hour then up early so we can take another bus to Butare (Or Barftari and I may call it tomorrow) for the next 2 days.

Thanks for reading.

A shout out to Mick Hawkins (To get mentioned on the World Wide Web feel free to email us-our addresses are in the side bar to the right of this entry).

Amahoro.

Kuntz and Cave


(I have not changed my pants or undershirt in 7 days!!)

Little Sleep, Golden Monkeys, Interviews and Meals With Friends

So, last night we decided that we were going to try a little know trek in the Virunga Mountains. This trek is to see the Golden Monkeys. Fun. This trek is a fraction of the cost of the gorilla trek. Of course with no foresight at all we had to wake up at 5:15am to make our 6am transport to the ORPTN headquarters in Kinigi. We hired our friend Bosco to drive us.

Even before our eyes opened (which took most of the morning) we had tea, bread, water and we were on our way. We signed in for the monkey trek which was lead by a friend named Francis. Francis was the genocide survivor we interviewed. You know the one, the time when Kuntz screwed up the sound on the camera..

Anywho...

We were prepped by Francis and started our drive to the trail head. We went on what we call the Muzungu Parade. 4 SUV's and 1 VW bus (ours) on the roads to the trail head with Rwandans trying to go their work and yelling Muzungu, Muzungu.... Ick.

Once to the end of the road we hiked for about 25 minutes to the start of the park. We waited for another 30 minutes before we started in the park (the monkeys were lost). We spent that time working on our Kinyarwanda and making uncomfortable chit chat with the brits in our group (We counted 1 scarf, 3 walking sticks, 4 fanny packs and 3 cameras & lenses that were way too big...)

Francis told us to get ready to go. We geared up for a grueling 4 hour hike to see the elusive Golden Monkeys.....

7 minutes later we came across the monkeys. The GM's (as they will now be referred to) were super cool and active. Once you thought you got a good spot for a photo it was gone. Only to have another on jumping on the limbs behind you. We spent a little over an hour shooting photos and video of the GM (see above) and just watching. Fun.

Once our time was over we hiked a different way to the vehicles. There was one point where the obnoxious brit lady had a chameleon on her arm, her boyfriends arm, her friends arm, the other guys arm and she was shooting rolls and rolls of film all the time yelling.. "look a the chameleon on your arm!" or "Look at the chameleon on my arm!" (She was on brit with the scarf BTW)

We went and talked to local kids.

Once back to Ruhengeri we had lunch with our friend Bosco and walked to his home to greet his family one last time before we leave. We chatted with the family for about an hour (We each held the baby Samuel), shot photos and held the kids' attention with the video camera!

BTW-So seriously, Kuntz filmed for about 15 minutes-some of the cutest Rwandan kids posing for the camera, doing cute things-and he realized he did not push the Record button. LOL.

Bosco gave us a heart felt thank you to us and mostly to the BSM JH community for its "Caring to me and my family".

We left Bosco aty 3:20pm because we had to meet Francis at 3:30 to conduct a second interview about Rwandan history, the genocide, gacaca and his experiences (Do we call it a second interview if the first one had no sound?!)

Anyway, Francis spent about 2 hours talking about the above topics stopping a few times to chase huge birds away that were sqwaking so loud that we could not hear Francis and when a huge dynamite explosion shook the earth and deafened us (Francis assured us that it was dynamite from a road they were trying to put through the mountains).

We truly appreciate Francis and his honest interview. A few times he was visibly shaken when talking about the fact that he never found out what happened to his father and 2 of his brothers.

We made our way to the BG, the Swede Bjorn (seriously) had a kinyarwanda/english guide so we brought it to get copies (not for us because we are fluent but for other people).

After we picked up the language guide we jumped on moto-taxis and headed to the caberet that we first had brochette with our friend Justin. This place had the best brochette in all of Ruhengeri and maybe in all of Rwanda.

We were greeted warmly by Justin. (Justin if you remember is the former director of the national park where the gorilla treks are). Justin had invited a friend of his who was a businessman in Ruhengeri (his name was Justin) who sold fish from Uganda. Does well I think.

We chatted about our families, Rwanda, and our trip next summer.

Once done we took motos back to our guest house and were met by an American named Steven. Stevie (as I like to call him) is a millionaire wiz kid who sold a company at age 26 and is now traveling the world. We had Fantas and Cokes with him across the road from the guest house (I say road because very few paved streets exist in Rwanda).

Afterwards we went back, packed and went to sleep.

We are going to miss Ruhengeri.


Amahoro.

Kuntz and Cave

Little Sleep, Imbabazi Orphanage, Intore and a Birthday Dinner for Delphine

We both woke up very groggy this morning. There was a wedding taking place at a hall across the street from the BG last night. The wedding party went on until 4am with loud clapping and dancing. Perhaps we mentioned last summer that Rwanda was loud. It still is.

We got up at 7am to the sound of sweeping, goats and people talking to meet our good friend Hassan and a driver named Alex. They showed up at 7:45 and we made our way up to Imbabazi Orphanage near Gisenyi. For those of you that have read "Land of a Thousand Hills" by Rosamond Carr, you will be familiar with Imbabazi.

The road towards Gisenyi was under construction and was very dangerous (not for us but for the 1000's of people who were walking along side of it). The drive to Imbabazi took 1 1/2 hours and the last 1/2 hour was on a road that was not really a road.

Once to Imbabazi we were greeted by K-Ellen Cleary. K-Ellen had been a friend of Madame Carr for about 8 years before she died. K-Ellen and her husband now run this orphange and plant nursery. This place was one of the most lovely and beautiful places we have ever seen. The house is just like the photos in the book and the grounds are attended by 8 gardeners working 6 days a week. Imbabazi sits just below the mountains and volcanoes. The climate is a lot like Minnesota in late October (no malaria because it is too cool).

K-Ellen had us in the house for tea and cookies then gave us a tour around the grounds. Imababzi is a facility for 102 orphans. Some of them attend secondary school (which is almost always residential boarding school). There are about 30 kids who were at primary school but they were at school and would be back later in the day.

Imbabazi was so lovely that we decided to add it to our itinerary for next summer's trip. We would reccoment the book to all. It is a very nice, quick read about a strong woman in the Congo and Rwanda.

On our drive back to Ruhengeri we stopped a few times along side the road to take video of the countryside. We hope to share those images on this site when we arrive back home (so stay tuned).

Once back to Ruhengeri we made our way to the Amahoro tours office when we had a delicous meal with Greg. It was cabbage with carrots over rice and served with beans and sweet potatos. Delish.

The only thing is that we had to eat with some very abrasive Americans who were complaining about having to eat beans again. Rude. Go home! (Did I just say that out loud?! oops)

Afterwards we met with Greg and worked on planning the trip for next year. Once done with our meeting we went to see some of the best Intore dancers in all of Rwanda practice. Greg was able to convince them to reherse in thier traditional costumes for us.

Intore is a coed dance and drumming that can go on for hours. We go tired just watching them! Again, we video taped so stay tuned!

Once done with Intore we thanked them and made our way to the popular market. We purchased avocados (the best in the world btw!), onion, tomatos, garlic, peppers and lime to make guacamole! Funny but good.

At about 7pm we took our friends Hassan and Delphine out to eat (at the Virguna Hotel) for brochette for Delphine's birthday. Fun.

We are now typing and catching up on e-mail.

(James says: Mom and dad, thanks for taking the kids to Wisconisin! Mom, e-mail me so I can respond. I don't have your address) Kids I love you very much)

We are planning another big day with golden monkeys, interviews, meals and with friends in what will be our last full day in Ruhengeri. Sad but exciting to not know what we will be doing for the next several days.

We are going where Rwanda takes us.

Amahoro.

Dave and James

(Sorry about misspellings. Spell check is not working)

Trip Planning and Finally, Goat Brochettes

We finally got some much needed sleep last night at the BG Guest House. It was very nice to see our friends Delphine and Hassan. After sleeping for about 12 hours and late which is abnormal for both of us especially in Rwanda we met with Greg owner of Amahoro Tours.

Greg's focus for his customers is provide a genuine and meaningful cultural experience. He makes sure that the activities clients particpate in are memorable and will impact both Rwandans and visitors.

Greg will be helping us make plans for our trip with students next summer. He is arranging all of our transportation and we will be staying at the BG Gueshouse which Amahoro Tours owns. Greg is very excited to share the community in Ruhengeri with students from BSM next summer. The students will of course see the gorillas but will also be making bricks, weaving Rwandan baskets and mats, and will help make meals for the group at BG.

Later this afternoon we met with a man named Francis who shared with us his thoughts about Rwandan history and the Genocide. He had some very interesting insights, especially about the Gacaca court process. We talked with him for over an hour and recorded the conversation via video. It was great until we discovered that we had plugged his wireless microphone into the wrong place on the camera. We're meeting with him again on Tuesday for a do-over. Dumb.

On our way back to BG, we met almost all of our friends from Ruhengeri in about 10 minutes. Justin, Bosco, and Gato were all sitting right outside the internet cafe as we walked out.

We finally had our first meal of goat brochette tonight. We have been a little surprised and very distressed that we have been in Rwanda for more than 24 hours and have yet to have our favorite meal. It was really good with pili pili sauce and sweet potato chips.

We caught the last half and overtime of the Italy vs. Spain Euro game before going to sleep.

CM, Bosco and Ruhengeri

So we arrived in Nairobi at 6am. We went right to the secret transfer desk and they told us we did not have tickets!! AHHHHHHHHHHH.... Really long and frustrating story short, we got our tickets
After about 1 1/2 we were able to get things straightened out. Lots of stress though.

We boarded and made it to Kigali fine (we did have an hour delay however!). Once we reached Kigali we got 3 of our four bags right away. The last one was literally the last one off the plane. We had all of the stuff!!

Bosco met us, loaded up his cousin's van then we started our errands. First was to Centre Marembo. The kids were not there (it was Saturday) but they all wanted us to come back mid next week. We dropped 3 large bags of clothes, shoes, tooth paste, underwears, etc.. 2 lap tops, a printer, paper, etc.and gave the director $1,000.00 for the BSM community. She could not believe it. They are trying to purchase some land for a new center.

We then went to see Felix and drop off the books, letter and money. Dick. He gave us a bad look, took the books and off we were.

We drove to Ruhengeri. Bosco's son William barfed in the car but all was good afterwards. We went right to Bosco's house and were greeted with hugs from his wife and kids.

We chatted for a while then gave them the donations. Bosco kept saying that it was a miracle. (He is a scammer, but more later). The kids loved the new clothes, shoes, make up, etc.. We also gave them candels, matches, a computer, a digital camera. Very excited. Very cute.

Bosco and Damarse insisted that we have a meal with them in there house. We had a tomato broth with casava bread, cow and peas. Pretty good. Kuntz tried to drink the broth from his bowl and made a semi-permanent goatee on his face and spilled the rest on his shirt and pants. Pretty dang funny.

Bosco brought us to the guesthouse where we were greeted by Delphine and Hassan (our friends from last year). It is nice to be back.

I love you very much and I miss you. I will consider leaving on Thursday.

Have peace and don't make out with any buddahist guys in flannel.

Amahoro.

Cave

CM, Bosco and Ruhengeri

So we arrived in Nairobi at 6am. We went right to the secret transfer desk and they told us we did not have tickets!! AHHHHHHHHHHH.... Really long and frustrating story short, we got our tickets after about 1 1/2 hours. Lots of stress though.

We boarded the Kenya Airways plane and made it to Kigali fine (we did have an hour delay however!). Once we reached Kigali we got 3 of our four bags right away. The fourth bag was literally the second to last one off the plane. We had all of the stuff!!

When we got out of the airport Bosco's son William had a sign that read "James and Dave." Cute. When Bosco saw us he ran from the parking lot and hugged both of us. After we loaded up his cousin's van then we started our errands. First was to Centre Marembo. We arrived at the site of the orphanage. To our surprise no one was there. CM had moved. We called the director and she met us at the gate and showed us to the new center. The kids were not there (it was Saturday) but they all wanted us to come back mid next week to see us and maybe play football. We dropped 3 large bags of clothes, shoes, tooth paste, underwears, etc.. 2 lap tops, a printer, paper, etc.and gave the director $1,000.00 for the BSM community.

Nicole the director could not believe it. They are trying to purchase some land for a new center and our donations will help a short term need (charity) and a long term need (justice). (This was a shout-out to Ms. Reinardy!)

After stopping to get money exchanged and drop some things to a man named Felix we started our trip to Ruhengeri. Ruhengeri is about 2+ hours north of Kigali and is much cooler than Kigali.

On the way, Bosco's son William barfed in the car but all was good afterwards (He rebounded rather nicely) Upon arriving in Ruhengeri we went right to Bosco's house and were greeted with hugs from his wife and kids.

We chatted for a while then gave them the donations. Bosco kept saying that it was a miracle. The kids loved the new clothes, shoes, make up, etc.. We also gave them candles, matches, a computer, a digital camera. Very excited. Very cute.

Bosco and Damarse insisted that we have a meal with them in there house. We had a tomato broth with casava bread, cow meat and peas. Pretty good.

Kuntz tried to drink the broth from his bowl and made a semi-permanent goatee on his face and spilled the rest on his shirt and pants.

Pretty dang funny.

Bosco brought us to our guesthouse where we were greeted by Delphine and Hassan (our friends from last year). It is nice to be back! (It feels like we never left actually)

Thanks for reading.

Amahoro.

Kuntz and Cave

Getting there is half the fun!

My mother-in-law arrived about 5pm today and so did Kuntz and his wife Kathy. We packed up thier mini-van and headed to the airport. We are allowed 4 bags of 70 pounds (at $50.00/each over 50lbs). Our bags were 70.0 pounds, 69.5 pounds, 68.5 pounds and 58.5 pounds. So far so good. We asked NWA to get our boarding pass for our Nairobi to Kigali lehg but the were unable.

Our flight was fine. I slept about 5 of the 8 hours. We arrived in Amsterdam at about 10am. After trying to get our boarding pass for the Nairobi to Kigali leg (they couldn't do that for us) we found a locker, packed our carry on bags in and went to Amsterdam. Amsterdam is very excited about the HOlland team doing so well in the Euro's (European soccer tourny). Amsterdam is a very international city. It has many people, many bikes and many canals. (I fell the same way about Amsterdam as you do about Cordova).

We walked in the Red Light disctrict (after taking the train from the airport). Very unusual. Beautiful canals and buildings wiht many sex windows and sex shows and sex shops. In Dam it is legal to smoke hash and pot in some bars. Weird. We walked for a few hours just looking around. Dave and I split two delicious sammys. A hummus and veggies on a white roll and a mozzarella with pesto and tomato. Delish! I had a coke and dave had team. OBSERVATION: Europeans wear lots of scarfs.

Anywho..When we were done Dave and I continued to walk until I decided that we had acted like 13 year old boys long enough. We wanted to know how the sex worked. I knocked on a window and asked a Russian woman "So, what happens in there?" Well apparently you pay 50 Euros for 20 minutes of whatever you want. Sex, BJ's, me and Dave could have gone in with her or I could watch her and another woman do a "lezzie show". I told her that I was nervous. She tugged on my shirt and told me that she could make me horny. I said, "Only my wife can make me horny"....

We then made our way to the Ann Frank house. It was cool but not so much. There were journal entries written on the wall in chronological order. The most moving thing for me was the original patch of wall paper that had all of the hiding kids heights on them. Sad. IT was about a 45 minute self-guided tour with videos, quotes, simulations, etc. If you are in Amsterdam I would recommend it but don't go to Amsterdam just for it.

We boarded the train and went back to the airport. When we go there we check in and asked to counter guy if he could print us a boarding pass for our Nairobi to Kigali leg. He actually upgraded our tickets to Nairobi but told us he was unable to print them. He told us of a secret way to bypass the endless line in Nairobi though. We will see. We had some time so we went and ate McDonald's. When in Amsterdam...

So we arrived in Nairobi at 6am. We went right to the secret transfer desk and they told us we did not have tickets. AHHHHHHHHHHH....After about 1 1/2 we were able to get things straightened out. Lots of stress though.

We boarded and made it to Kigali fine (we did have an hour delay however!). Once we reached Kigali we got 3 of our four bags right away. The last one was literally the last one off the plane. We had all of the stuff!!

Bosco met us, loaded up his cousin's van then we started our errands. First was to Centre Marembo. The kids were not there (it was Saturday) but they all wanted us to come back mid next week. We dropped 3 large bags of clothes, shoes, tooth paste, underwears, etc.. 2 lap tops, a printer, paper, etc.and gave the director $1,000.00 for the BSM community. She could not believe it. They are trying to purchase some land for a new center.

We then went to see Felix and drop off the books, letter and money. Dick. He gave us a bad look, took the books and off we were.

We drove to Ruhengeri. Bosco's son William barfed in the car but all was good afterwards. We went right to Bosco's house and were greeted with hugs from his wife and kids.

We chatted for a while then gave them the donations. Bosco kept saying that it was a miracle. (He is a scammer, but more later). The kids loved the new clothes, shoes, make up, etc.. We also gave them candels, matches, a computer, a digital camera. Very excited. Very cute.

Bosco and Damarse insisted that we have a meal with them in there house. We had a tomato broth with casava bread, cow and peas. Pretty good. Kuntz tried to drink the broth from his bowl and made a semi-permanent goatee on his face and spilled the rest on his shirt and pants. Pretty dang funny.

Bosco brought us to the guesthouse where we were greeted by Delphine and Hassan (our friends from last year). It is nice to be back.

I love you very much and I miss you. I will consider leaving on Thursday.

Have peace and don't make out with any buddahist guys in flannel.

Amahoro.

Cave

Amsterdam, Bikes, Canals and Ann Frank

Hey all, our flight from MSP to Amsterdam was fine. Cave slept for about 5 of the 8 hours and Kuntz read, watched movies, slept and listened to music. We arrived in Amsterdam at about 10am. After trying to get our boarding pass for the Nairobi to Kigali leg (they couldn't do that for us in Amsterdam either but told us not to worry. We could get it later) we found a locker, packed our carry on bags in and went to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is very excited about the Holland team doing so well in the Euro's (European soccer tourney). Amsterdam is a very international city. It has many people, many bikes and many canals. Lovely and beautiful. The weather was moderate but nice.

We walked for a few hours just looking around and taking in the beauty. This was Cave's frist trip to Europe and Kuntz had been to Amsterdam in 7th grade. We split two delicious sammys at an outdoor cafe. A hummus sandwich with veggies on a white roll and a mozzarella with pesto and tomato sammy. Delish! Cave had a Coke and Kuntz had tea. OBSERVATION: Europeans wear lots of scarfs and the men think that the fauxhawk is cool. Lots of hair gel as well.

Anywho...We then made our way to the Ann Frank house. It was really interesting to see the warehouse made hiding place that we had read about in her book. There were journal entries written on the wall in chronological order throughout the house.

One of the most moving things in the museum was an original patch of wall paper that had the height markings of the hiding kids for the months that they had stayed in hiding. Sad. It was about a 45 minute self-guided tour with videos, quotes, simulations, etc.

If you are in Amsterdam I would recommend it but don't go to Amsterdam just for it.

We boarded the train and went back to the airport. When we got there we check in and asked to counter guy if he could print us a boarding pass for our Nairobi to Kigali leg. He actually upgraded our tickets to Nairobi but told us he was unable to print the next leg for some reason. He told us of a secret way to bypass the endless line in Nairobi though. We will see. We had some time so we went and ate McDonald's.

When in Amsterdam...

Lates.

Kuntz and Cave

Getting there is half the fun!

Hey all, it has been an exciting and stressful week. Exciting to be going to Rwanda and stressful to get all of the details in order.

My mother-in-law arrived about 5pm today (to take care of my kids overnight) and so did Kuntz and his wife Kathy. We packed up their mini-van and after saying good bye to my kids we headed to the airport.

We are allowed 4 bags of 70 pounds (at $50.00/each over 50lbs). Our bags were 70.0 pounds, 69.5 pounds, 68.5 pounds and 58.5 pounds. Perfect. Some of the money that we raised at BSM went to pay the extra airfare. So far so good. We asked NWA to get our boarding pass for our Nairobi to Kigali leg but the were unable.

That is it. More later.

Kuntz and Cave

Here we go again!

Well, here we go again. Over the past 5 months, we have been planning, collecting, arranging and packing for our second trip to the Land of 1,000 Hills in the past year.

The reasons for going to Rwanda this year are much the same yet different than our last trip.

This year we are going to do more in depth research and exploration of the Genocide that rocked this country back in 1994. We plan to interview survivors, perpatrators and spectators of the genocide. We are taking a digital video camera and lots of questions in hopes of being able to create a unique curriculum to help expand people's understanding of the genocide.

This year we are going to arrange the details for the Rwanda.09 trip that will take place next summer. From hotel and guesthouse accommodations to arranging the gorilla trek, transportation and genocide memorial churches we want to confident upon departure that our student trip in 2009 will go glitch free.

This year (unlike last year) we are looking forward to being reunited with friends we made last trip. We are waiting to see our friends at Centre Marembo (the orphanage in Kigali that houses 30 orphans of the genocide and HIV/AIDS). With us we are bringing about 210 lbs of shirts, shoes, soccer uniforms, computers, printers, posters, underwear and a cash donation so generously donated by the students and families of BSM Junior High.

We also are looking forward to seeing our good Friend Bosco and his family in Ruhengeri. Bosco is a good man who has 8 children by birth and another 4 because of the genocide. We look forward to sharing goat brochette with our friend. We hope to surprise Bosco with clothes, shoes and medicines for his family and we hope to pay Bosco's rent and school tuition for the next 2 years.

We hope to be able to blog everyday like last year (see the right hand column for our addresses).

Thanks for checking in with us and feel free to send us an e-mail or comment below the blog entry of your choice.

Amahoro!

Dave and James