Kigalicious

Starting to seriously slack on the blog entries and there will probably only be a handful more!! But I do have an excuse this time… I just got back to Ndejje after spending some time in Kigali, Rwanda visiting some friends and checking out Uganda's neighbor – and what a wonderful time I had! I got to relax a bit and explore a new city which helped refresh both me and my perceptions...

Our hosts for the week turned out to be a friend of a friend and her father…the Brigadier General of the Rwanda Army! Although pretty intimidating looking, he was really great actually and taught us a lot about his country and how he and his men keep it safe, the history of Eastern Africa in general and specifically Rwanda’s troubled times and even too, what his feelings were on cheating on a spouse! Plus, having him share glass after glass of his favorite wine at 1:30pm is one of those randomly awesome moments where all you can do is just sit back and take it all in…

But back to the nuts and bolts of the city: Just from a physical standpoint, Kigali is a stark contrast to the Kampala I’ve come to know over the past 9 months; its streets are clean & litter free, its roads organized and paved, street signs and lights are obeyed and the air is not nearly as polluted. The natural beauty of southwestern Uganda spills over into this tiny neighbor to the South, all of which surrounds Kigali. It was really something beautiful to look past the chaos of a bus park or over large office buildings and see sprawling green, lush hills peppered with giant trees and tan and gray houses. And to add a little work to our visit, we visited a FIFA football project in what we were told was a poorer area of town, but the wonderful locals running the program certainly seemed to do quite well for its kids - we definitely took some notes back for our program!

Both Alison and I also immediately sensed a much calmer atmosphere amongst Kigali's people; no one was calling out after us and there wasn’t a [perceived?] sense of tension on the streets. People weren’t running up trying to sell who-know-whats and trickets that do everything in between. I stumbled trying to recall as much of my high school French as I could when trying to communicate at times, but most people spoke English and often had a delightful British-esque accent. We also went to a friend's bbq one night and can I just say, I wowed on the dance floor with my skills to the African version of Cotton-eyed Joe... just think about it...

Although I do have to say I’ve grown to appreciate the whackiness of Kampala and can most certainly acknowledge it is one of the more, ahem!, colorful places I’ve been, I certainly did enjoy this breath of fresh Kigali air in more ways than one! I’m glad, too, to have gotten to visit Kigali because I feel hopeful; hopeful for what’s to come for this beautiful country of fascinating people, but also hopeful for other countries in Africa – namely my fair Kampala. Rwanda has overcome one of the darkest histories of any African country and made incredibly impressive progress in such a short period. After visiting the incredibly powerful Genocide Memorial Center, I felt speechless. It really put into perspective the true determination of Rwandan people and especially its current President, Paul Kagame. It seems he has really helped to turn the country on a positive path. I truly hope he won’t follow in the footsteps of other EA leaders and can recognize when its time for him to step down – although from the looks of progress in the country, I don’t imagine that will be any time soon!