Let the world change you...: Weekends in Kigali

I just made it through my second weekend in Kigali and I really appreciate having those two days off to relax, go to the market, and explore my new city. After my first week of work I spent the weekend going to a large market called Kimironko which reminded me of the market in Praia where there was a hodgepodge of nearly everything. One side of the market is filled with tables of mangos, passion fruit, avocados, oranges, green lemons, tree tomatoes (plums), papaya, and all the vegetables you could imagine. Then there’s a section with cassava and other types of flours and dried beans. As you move through the market you move to the random imported clothing (possibly once donated from the US or other countries) and other goods. There are areas filled with large buckets which people use to wash clothes, electronics stands, and cooking utensils.

Then you move on to the fabric area which is so bright and colorful. Tailors work away at the ends of each row while you walk by and shop owners welcome you at their booths to choose your fabric. We’ve made friends with one fabric owner, Josephine, who has many dedicated expatriate customers and because of that makes sure we get a fair price on fabric and getting clothes made. My first weekend I went just to explore and see what was available. My second weekend I returned, purchased fabric, and am now waiting for a tailor made dress which will be complete in 4 days.

Once you move passed the fabrics, the crafts appear and shop owners call out to you to buy their products. “This is really nice.” “Do you want to try it?” “Real ebony wood, good price for you.” To me the products seem sort of factory made, each person has the same items with a slight variation of colors, materials and quality. After having visited East Africa twice before, the goods seem the same as they were 8 years ago on my first visit to Africa. I keep my eye out for unique objects but none of the wooden sculptures, paper bead jewelry, and colorful sandstone call out my name.

The next day I headed to Gisozi, the national genocide memorial in Kigali. The museum/memorial was very well done, informative and shocking and really puts into your head how recent and how many people it has affected. You are not allowed to take photos inside which is completely understandable but they are allowed outside in the gardens. The memorial center was divided into multiple parts describing the history of Rwanda, the genocide, the aftermath, other genocides around the world, and children affected by the genocide or what they spoke as “the lost generation.” Outside are many gardens, each very symbolic, as well as mass graves where over 250,000 people are buried. The museum had a good balance of historical information, shocking images of wounds suffered from the genocide, pictures of other memorial sites throughout Rwanda, photos donated of family members by survivors of the genocide, sculptures and stained glass created by local and international artists, and what I found to be the second most chilling exhibit- bones, skulls, and clothing displayed from victims. To further drive the point, the audio tour ends with an exhibit dedicated to the children of the genocide complete with large photos of children of all ages along with a description of their favorite foods, subjects in school, favorite games, and last of all, how they were killed. The way the memorial was laid out, you exit the children’s exhibit to a balcony outside for a bit of fresh air to give you a moment to process what you just witnessed. I visited the gardens second, as recommended by other people staying at the hostel, which was nice after witnessing the inside exhibits. As you can see in one of my pictures, the mass graves in the exterior of the center lie in plain view of the city in the outside. I found it quite interesting that the gardens and mass graves were not walled in like you would find at some other sort of museum or memorial, closed off from the world. It was weird being surrounded by this sort of dichotomy of so much death and violence and the world on the outside moving on, functioning, and progressing as a society. It exemplified to me what Rwanda is today. People moving on, having hope, living out their daily lives while this undertone still remains. While discussing other East African countries, a colleague of mine mentioned that Kenyans and Ugandans are much more friendly. Even she mentioned that Rwandans are more serious, possibly because of the genocide. I thought that was an interesting point.

Kigali Memorial Centre

Coming out of the Children's Exhibit

One of the stories up close.

View of the eternal flame

Elephant statue representing remembrance

Flame

Walking down from the gardens to the mass graves

Wall of Names- still a work in progress

Young forest of remembrance

When we got back from the memorial (about 5 hours later) we spent about 3 hours cleaning and chopping and mixing and cooking. It was a good way to process more from earlier in the day while giving us something to do. With one cutting board and 2 kitchen knives that we found in the hostel, we made our own “gourmet” meal. The final meal was pasta with tomato sauce from scratch, mango salsa, guacamole, and garlic bread. We also made a cocktail with a Ugandan gin called Waragi as well as green tea, lemon juice, and honey. It was awesome.

Weekend #2 we also made dinner. This time we did a taco night for the entire hostel or whoever was there. We made everything from scratch: pineapple salsa, guacamole, beans (these were from a bag but I spiced them up), lettuce, cheese, and even tortillas which turned out a little more like nan or pita bread than tortillas. Everything was delicious and there was plenty to go around. For 600 RWF a person or $1 it was the right price for all of us!