Livonia High Students Come Through Again

I thought I had lost this photo when the hard drive of our computer was wiped out. I found it among my archived emails, so although late, I want to publicly thank Kristie Langlois and the Livonia High Jr. FBLA Club for their efforts in collecting children's books for the Kigali Public Library. They were received in good condition during the summer and were much appreciated by the Rotary Club which is spearheading the library project here. This is to be a public-private partnership with the Rwandan Government and working out the governance structure and details of administration has been a slow process. Progress, however, is being made albeit slow and books have been arriving from major donors as well as smaller donors. Thanks to acquaintances, friends and family that sent items.

Woman Know Your Place

Gifts offered to the bride's family definitely indicative of what the wife's role in the marriage should be.

Peached Whale

We attended the introduction ceremony of our housekeeper’s daughter yesterday. The introduction is typically held a bit before the actual church wedding, but my housekeeper’s daughter was ‘introduced’ in the morning and was then married in the afternoon. The introduction ceremony took place here in Kigali, but the wedding took place in Kibuye, a town several hours away. We decided to fore go the actual wedding.

My housekeeper insisted that I wear the traditional garb of wedding attendees. The attire harkens to the days when Rwanda was ruled by kings. They wore toga-like ensembles of sparkling white cloth, tied at the left shoulder. These days the cloth can be of any color and cottons have been replaced with polyester, rayon, nylon, etc. My housekeeper borrowed one of these for me to wear. It’s essentially a one size fits all model as the skirt is basically a large rectangle of cloth with a drawstring through the top to tie around the waist. The cloth is gathered and bunched to fit smaller waists or drawn out along the string to cover larger waists. I don’t exactly have the heft and bulk of the typical African Mami, so there was a lot of cloth gathered at my waist, ironically giving the impression that I did. The sheer wrap of matching fabric, just another large rectangle of cloth, is knotted at the left shoulder. My ensemble was of a printed peach fabric. Peach is not a color I would ever choose for myself. Needless to say I looked like a “peached” whale! Judge for yourself, see photo. My family is absolutely forbidden from e-mailing me any snide remarks.

It was a very nice ceremony replete with all sorts of traditional gestures that are made back and forth from groom’s side to bride’s side. Unfortunately, a great deal of it was lost on us because we don’t speak Kinyarwandan, but we were able to figure out the basics. There was no doubt, irrespective of the language barrier, about what the woman’s role in the marriage would be when the groom’s family presented the bride’s family with a hoe and the modern day equivalent of a water calabash (yellow plastic 5 gallon container). Farming and water collection are still considered women’s work round these parts!

Pelicans & Bats

One of the cool things about Kigali is the fact that there is an abundance of avian creatures that live amongst the tall buildings, crazy traffic and general mayhem that accompanies most African cities. Kigali is teeming with flowering vines, banana trees, shrubs, etc. These play host to a large diversity of birds. As witnessed by the majority of our blog postings, birds play a significant role in keeping us occupied and entertained here.

One of the most entertaining sights in the city is the flock of White Pelicans that inhabits the conifers on the street corner across from the Ecole Belge (Belgian School). Reid’s office is in the vicinity, so we get to see these stately creatures daily as they roost near the traffic light. Housed on the third floor of the building, Reid’s large picture window view encompasses the birds’ flight path. It’s not unusual to visit him and see the image of a large Pelican advancing across the frame as it comes in for a landing in the nearby trees.

Rwanda, being landlocked, seems like an improbable host to these fellows, but they apparently feed on the ponds of Tilapia being farmed commercially in the area. They appear to be healthy and well fed and so must be getting enough to eat to keep them calling downtown home.

The area around the presidential palace, also in what is essentially downtown Kigali, plays host to a very large colony of fruit bats. There might even be two separate colonies as the bats can be found in the trees lining two separate streets several blocks apart. The trees virtually drip with specimens. Additionally, they make a really strange screeching sound that’s somewhat of a cross between a pig and a bird emanating from the hundreds if not thousands of winged mammals. For a while, we thought they had been displaced because of all of the construction transpiring in the area, but they've recently reappeared. Rwanda has pretensions of being the African Singapore and the hotels, office buildings, and skyscrapers seem to be going up with complete abandon. Hopefully, Kigali can retain some of its verdant charm in the process and the bat colony can remain as a wonderful curiosity and tourist attraction.

Want to be a Millionaire?

The current exchange rate is 600 RwF to the US dollar. The largest denomination in circulation is the 5000 Franc note. So when transferring money from our US account to our Rwandan account, the figures are in the millions. A couple of thousand US dollars translates to millionaire status here! Unfortunately, the cost of living is exceedingly high and so even though we’re “millionaires” we find it difficult to purchase $12 boxes of Kellog’s Cornflakes!

Since we pay virtually everything in cash here, we’ve got to take out considerable amounts when it’s time to pay the staff, lunch bills, ballet fees or even purchase petrol (about $6.80 /gallon) and electricity. Frequently, the bank is devoid of the 5000 Franc note as was the case today. We were given our withdrawal, about $800 US, in 2000 Franc bills. Needless to say, getting that amount of cash in what essentially amounts to $2 bills represents quite a wad. Can’t help but feel like we’re akin to bank robbers walking out with huge bundles of currency. Can’t exactly stuff the below pictured bundles in one’s pockets either. It’s even difficult enough to get it into my purse!

Well millionaire status will be short-lived, we’re now on the backside of this puppy and are down in the teens on the number of weeks we have left in country. We’re looking forward to buying Cheerios in the huge family size as one of the first things we do upon our return! Oh and carrying far less cash on our person….