Back in Rwanda, folks! I've had all the deja vu of landing in Kigali, lugging my bags out to our waiting bus and heading off in the night towards the bright lights of the big city!
I've enjoyed the cozy feeling of tucking into bed with the mosquito net around me, also the smug satisfaction of outsmarting those little buggers for another night! I cleverly yell "bite me!" as I lay down happily...and no, the joke never gets old for me.
I've had a couple of classic Rwandan experiences in the past few days...
We went to get phones for everyone in our one morning in Kigali, and as resident-non-Rwandan-Kinyarwanda-speaker, I was doing some bargaining and jumped on helping get phones for others. I had to walk away from two different shops to get a good deal and while the others bemoaned the extra work for the equivalent of 2 euro, I was bent and determined for the principle of it. I KNEW we could get the phones for 10000 francs (~12 euro) so I couldn't stop until we did. And while the Rwandans stood around me laughing and my MDP student friends stood confused but amused by the situation, I'll be damned if I didn't get those phones for just that.
BUT at the beginning, I already had my own unlocked phone so I just needed to procure a sim card and some credit to become functional. I remember sim cards being 1000francs previously, though they included 500f credit. So I called over one of the young'uns in a yellow MTN vest and got my card and 1000f to start things off. However, as I went to get sim cards for others, and helped them figure out the currency and what it meant, I realized the cards were only 500f. Now, my dear little boy hadn't told me that when I bought my card...luckily, seeing the potential wealth of all the credit to be bought by 12 abazungus (white people/foreigners), he was still buzzing around. In kinyarwanda, I reminded him that I had paid him 500f more and that it was bad culture not to be truthful...While it may seem a bit much for the equivalent of about 75 cents...some standard shaming was necessary....just all part of the life.
We also have enjoyed the many fine dining options that Butare has to offer...(sarcasm intended if not audible). One of the few places open on Sunday evening was "The Chinese Restaurant" which seems to have no Chinese people actually associated with its operation. The menu is extensive, but upon arrival, we were told that actually only 3 dishes were available: Stir-fried beef, stir-fried pork, or fish....We have quite a few limitations in the dietary needs of our group so we just ordered some rice, beef and fish....
2 hours later...the sizzling beef came out with the rice, the fish was nowhere to be found, but this wasn't even the fun part! We were eating outside because of course, we wanted to enjoy the night and heat (READ- lack of rain & warmth that are so common in Ireland)...but as such, our lighting options were limited (READ-none).
Keeping my trusty flashlight always in my purse right next to my bug spray and sun cream, we were able to work through the menu, but no such thing was necessary or made sense for eating. It could have come in handy though, because when the "beef" arrived, it certainly didn't taste like any beef I've ever had in my life...we began to go through all the possible options....'maybe it's just a fatty cut of beef,' 'it doesn't TASTE like goat,' 'maybe its the sauce...' 'it's not tough enough for goat...'
Obviously, this didn't stop us from eating, but we will never know what exactly it was we had. I was just happy with the lack of rocks & dirt!
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