The 2 week update

Field full of banana trees... (I still can't believe how amazing this picture turned out)

I can’t believe I’ve already been in Rwanda for two weeks already. Although the nutrition project hasn’t started yet, we have been keeping ourselves occupied with gathering information for writing funding proposals for DIZA, learning Kinyarwanda, keeping in touch with family back home and exploring the culture and the town of Kibungo.

Kigali vs. Kibungo

Currently, we’re living in a small town called Kibungo which is 2 hours away from Kigali. We are living in a hostel called St. Joseph which is opposite of a local university called INATEK (Institute of Agriculture, Technology, Education). I really enjoy living in Kibungo more than Kigali because I feel that there are more interactions with the local people and I feel that I’m more exposed to the cultural norms of Rwanda. Although Kigali is very comforting with the nice hotels, the Western restaurants and frequent use of English and people staring at you less, it is 3 times more expensive than Kibungo and I feel like I’m just stuck in the guesthouse using internet or watching movies ( We could probably do this in Vancouver or anywhere else in the world).  We decided that we’d bus to Kigali whenever we had meetings with World Relief or UNICEF and during the weekends to take it easy and dance the night away to Rwandan music. By the way, if you think you party hard you should come to Rwanda because clubs and bars don’t close at 12 am or 3 am. They close whenever people start leaving which means it could go on till 6 am in the morning. It’s 1:30 am and 4 of us Vancouverites are already yawning and ready to go back home.

The clean streets of Kigali

Interaction/Communication in Rwanda

By the way, I have a new identity here because people think I’m Chinese and no one remembers my name because it’s so difficult to pronounce (so I’m just thinking of adopting a new name). When I tell people I’m from Nepal, they look baffled so I just say “aba-chinois” (Chinese) and then they smile, nod their head and say “tsawa” (okay).

I'd like to think that the children are not following me because  of my new hairdo :)  I'm totally blending in (ya're right)

As we stroll through the streets of Kibungo, children in their school uniforms follow us (now that I’ve got my hair braided, they just follow the 3 other girls) all the way to town, practicing their English and teaching us Kinyarwanda. They stare at us and then talk amongst themselves and all I understand is “mzungo” (foreigner or equivalent to kwire in Nepali). 

I have never had the experience of going to a country where I didn't speak the most spoken language. I lived in Nepal for 18 years and then moved to Vancouver where language was not an issue. As expected, not knowing Kinyarwanda and not being able to communicate with people who only speak Kinyarwanda has been very difficult at times. I love starting the conversations by saying “Muraho, amakura? (hello, how are you?) and after that, it goes downhill. Sometimes people keep talking to me in Kinyarwanda even after I give them an “I don’t know” look and they still expect me to reply or say something. All I can do is smile back while I tell myself, “ok, time to learn more words.” So far, I’ve learned how to greet/thank people, bargain a little and say my numbers up to 6. In addition, I’ve also been practicing my French here and there (since many Rwandese speak French) to prepare for my trip to France in May.

Greeting someone in Rwanda

One aspect that I really like about the Rwandan culture is the way they greet people and acknowledge people. When you greet someone (a friend, someone your own age), you touch cheeks three times and then shake hands no matter whether it’s a girl or a guy. If you’re walking into a room full of people or dinner at a restaurant, you can’t just get away with a “hey, what’s up” wave, you have to go around and greet everyone including people you don’t know. I like that everyone in the room is recognized/introduced when they walk in and I find that it just breaks the ice instead of you wondering who that person may be. The whole greeting experience isn’t as easy as it sounds. When someone is older (or more respected person) than you, you have to wait for the older person to give their hand first which is completely opposite of Nepali culture where the younger person is expected to greet the elder person first. There is also a proper way to shake hands: shake hands like you normally do with your right hand while you put out your left hand on their right hand or your right biceps (yes, kind of confusing and I’m still figuring it out.) 

Molly, Kristina, President of DIZA (Jean-Mari), myself and Mona @ Chez Lando for a meeting

This post was supposed to be a 2-week update but I honestly haven't even covered half of it. There is just a lot to share... Stay tuned for more updates!

Murabeho!

xx