Killing Time in Kigali

Hey, so the trip is wrapping up thus the witty comments and insights. Sorry.

So spent the day really just killing time. I needed to meet with the travel agent to try to figure out why Delta sucks so bad. Nothing definite but have some pretty good ideas. After being assured that I will indeed get home as scheduled me and Bright embarked on the longest 3 hours ever. Poor kid.

As cool and as down with what the kids are into these days as I am, I guess many hours with a 41 year-old over-weight, hard of hearing (what?) white man is not the tonic to pull a 13 year-old Rwandese boy out of a shy, quiet personality. Oh well, I guess I have the next 5-9 years to work on that.

First I made Bright go on a walking tour of Kigali with me.

"Bright, let me tell you about the Belgian troop memorial.."

After that we proceeded to the famous, refurbished Mille Collines Hotel and had $3 sodas.

"You know Bright, prior to 2000 this used to be the fanciest hotel in Rwanda..."

Then I made him walk to the guest house that the students of 2009 stayed and the students of 2011 will stay,

"You know Bright, last year we stayed at this guest house with the actress who played Kate in Lost.."

Then to Saint Familles Catholic Church.

"Well Bright, you know that...."

We sat there and watched the adult drivers ed students crash the red drivers ed car into cones for about 45 minutes. I read, Bright pretended to sleep. (Lots of that going around).

Went to the internet cafe, went to Greg's house, listened to music in separate rooms, went to eat Indian food (best I have had BTW)-see I told you I was down with what the kids are into these days-LOL, I'm the bomb.

Back to the house and slept until the mangy, sickly, dog next door (that looks like a hyena) woke me up at 6am. To take it easy on Bright I pretended to sleep until 8.

On Saturday we will kill time but hanging out, last minute shopping (seems like no one wants a bracelet from Rwanda!), eat, internet cafe, and getting to airport.

Thanks for following. I am going dark until I add some photos and give you a detailing of Bright's first plane ride and the mauling by the Cave family at the airport.

Check back sometime next week! (echhooo, ecccchhhhooo, chirp, chirp, tumbleweed, tumbleweeed.....)

Wup, wup, raise the roof, Word.

Tora Paul Kagame! Komera Kigali!

Woke up to rain. Seriously. It is raining again in Musanze.

I spent the morning reading and trying to doze.

Greg's sister Maureen (or is it Moline, I'm not sure) told me that there was a political rally for the RPF and President Paul Kagame today in a village about 10km from Musanze (I am so metric).

We were going to jump on motos to go watch the people but leave before the rally. Greg wanted to leave for Kigali around 4pm.

At 1pm Maureen decided not to go. Rats.

I jumped on a mototaxi and went myself. As I drew closer it was very noticable the amount of police and military on the roads leading to the rally. Not much traffic either.

So, I walked into (or I should say onto) the rally which was on a soccer field surrounded by hills, rocks and fields. I was asked 5 times why I was there and frisked 7 times (not saying that is bad). I had to show my camera about a billion times.

Now, one thing I found out is that the 2nd most attention a muzungo can get is to walk into a field with 20,000 Rwandese at a political rally for the president. Not much salt in this group!

I spent about 3 hours standing, fending off kids who wanted money and adults who wanted to stare. I pretended to be asleep standing up.

President Kagame was supposed to speak at 3. At 4:30 approached I called Greg and told him I would be late.

At about 4:40 President Kagame took the stage and started to speak, in KINYARWANDA! The nerve.

Anyway, after about 15 minutes of listening to him speak and taking photos I found out what the 1st most attenion a muzungo can get was. Leaving a political rally with 20,000 rwandese in a field. "Hey, nothing to see here!"

After I was frisked another 2 times and asked where I was going 5 more times I finally made it to the road where I was going to catch a moto.

Hey James, its the president of Rwanda. No traffic, thus no motos!

I started to walk and I walked and walked and walked (over 1 hour in rural Rwanda). Finally after greeting about the entire child population of Rwanda with Bite (whats up), Komera (hello), etc... I was able to flag down a mini-bus full of Rwandese heading to Ruhengeri. After I wowed them with my command of the Rwandan language and argued about the value of my bus ticket, I made it to Ruhengeri.

As I arrived at Greg's the car was running and my bags were already loaded. Bright and Greg were standing by the car waiting. (Dudes, I am only 2+ hours late. What do you want from me?!).

We drove to Kigali over some of the most winding roads in the world. I hadn't noticed how twisty and steep they were until I was driving with Greg in the "ladies car" with the steering wheel on the right side of the front seat as he spent the 2 hours doing business on his cell phone (in the dark). Fun.

Arrived in Kigali, stopped at his new house, went to Sole Luna for pizza, back to his house, chatted, sleep.

(hands tired thing again).

Shout out to the fam).

Amahoro.

So Far, So Good.

So, I actually slept through the night and woke with just a bit of tummy issues. I took a cold shower (not by choice but felt nice), packed my day pack and headed UP the road.

I bought Paul Kagame campaign shirts as Souvies and headed to Nakumat to puchase amazi aconje, bread and juice.

I am drinking Propel water and typing.

So, after the computer I purchased a ticket to Ruhengeri and sat at the bus terminal and fended off people trying to sell me stuff.

I kept using the line I am not white and rich (Muzungu), just white (Muzungu klulouwho). I always get a good laugh.

The bus ride was uneventful. The guy next to me wanted to keep talking and I just wanted to concentrate on not barfing. "Dude, don't you know that I exhausted all of my Kinyarwanda in our first convo?! I don't know anymore!" was going through my head.

I pretended to sleep the last hour.

Once in Ruhengeri I kicked around a bit. I went to the office and talked with Bright and his friend Jeremy. or is it Blight and Jelemy. I am not sure.

Ruhengeri is in the Northern part of Rwanda. It is also mountainous. The temperature today was a bit like October in Minnesota. Then it started to rain. Really, in the dry season. It has only rained once in my 2 months of total travel in Rwanda in June and July.

I went back to the BG and kinda just watched the rain and waited for Greg and Bright. They wanted to take me to a new pizza place in Musanze (new name for Ruhengeri). It is called Volcan Pizza.

When we arrived we met Molly. Molly is a woman we met last summer in Musanze. She is a travel writer from Boston. And she has a whiny voice. Ask Anna Overbo to imitate.

Afterwards I went to sleep. (Getting tired writing, can you tell?)

Cave

Amahoro,

Cave

Mission to Uganda Aborted by US Government and Bus Sickness

So, last night (Monday) after I blogged I started to look at the news. CNN said that the State Dept issued a travel warning for US citizens traveling in Uganda(especially Kampala).

As I was about to wrap up I checked my email one more time and there was an email from the embassy telling me not to come to Uganda, that because of the African Union meeting in Kampala there was a fear that there would be more bombings. I got a bit nervous (especailly the part about the FBI/CIA in Kampala working with local law enforcement).

This morning I woke up and took the 6am bus to Kigali. As I was riding I decided that I would not go. I really wanted to see the north and learn more about child soldiers/brides and Joseph Kony but I just had a bad feeling (plus I am dehydrated and a bit underfed-I have lost some weight already).

I called Greg and he told me not to go. I met Alex at the bus "terminal" and he said it was fine. I reluctantly got on the bus and started the 2+ bus ride to the border. I barfed in my mouth, I was dizzy and found myself hoping we hit a tree or something to disrupt the trip.

As we neared the border, our bus was stopped (along with tons of trucks, busses, etc) and searched for about 30 minutes.

As I got out of the bus I barfed in the road. I told Alex I would pay him for his morning but I was going back to Kigali. As we weaved our way through all the chaos to find a bus I started to chat with two Americans. They told me not to go to Kampala, Total police state for the past almost 2 weeks (since the bombing).

Funny, you could not tell that from being in Rwanda. The same peaceful, organized place I love (Even with elections in 3 weeks and campaigning starting on Tuesday).

Luckily we found a bus, I took dramamine then passed out on the bus.

When we arrived in Kigali I called Greg and he told me I did the right thing. I took a moto to the UTC got some food (cheese wedges and bread) and a cold sprite from Nakumat and tried not to barf in the food court for 1.5 hours. I must have looked so bad that the manager came and asked me if I was ok.

I totally feel like I missed a great opportunity to do something good and bring a great experience to the students. I hope I did the right thing.

I couldn't keep my food down so I decided not to travel to Ruhengeri today. I found a $15 guest house and passed out (really I think I passed out) for 3 hours. I woke hoping to feel better but I didn't. I went to O SOle Luna, 3 pieces of pizza, lots of water and Sprite (in honor of Dave's birthday).

I am hoping to go back to Ruhengeri tomorrow (Wed) and see Bosco one more time (I forgot my camera the first time) and just relax.

Thanks for reading.

Cave

Sunday night and monday

So, not sure my family is even reading so I am wondering why you are. Serious. It's not like I am writing an interesting blog about food, recipes, fashion or anything...


Last night (Sunday) I was invited to my friend Bosco's new home. Bosco is a friend who BSM has supported with money, clothes, etc.. for the past 3 years.

He said largely because of our generosity he now has a full time job (making $300/month) and has a bigger home (for him, his wife Damarse, and 11 children) with electricity (he now has light and a tv) and he can send his children to the local catholic school.

"James, because of you and Dave and the students at your school, my life has changed for the better. I will never be able to repay you."

You already have Bosco.

When I got home I called Bright up and made him talk to me for about 3 hours. I kept telling him things about the US, MN and BSM. He is a kid of a few words (although he understands and speaks English very well)..

We was nervous about where Molly and I would be staying. If we were in the same house and when we would see him. I told him, funny Bright, Molly will be in the bedroom and I will be on the couch like always.

He wants to go to university in the US and have a US girlfriend. I told him Zoe, Poppy, and Iris were off limits!

I told him that he will sit in his own desk (he sits with 2 other students in one desk at his school). I also told him he will share a room with two instead of 59 like at his school.

I had trouble sleeping. My body is not adjusting as fast as I would like. Must be age.

Today (Monday) I went with Hassan and Bright on a 3 hour walk in some of the most beautiful landscape you have ever seen. Serious.

I met again with a widows cooperative squeezed in the middle of banana groves. I gave them photos of our last trip. The smiles were so big as they saw their own faces. I took more and will bring them back next summer with Rwanda11. In fact I purchased 30 of their baskets so our students can use them as a fundraiser for next summer's trip. Everyone is excited to see the next BSM group!

When I got back I had a working dinner with Greg. We went over official guardian documents, medical history and Rwanda11 organization.

I am now writing. It's about 8:30pm.

I leave tomorrow at 6 am for Kampala Uganda then Gulu. I will spend 3 days in Uganda before taking an overnight bus back to Kigali (I should arrive early, early on Friday).

I will then fight with Delta about my ticket home.

Did I mention I hate Delta?

Sorry is this is boring, the grammar is poor and the spelling is messed up. My constant companion of the past 3 hours, Izaac is sitting breathing on me.

Amahoro,

Cave

(Zachary, Zoe, Eli, Poppy and Iris and Molly-I love you)

It took awhile but its good to be home.

So, I am just going to say this one last time: Delta sucks. I'm done now.

So I arrived in Kigali on Saturday morning about 12:15am. I quickly made it through customs and met my friend Greg. He drove me to his new home in Kigali. Very nice, private and sparsely decorated. He said he will not even tell his sisters where it is. He doesn't want people to come there.

I laid down to sleep about 1:45. I was having a hard time falling asleep so I looked through my bag for some Tylenal PM. Dang, didn't bring any but I did have Dramamine. Popped one and slept until 11:30am the next morning. Funny. I am now a sleep aid user I guess.

Greg and I went to a new shopping mall and had a vegetable sammich and, er how do you say in English, Amazi aconje, oh yeah cold water.

After lunch greg dopped me off in the Kigali town center and I walked to the bus station. I purchased a bus ticket to Ruhengeri. Its about a 2 hour bus ride through some of the most beautiful countryside you will ever see. Only one person barfed on the bus. Good thing I am big, bald and handsome so when my fellow Rwandans hiss at me to close the window there is nothing they can do about it.How do you like me now.


I arrived in Ruhengeri about 4:30 and went straight to see my friend Delphine. I was a bit disappointed that she was not at the BG guest house when I arrived. Greg had not told her I was coming. As I sat outside I called her on Dave's Rwandan cell phone and she moto'd right over.

We chatted a bit, I gave her some photos then she walked me to her new house she is renting (long story-something about her brother and being sick, etc). She used to live in the BG with Greg's sister Winnie.

After returning to the BG I walked around Ruhengeri getting reaquainted with my peeps. I internetted, bought some bread from some kid who wanted to learn English.


Ruhengeri is changing so much. There are new hotels and even a video billboard on the main street.

I went back to the BG and chatted with 2 Canadian med students and a women from Harvard for a while then went to bed.

Sleep was ok.

This morning I woke about 8, had tea, chatted with Delphine then my good friend Hassan stopped by. I gave him some photos and a Bob Marley shirt. He loved it.



As I was chatting with Hassan Greg's son Bright come through the gate all smiles. He had just gotten home from his last day at boarding school in Uganda. He said that his friends and sisters were sad he was leaving. His youngest sister Moline (the Rwandan radio-she talks alot) even cried.

We chatted about Minnesota. Bright will be starting 8th grade at BSM this next fall instead of 9th. Looks like 5 years with the Cave's instead of 4 (and he informed me he wanted to go to University in United States as well. Can you say 9 years?!).

After a morning of chatting and working on my kinyarwanda I decided to go for a walk. Through the markets, down the street then to Greg's office to use the internet and eat bananas with Greg's sister Maureen.

It looks like I will go to Northern Uganda with Bright on Tues or Wed. We will see. It is a 12 hour bus ride and I don't feel like barfing or getting barfed on. Needless to say I am looking into a plane ticket from Kigali to Entebbe (in NU) or Kampala.

Thanks for reading.

A special shout out to my absent travel buddy Dave Kuntz. Our native land is not the same without you (But I am learning more Kinyarwanda. I guess I will have to teach you sometime if I remember English).

Of course to my family: Molly and the kids-I miss you and I will be home with your new brother from another mother and father on Sunday, July 25.

Amahoro, er, how do you say in English, oh yeah, Peace.

Cave

Crazy Start to the Trip

So trying to update with an iPhone. Here goes!

Get to airport and they tell me my Minneapolis to Atlanta leg has been canceled and they can't get me on another flight because they are overbooked. Huh?!

Anyone else think that is messed up?

And how the heck does a Delta flight to Atlanta get canceled?!

More later.

UPDATE (7/15/10 @ 3:00 pm)

So here goes,

Little did I know that the flight being canceled was only the beginning of my "unusual" start to the trip. After being told that the flight was canceled I was told that they could not find my ticket. Huh? They had a seat for me on the plane, I selected a seat for 4/6 of the segments and the online itinerary said "confirmed" but they could not find my ticket.

After 1 1/2 hours at MSP, I was told that they saw I had a ticket from Atlanta to Brussels, Brussels to Kigali. That was it. Huh, well I thought I could get the return segments dealt with in Kigali and I would have to pay for a one-way ticket to Atlanta to make my flight at 5:45. "I do not want to pay to go to Atlanta if they will not let me on a plane in Atlanta or Brussels." "We gaurentee Mr. Cave that you will be able to get on the plane."

"Mr. Cave, we do not have a ticket for you." AHHHHHHH!!!!

Long story short, fought, discussed, argued, moped, with Delta people all evening as I heard the final boarding message announced.

As I slept on the floor of an empty airport (REI, thanks for making a great travel towel but it is a poor substitute for a warm sleeping blanket) I was in contact with my friends Dave Kuntz and Greg Bakunzi in Rwanda to figure out what I was going to do.

As of this morning at 8:30am I can say that I have a boarding pass to Brussels in hand(Who knows about to Rwanda but at least I am getting on a plane).

After a 5.5 hour stay at the Sleep In in Atlanta (kinda a romantic get-a-way for myself) of sleeping and showering, I am about the board a plane to Brussels, to Nairobi, to Kigali.

I am scheduled to arrive in Kigali at midnight Friday, July 17.

Amahoro,

James

Here I go again

So, I am about 4 hours from departing on my 4th trip to Rwanda in as many summers.

In some ways this trip will be the same as the other 3 (spending time in Ruhengeri with my good friends like Greg, Hassan, Bosco, Delphine, eating my favorite goat brochettes with a cold Primus or a Coke or Fanta Citron, wearing pants in 85 degrees and sun, getting red dust everywhere, hot, stinky bus rides, moto taxi's, and taking in the beauty of a countryside and people that cannot be matched).

In other ways this trip will be extremely different (for the first time I will be traveling without my good friend and fellow Rwandan native Dave Kuntz, I will be traveling to Northern Uganda for 4 days to learn about Joseph Kony and the LRA, meet-and hopefully interview-child soldiers and brides and see an area that has seen civil war for over 25 years. I have a bit of a heightened awareness of safety on this trip since the bombing that took place in Kampala this past weekend. I will be careful. I will be planning the Benilde-St. Margaret's Rwanda 2011 trip, visiting a diamond mine in the Congo-I hate the Congo, and of course, bring back my new son from another mother and father, Bright! (We are not adopting, Bright is the 13 year old son of our good friend Greg Bakunzi and he will be living with us for the next 4 years).

I am not very exciting and I don't foresee providing hours (or even minutes) of entertainment for you. I will describe what I see and what I do (I will even describe barfing in 2, yes 2 12 hours bus rides from Kigali to Kampala to Gulu and back).

(I wonder, if someone blogs and no one reads does he really blog?)

See you in 11 days.

Amahoro,

James