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