Everything is Holy Now

So, we’re spending this week in Butare, a city in the Southern province where the national university is. We got here on Sunday evening and will stay until Saturday. The drive out here was absolutely gorgeous. We got to see the beautiful Rwandan hills uncluttered by city life, although there was certainly farming and rural life everywhere. If I can ever get these pictures posted, you have to see them. Even in the rural most parts we passed through, there were still people walking along the roads carrying baskets, children, pushing bikes loaded with things, etc. I’m really starting to understand the meaning of population density here. It’s incredible.

We first stopped at a museum that had the old and new king’s palace. The old palace would definitely not be considered a palace by Western standards, but compared to the traditional, indigenous dwellings that were once here, it’s incredibly impressive. We entered the king’s compound through an opening in the bamboo fence that surrounded the compound, and inside there was the huge king’s hut, the milk hut, and the beer hut. Each hut had a front room, a living room of sorts, a back room, and a bedroom with the hut being divided by woven partitions. Apparently a young girl and a young boy lived in the milk hut and beer hut, respectively, and were in charge of their respective beverages, which were and are highly valued in Rwandan society. We visited the contemporary palace next, which is now a museum that chronicles Rwandan history past to present. Apparently they’re building a new palace, which looks like an enormous house from afar, on another nearby hill. Things are talked about in terms of hills here—where you live, where something is, how people are grouped.

Next, we visited what was easily the hardest memorial yet, Murambi. Again, I’ll spare much of the details since that’s not why you’re reading my blog, but if you’d like to know more, just email/facebook me. This place, in 1994, was a newly built school that was set to open until the genocide happened. People from the surrounding hills were instructed or chose to gather at this school thinking they would receive help, but instead they were barred from leaving and were systematically killed. Outside the museum (which had a bunch of information on Rwandan history) were two mass graves that had something like 20,000 people. Out back were several school rooms, several of which contained the remains of victims, full bodies preserved in limestone or something like that. It was overwhelming. Apparently this place was taken over by the French during Operation Turquoise, their attempt at making up for the fact that they supplied and trained the genocidiers (which really only gave refuge to the genocidiers once they started losing the war), and turned into a French military base. We got to see the site where French soldiers played volleyball right next to several mass graves. It was just unbelieveable. Definitely the hardest memorial yet.

We arrived in Butare and checked into our hotel, or the convent rather. A group of nuns runs the hotel, so everything is rather Catholic. I have a holographic picture of Jesus on my wall. It’s pretty awesome. So far, we’ve seen the town, visited and toured the university (they have monkeys!! Everywhere!! They’re like the squirrels in America, except we’ve only seen them at the university), seen a movie about arts and drama at the university, met with a group of students from the peace and reconciliation club, and had a class on media and language.

We also went out to a village today (Tuesday) to visit a village/co-op of mostly women who are either widows who are survivors or women whose husbands were genocide perpetrators and have either been imprisoned or released. They raise crops and animals, and they make soap to sell in the market. With the money they earn, they help pay for children’s education, care for the elderly, supplies, and supplies for the poorest families. We met the women at a school, so of course we were swarmed by children again when we got there. Apparently muzungus are a rarity in Rwandan villages. One of my friends compared it to going on a safari, but instead of us looking at animals, the kids are staring at us. It’s pretty funny. They’re all so adorable though!! I’ll hopefully get pictures up at some point. Functional, fast, and free (though I’ll pay a bit) wifi is a rather elusive creature.

Also, I’ve learned since coming to Rwanda that everyone who told me it’s easy to be a vegetarian in Rwanda was probably an omnivore. Sure, there are plenty of options other than meat, but plenty of protein options? Not so much. Like at all. Our meals generally come from buffets and consist of rice, pasta, French fries (even at home), greens, some sort of salad, matoke (plantains), cassava, sauce, beans, and bananas (sometimes passion fruit!). So basically starch, starch, a few veggies, beans, and more starch. And I really don’t like beans, but I’ll try to eat them. I’ve tried adding in nuts, peanut butter, tons of milk, and now eggs, which sounds like it should be enough, but it’s so sporadic, I’m really not getting enough protein. Either I have to get a protein regimen down, or reconsider being vegetarian while here. It’s tough either way.