Wrap up

Home safe.
The last few days in Rwanda were terrific. After the safari, We had our last day of filming at Immaculate. What we thought was going to be a two or three hour shoot ran well over, with good reason. The school was having a feast to close their celebration of Catholic Education Week. This feast was basically a talent show and sending off party for us. Traditional dance groups performed, the choir sang, and we were presented with gifts. Christine and I presented the headmistress with the guitar, and they asked me to play a song. I panicked at first, with no idea what to play, but then settled on Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town by Pearl Jam. it's a song about remembering, and I asked our friend Olivier, one of their English teachers, to translate that short synopsis for them before I played. It went over really well, and they loved the guitar. Success!
Their dances and songs were unbelievable, and Christine was able to get almost all of it on film.
My trip home couldn't have been better. I made some new friends along the way, and talked to people at every stage of the trip. I'm pretty sure I've resigned myself to live and work in Paris at some point in my life.
The experience overall was moving, unsettling, beautiful, challenging, rewarding, and very, very worthwhile. Glad to be home safe.
I'm going to wrap up the blog here, but PLEASE email or call me if you want to talk. I'm still doing my best to make sense of my experiences, and I've found the best way to do that is to talk about them.
I'll be living in Boston most of the summer, and home to New York for two weeks in the beginning of September. After that, I'm driving out to LA to try and hack it as an assistant engineer are the Jungle Room.
Slightly updated photos are up on the linked slideshow now, and in the next two or three days, there will be much better ones from Christine's SLR.
Thanks so much for reading, all the well-wishing was completely instrumental in the trip going as well as it did.
Love. Love. Love.

Des Animaux!

Friends,
We had the time of our life yesterday. An all day trip to Akagera national park yielded some of the most ridiculuously excellent animal experiences of my life. The San Diego Zoo is an amazing place for many reasons, but it's really got nothing on rural East Africa. Akagera is Rwanda's version of Yellowstone park.
We woke up at 3:15am, and Christine, Sister Augusta, and I took our packed breakfast and snacks along with us, and drove in a toyota SUV. (people only drive toyotas and suzukis here) The trip was about 4 and a half hours, and watching the sunrise over the Rwandan hills was pretty much as gorgeous as it gets. We stopped for breakfast on the side of the road outside of the park, (no one is allowed to eat and drive at the same time in Rwanda, so we just pulled over so the driver could join us) and then we entered.
As students we paid $25 each, and Sr. and the driver paid considerably less as Rwandans. Our guide was a girl about my age, perhaps a little older, in a park ranger uniform with binoculars. She took us for a four hour adventure through the park seeing all sorts of animals. Giraffes (about 10) Warthogs (15 or so) Zebras (30) Water Buffalo (100+) Impala (40 or so) Water Buck (7) Doves (5) Egrets (10) Each of these species were within 20 feet of the car at some point. We kept looking at eachother and laughing, it was an incredible experience. National parks are one of Rwandas major resources for tourism, and we had an amazing time.
One more day left, and i'll catch you later! We're heading to mass at the university.

Winding down

Sorry it's been a few days! We've been very busy here, so let's catch up. Last I left you we had come back from Kigali, and the National Genocide Memorial. In the days since, we've soaked up much Rwandan culture and history. Two days ago we visited the Rwandan National Museum, which focused on the natural history of Rwanda. Located here in Butare, the museum told the story of Rwanda from it's earliest pre-history to the current day.
Like almost every experience we've had here, the museum was a bit complicated. Some background on the genocide: When German, and later Belgian colonisers came to Rwanda in the late 19th century, they found a people who had conquered many tribes around them and established a loose empire. Within this empire, there were three class distinctions. Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa. (from richest to poorest) The Belgians quickly seized this chance to further fragment the people. In the early 1930s, coinciding with the replacement of a Rwandan king who would not convert to catholicism with his son who would, the Belgians issued ID cards for every Rwandan. This ID card declared them a member of an 'ethnic class'. The two largest were Tutsi (one with more than ten cows) Hutu (one with less than ten). The declarations lasted for generations, and although there were class issues beforehand, this fabricated distinction allowed the Belgians to constantly promote beliefs among the people that pitted the two sides against eachother. In the 1960s and 70s, Tutsis were driven from their homes to Uganda and the Congo. Violence continued steadily, as more and more radical leaders came to power in Rwanda. In 1994, the government collapsed when the presidents plane crashed near the capital, apparently being shot down. The radical army he had bred took control, and instituted road blocks across the country, murdering any Tutsi stopped on the road. Days later, the house to house searches began, and over the course of 100 or so days, almost a million innocent people were killed.
I can't really explain this in that much detail, because I have yet to learn much, but I have never been confronted with such a clear and obvious destruction of a culture and people as an effect of colonization.
With this in mind, imagine going through two history museums in two days, and seeing only one mention of anything regarding social classes. It's pretty baffling. The Genocide museum clearly explained all this, but the other national museums seem to disconnect here. Pretty interesting stuff. I can't wait to discuss it all with you intelligent folks. Aside from that, things are great. Took photos and video of a new guest house the nuns are opening, so they can make a website to promote it. They are still over-feeding us, and we are loving it here. We met up with an American Ethnomusicologist from FSU who is studying the music of the genocide here, and had an excellent dinner with him two nights ago. We filmed and photographed an amazing soccer match at the school (played with the one ball they have) and we're about to run out the door and interview the school's dean. Forgive any typos, i'm in a rush! Stay well, and i'll post much sooner this time!

Monday Monday

Quick recap, cause it's getting late here, and one of the nuns needs to let me back into my side of the convent. (Bizarre, i know)

So. Yesterday was Pentecost, we went to a HUGE mass with kids from Immaculate Conception, and we recorded the choir. I think it came out pretty well. For once we focused on audio more than video, so I got to place mics and not worry about the camera (sweet)
Mass was long, but good, and then we came back to the convent for a marathon celebration. 5 of the nuns completed 3 months of hospitality training this week, and the final task was to pull of a banquet. Christine and I stuffed ourselves, and celebrated with the sisters afterward. This included dancing. I know, too good :)
Today we went back to Kigali, (this time with Christine) and visited the National Genocide Memorial. I'd love to write a ten page post about this experience, but I'm going to just run through a few things that really hit me hard, and I'm going to point you all to http://www.rwanda-genocide.org/
Please, if you have five minutes, learn a little more than you knew about this event.
The museum attached to the memorial was amazingly personal. After explaining the story of the genocide, personal accounts and stories were woven into the information. This heartbreaking experience culminated with a room titled 'Vies Perdu'or Wasted Lives. 15 or so child victims were explained with a large photo and a few lines each. Name, favorite food, favorite sport, first/last words (depending on age) and cause of death.
I can't really relate more of this right now, because of the time needed for proper explanations, and the mental distance I still need to achieve. I'll tell you more about it soon.

On a lighter note, my roomate's name is Ted, and he eats mosquitos for me. Heavy day in Kigali, back home safe, tutoring one of the nuns for her English exam tomorrow. Bon Chance!
More photos coming soon!

Mr. Saturday Night

I have a new roomate!
There's a gecko (who has lost his tail) who didn't seem to want to leave the other night, so I let him stay. Figured someone who eats mosquitos would be a good choice, and I haven't been let down yet.
Things are still going well, God-willing. Filmed teacher interviews yesterday, and economics class today. We've broken down most of our filming days into 3 or 4 hour blocks. This allows us to remain rested and fresh, and also gives Christine time to digest the footage we're gathering and really have an accurate idea of where we stand.
Immaculate Conception is a very positive environment for filmmaking. The teachers have all eagerly welcomed us into their classrooms, and the students wave and say hello to us (often by name) whenever we pass. In most cases here, the people are very very friendly to us. There's a chef and hospitality expert living at the convent for two or three days, teaching a course to the nuns who will be running a new guest house that is opening nearby. This means we have a Kigali hotel's head chef cooking our meals. Excellent.
That's all for now, check out the slideshow/picassa album I've linked to the blog.

Friends, a quick post about my shower.
I'd been holding off on posting about my shower, because I didn't want to seem ungrateful for everything I've received here. Last night however, pretty much sums up the relationship I have with mine.
It's basically a 4'x4' porcelain basin sunk 6 inches into the floor. There's a nice mat, a drain, and a hand-held shower head that sits on top of the faucet at about 4 feet off the floor. It makes for interesting showers, in part because there is no place to affix the handset, and also because my first week here, the hot water hasn't been working...or so I thought.
I tried the red knob first, and it was just cold water. So I'd been showering that way, thinking that maybe at some point the heat would kick in, and I'd be greetedwith warmth.
Last night, out of desperation, and because the pressure was failing, I turned on the cold knob. I thought to myself: well, this can't get any colder, so screw it, right?
Right.
I was immediately scalded with incredibly hot water, that my heater had been waiting a whole week to dispense.
Apparently the 'catch' with my shower was that THE HOT AND COLD KNOBS ARE REVERSED.
I was having the shower of my life for the next 8 or 10 minutes, at which point the electricity cut out and I was left in the thickest of darkness. If you've been camping in a remote area, then you know how dark night can get. I'd bet East Africa wins.
I fumbled with the shower, (scalding myself again) and proceeded to do a Crocodile Mile, soapily sliding across the cement floor trying to find my towel. I grabbed my flashlight and dried off, sliding into bed safe and sound.
Today we filmed english and computer classes at Immaculate Conception. The students are all there to learn, and I've never seen ALL the students in a high school age classroom pay such close attention to their teachers. The nation-wide development plan entitled Vision 2020 calls for English to be taught in all schools, and adopted as the official language of the country next year. This switch is the focus of Christine's film. There are three widely-used languages in Rwanda: the native tongue Kinyarwanda, French (introduced by the Belgian colonizers) , and English. It's really interesting to see a culture abandon a former language in place of a new one. Some would call it an infringement on culture, but it seems to me that the people are just trading one colonial tongue for another. In the name of globalization and economic growth, this makes sense, but it's still a complicated and powerful decision. The children continue to study French along with Kinyarwanda and English, but I'm not sure if this is just to phase out French. The culture at Immaculate Conception is very hopeful. Can't wait to see more.
I hope you all have positive experiences with your showers at home, and stay well.

Kigali and Back

Successful morning, restful afternoon.
I retired to my bed pretty early last night, as we planned to go to the capital, Kigali, in the morning.
I have to take a second to explain my sleeping apparatus for those of you who have never travelled to a malaria-active area. I have an excellent bed to sleep in. It's a full-size foam mattress, with clean sheets, and many blankets that I never use. These are much better sleeping arrangements than I expected. The catch, however, (and i'm quickly learning that with most situations in Africa, there's a catch) is that my bedroom door goes right outside, and doesn't seal completely. To fend off the female, mostly nocturnal mosquitos that carry malaria, I basically sleep in a Princess Bed.
To be completely honest, I kinda really like it.
It's a little scary when I consider WHY my bed is like a see-through circus tent, but I just try to enjoy it for what it is. About an hour before I retire, I spray down the Princess Malaria net with 30% DEET insect repellant, and right before bed I spray my arms and head. Life's an adventure, oui?
I usually sleep pretty well, all things considered. (QUICK SIDE STORY: I think I was sleeping a little too well two days ago. I was napping after a large lunch (the nuns never think we eat enough) and I awoke to a strange sound. I ignored it for about 15 mins, until I became convinced it wasn't coming from outside. I looked around on the floor, and quickly saw what I thought was a small bug or something in the corner of my bedroom. I reached for my glasses, and after poking myself in the eye while putting them on, realized there was a ten inch gecko-type lizard hanging out about two feet from my bed. Awesome. In my underwear, I shook out my sneakers (to make sure there weren't more lizards in there) and picked up a sandal to shoo my new friend out of my bedroom. I got him out the door, and went back to sleep. END SIDE STORY)
Christine woke up feeling a little less than amazing this morning, so she decided to stay home while Sr. Augusta and I took the two hour public transportation van ride to Kigali. Rwandan radio is a mix of American and African reggae (classic, and dub) some newer American artists like Kanye West and Beyonce, and a lot of African pop and electronic music that is new (and awesome) to me. Pumping dance music at 6:30am, we made great time to Kigali.
The city was quite an experience, in a week of new experiences. So. many. people. The streets were again crowded with dirtbike-taxis, cars, vans, and people on foot. There are many beggars in Kigali. I hadn't really seen that yet, but many people who are physically handicapped beg for money on the street, same as in any other place. No wheelchairs or crutches though, just limb, eye, and handless souls asking for money. I try not to be naive, and I know the shock factor works best on potential alms givers, but this would've taken a back even the most cynical of American city-dwellers.
On any given block there are 5 or 10 young men selling MTN cards. MTN is the Verizon of East Africa (I find it relieving that Verizon isn't the Verizon of East Africa) and all mobile devices work on pay as you go setups. I hadn't considered this, but there is no other way to sell mobile access in a place like this.
Sr. had to visit a bank and check on the status of loans they'd borrowed to build dormatories at the National University in Butare for students from far away, (amazing) and I had to change some money into US dollars, look for a guitar (more on this later) and find a specific data transfer cable.
The money changing first. We quickly found an exchange office with a reasonable rate. (wait for it...) The CATCH, however, was that if you change smaller bills (I had $400 in twenties to change) the exchange rate is about 1/4 less than it is with $100 bills. This was a bit frustrating, but Sr. saved the day by pulling a $100 bill OUT OF HER PURSE and adding this to the one $50 we had, to make for a decent amount of change, with the understanding that Christine and I would pay her back later. (She's half superhero, half nun)
We quickly spotted a small music store, and found a great Ibanez-copy acoustic guitar. (I decided after visiting the school and consulting with Sr. Augusta to pick up a guitar to have while I'm here, and teach the kids at the school (and the nuns) with the intention of leaving it at the school when I go.) We bargained a little, and took home the guitar, strap, and extra strings for about $125, which is much less than I expected to pay for a guitar as solid as this one. Success!
Our last errand was the most difficult. I have a situation for you to picture in your head: Try to put yourself there. You're in Rwanda, and you need to find a specific computer cable. The most complicated piece of equipment you've seen the entire trip is a dell desktop, with a USB printer. Electronics stores consist of beat up speaker equipment and gorgeous mobile phones. You're attempting to explain to someone who speaks some combination of Kinyarwanda, French, and Hindi that you need a 1394 Firewire cable that converts from 4 pin to 6 pin. Good luck, Jack.
7th store was the charm. Only had one of the cables, and he took it from another package. To quote Capt. Miller in Saving Private Ryan: "it's like finding a needle in a stack of needles."
After refusing about 1500 phone cards, we had completed our errands. I looked at Sister's watch. Somehow, it was only noon.
Made it back safe, laying low and Christine is feeling better, all day at the school tomorrow filming classes and extra-curriculars.
Talk soon folks, keep the comments and emails coming, love them all! I know I'm forgetting to explain things, so keep asking questions!