When we checked in at the Canadian Embassy last week, we were handed flyers inviting us to “Meet Canadians in Rwanda!” and celebrate Canada day here. We all agreed it would be a lot of fun and had planned on attending. Since July 1st is a holiday in Rwanda too, the 1st is Independence day and the 4th is Liberation Day, the day the genocide ended in ‘94, a lot of things were closed or operating under different hours, such as the taxi to Kigali; the only morning trip out of Kibungo was the 6 am-er. I found there to be two perks to being in the taxi that early: the spectacular ball-of-fire sunrise, and the vacancy of seats. There was enough space to keep all our gear and stretch out somewhat.
Since we took such an early taxi, we were in town way ahead of schedule (the BBQ started at 11 and we were planning on arriving African-ly late), and so we headed to Bourbon Café to make the most of being in the big city. We spent some time at the internet café too, and then went to Sierra club for a snack and to meet our cab driver, Cassim. We left town a direction I’ve never driven yet, and the hour drive to the lake was very beautiful. By the time we arrived at the BBQ, it was around 2 pm, and the BBQ was supposed to end at 3.
The young man working at the consulate who gave us the flyer was there, and he is actually the son of Anna-Maria who works for the UN, and she was hosting the celebration. Her husband Bill was a super sweet guy too, and he was working the grill. We met a lot of great people and it was interesting to speak with Canadian’s and their experiences in Rwanda, and get a new perspective on the country that I can relate to. I met with a really helpful girl named Julie who recommended I get in a touch with another documentary filmmaker who splits his time between New York and Kigali, and he’ll be coming here in July. Lama also ran into an old friend of his, Eugene, who he actually went to elementary school with. Eugene invited us to come stay at his house in Kigali that night, and we told him we’d take him up on his offer. Having a place to stay was a pleasant surprise.
When we were back in Kigali, we picked up a box of wine to take over to Eugene’s and we went to his house. Eugene lives in this beautiful new suburb of Kigali filled with huge, nice homes that look like any house in Canada or the US. I had never seen this side of Kigali and was surprised at the wealth of the neighborhood. We drank some wine and then went out for dinner. Eugene took us to this country club to eat, and the houses we were driving past were ridiculous: they were some of the biggest I’ve ever seen, it was like the Shaughnessey of Kigali.
The country club was beautiful and the although the service was typically African, it was still surprisingly slow. It took us almost three hours to get our food, and I was hungry and tired when we got there. Eugene is a great guy and a window into how the top of the country lives, and answered a lot of questions we had. He studied at NYU and lived in New York and Toronto, and told us he came back to visit Rwanda in 1998 and said he would have never lived here back then, but the country has come so far in 10 years.
I was surprised when I got a phone call while I was at the table because my phone NEVER rings in Rwanda and if it ever does, it’s one of two people who were both sitting with me. It was my parents! They were concerned about my apparent frustration in yesterday’s blog post which they had just read and wanted to talk to me. I’m glad they called because we got to speak about how I felt and how the disparity between rich and poor was hard for them to adjust to in Kenya too. I realize that Rwanda is like anywhere else in the world, there are very rich and very poor, but what’s hard about seeing it in Rwanda is the feeling of being out of place that comes with it. Even though the same problems exist in Canada, I don’t see them. That’s the difference.
Once dinner was finished, Eugene was so kind as to pay for our meals and drinks, and the cab to and from his house. I was hoping we could treat him, as he was also letting us stay at his gorgeous home for free too, but he insisted. Lama told us a story of when Idi Amin was invited to the UK and at a dinner with the Queen stood up and said, “Mr. Queen. I am fed up (meaning he was full and well fed). When you come to Uganda, I will take revenge on you (meaning he would repay the favor in Uganda).” So Lama Kara and I agreed that Eugene needed to come to Kibungo to visit so that we could take revenge on him for his hospitality.
