Friday, July 29, 2011

Monkey Business

Nyungwe Forest National Park was a test in endurance, patience, and for my roommate Sierra a test in how long she could go without getting sick =/ The trip began last Friday when four of us made the 5 hour trek to the Southwestern part of Rwanda after work. We arrived pretty late in the evening only to find several men outside our guesthouse who only spoke Swahili. After a very confusing 10 minutes we found some friends who had already arrived and finally made it to our rooms and passed out.

The next day we drove through the absolutely beautiful tea fields and started on our first hike- the waterfall hike. The main attraction for hiking in Nyungwe is the very cool different types of monkeys - there are thirteen different species and in the 4 hours we spent hiking to the waterfall and back we didn't see a single one! We stayed positive though and decided to take one more hike that day....and still had no luck =( Apparently the monkeys were being shy.

Nyungwe Forest
Mailman girls - Andi, Kate and I at the waterfall

Evidence of me hiking in a rainforest
Tea fields near our guesthouse
Luckily we befriended a girl named Mercedes while hiking who informed us that the Colobus monkey troupe was making their way closer to the hiking trail and we would hopefully be able to catch them in the morning! (On a side note, Mercedes graduated from Northwestern as well in '06 - such a small world!)

So we woke up VERY early and set out to find the monkeys. The hike didn't seem too bad until we met up with the monkey tracker and he steered us off the trail, literally into the bush. As many of you know I generally don't go hiking or do much physical activity at all. The fact that I don't own a pair of sneakers is a testament to my lack of physical exercise. Luckily, I wasn't alone in this and Katty was my kindred spirit in our total lack of preparation for this type of a hike. However, we made it through and I'm proud to say I was able to hike in very inappropriate shoes without slipping and falling or getting left behind. And we found the monkeys!!! There were hundreds of monkeys in the trees all around us and it was definitely worth getting pieces of leaves and twigs stuck in my hair and having sore calf muscles for the next 2 days =) 

Me, Mercedes, Anthony, Julia, Peggy and Nathan

Me and Katty's inappropriate hiking footwear

Monkeys at last!

More Colobus monkeys


Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Byumba Pictures!


As promised, here are the pictures from Byumba! Apparently the Kacyiru Police Hospital is the place to get fast internet...

Priests making their way to their seats while children dance in their honor


Waiting for the ceremony to begin


The choir and huge crowd that turned out for the event

With Magdalena and one of the Ugandan Sisters

Relaxing at the end of a very long evening with dinner on the river

Byumba

What do you call one American, two Rwandans, two Ugandan nuns, and one German? A great trip to Byumba! 

Last Friday a coworker at ICAP invited me to join her and her friends on a trip to the north part of Rwanda. I only knew we were doing something related to Mass but was fuzzy on the details. Many other ex-pats have mentioned that Rwandans have a tendency to be non-specific so I just went with the flow. As it turns out, in addition to attending Mass at the Catholic Diocese of Byumba we were also attending the ordination of several priests. 

Church can normally be very long in Rwanda but since there was a celebration in addition to regular service, we ended up being in Byumba from 10am to 9pm! The celebrations included the official ordination ceremony, Mass, speeches by the Bishop, and a dinner for one of the priests. Oh, and everything was in Kinyarwanda.  

Even though I had no idea what they were saying, it was a really great experience! Religion is a major part of Rwandan culture so attending service is a great way to understand the culture better. While I would love to share the pictures, my VERY long delay in adding another post is because I'm having some technical difficulties using the internet. I haven't been able to get pictures to upload properly so I'll have to wait on adding a visual to my story - sorry! I guess you'll just have to use your imagination until I can it working again!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Celebrations

Muraho (hello in Kinyarwanda) & Happy Fourth of July!

This past weekend has been filled with celebrations - on June 30th I made my way to the American Embassy for the Fourth of July party! There were tons of Americans, American food (popcorn, fries, burgers/hot dogs, veggie wraps, brownies, etc.), and American beer (Bud Light was in especially high demand). Instead of real fireworks, there was a movie projector playing fireworks for everyone to watch. It may not have been the most exciting Fourth of July but since this is my 3rd time celebrating the Fourth outside the country (once in Mexico and once in Cambodia), I knew not to have high expectations.

You might also be wondering why the Embassy celebrates the Fourth of July on June 30th...well, this holiday weekend isn't only significant for America but also for Rwanda! July 1st is Rwanda's Independence Day and July 4th is Liberation Day, which also means a four-day weekend! Independence Day celebrates Rwanda's independence from Belgium while July 4th, or Liberation Day, marks the day the Rwandan Patriotic Front took back Kigali eventually ended the genocide. So out of respect, the American Embassy celebrates the Fourth of July on the 30th of June.

For Rwandans, Liberation Day is much more important than Independence Day. I was lucky to see all the festivities at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali - here are some of the highlights...

President Kagame at the start of the celebration

The Rwandan National Army

Traditional Rwandan Intore dancers
Me!

Many of you have also been asking me about the food in Rwanda, especially since I'm vegetarian. I happen to be very lucky that I live in Kigali because Italian, Chinese, and Indian restaurants are  everywhere in the city! Sadly, there's no Mexican food yet but I'm hoping that will change. Surprisingly, there are no Western fast food chains here! That's right - no McDonald's or KFC! The public health student in me thinks it's great, but the sugar-loving Navita in me would really love to get soft-serve ice cream from McDonald's.

Since I shouldn't eat at restaurants everyday and there's no fast food, I actually cook! Here's a picture of the market I've been going to for some of the freshest (and cheapest) foods...

Kimironko Market

I've been trying to bargain but being a muzungu (or white/foreign person) makes it tough to get the best deals! On a side note, muzungu is a blanket term that Rwandans use for everyone who is not African. Despite difficulties in bargaining, the avocados here are still only 150-200 Rwandan francs...that's around 30 cents! Also, I finally found chocolate - it's definitely over-priced relative to other Rwandan goods but I'm happy to know there are M&Ms and Kit Kat bars in case a craving kicks in =)

Stay tuned for more pictures of Kigali that I plan on posting very soon...

About Me

SGBV Intern at the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (ICAP) in Kigali, Rwanda

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