Wordless Wednesday on Friday

Visas and Sad Departures

Today I went back to immigration to pick up my visa. I got a text message telling me my visa was ready for pick up and it was all very straightforward. A lot of the people waiting with me were the same people I waited with last week so there were some nods and smiles of greetings everytime someone new came in and took their number. I only had to wait an hour this time and then I was able to leave passport in hand. Now I am here in Rwanda legally. Hurrah!

Today I also said goodbye to Maddy, one of my housemates. She is going back the the US for two weeks and gets back three days after I leave here. I'm sad that she is gone and the rest of my time in the house will be a little lonely. I still have Dora, who I love, but she works all day and then has school in the evenings so she often does not get home until 9:30 or 10:00 at night. So I have the house mostly to myself.

I am really excited about this weekend. Ashley, a friend and classmate doing her research in Uganda, is coming here to Kigali. She finally got her visa today as well. We haven't decided exactly what we're going to do while she's here but it will probably be a lot of hanging out and relaxing. Hopefully the weather cooperates. We may do a day trip to Gisenyi, a lakeside tourist town near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. (don't worry mom, we won't cross the border...) I'm also excited because Katherine, a friend I met last time I was in Rwanda will also be coming back next weekend. Hopefully she can hang out with Ashley and I a little and I'm looking forward to catching up with her and hearing about her adventures.

I only have two weeks left here in Rwanda - TWO WEEKS!!! and there is still so much to do. If I think about it too much I start to get discouraged but I'm still confident that I can get most of the data that I still want to get. I have not been feeling 100% the past two days so I am hoping that I feel better quickly. It is not fun wandering around the land of a thousand hills looking for not very descriptive addresses when you are not feeling well! And, now the power is out and my battery is dying so I will post this in the morning :)

** The power was out last night for more than three hours all over my area of Kigali (Kabeza) and most of Giporoso as well. This is the first time the power went out for that long when it wasn't raining. I had almost forgotten how unreliable the electricity used to be here because it has been so good lately. Now I'm in Bourbon at the MTN Center in Nyatarama to type up my last two interviews and enjoy some yummy coffee. Looks like it should be a great day!

Weekend Musings

I had a dream last night that I got home and realized that I couldn't use any of my interviews and that all the data I have collected here is wrong or can't be used. It gave me a little bit of a panicky feeling and now I'm looking over my interview transcripts thinking "is this right? is this what I want? What can I do with this?...." I only have two weeks left in Rwanda and I have A LOT to pack into that time. Hopefully I get it all done and I can talk to everyone I need to talk to.... then I get to spend a week in Ethiopia with Fiona and I won't think about research at all. Looking forward to the return of my sanity!


Another thing to look forward to is next weekend. Ashley is a friend and classmate who is doing her research in Uganda right now. Originally she was going to come hang out with me this weekend but due to visa issues that has been postponed until next weekend. I'm looking forward to showing her my favourite things in Kigali and to have someone to eat with at Indian Khazana, the best Indian Restaurant on the planet. If I can get enough done and talk to enough people this week then I am going to Uganda for a few days to hang out with her before I leave. I really hope this works out because it sounds like her time in Uganda has been really interesting and I have never been there. I'm going to have to get really annoying with the people I want to talk with so that they just agree to meet with me to get rid of me!

Yesterday morning I had a very productive meeting but it was pouring rain so I got soaking wet trying to get there. Then of course I had to wait almost 2 hours before she could actually meet with me, but that is the way things are. While I was walking from my house to find a taxi I ended up walking with a little girl on her way to buy cooking oil. She shared my umbrella for a few blocks then went into a shop across the street. We didn't talk to each other at all, just walked together for a little while trying to stay dry, then we waved as went our seperate ways. It was one of the highlights of my day.

Random Stories from Kigali (part 3)

I'm sitting in a new coffee shop in Kigali (new to me...which means it is less than 2 1/2 years old) trying to upload pictures to my thanksgiving post which is now three days late and has taken WAY too much effort to do. They are playing french Christmas caroles....

When I was coming to Rwanda I got confused trying to navigate the new visa application process (again, new to me... I think it has been in place for at least a year...) so instead of getting a visa that would be good for my entire visit here I got a simple online 30 day visa. So easy! Only took 3 days! Never mind that I didn't have it printed when I got to customs so I had to show them the form on my laptop like a Muzungu idiot. Anyway, the only hiccup to this plan is that I am here in Rwanda for 46 days. Not 30. So I need to get an extension of my visa. I had been told that this was an easy process and compared to the confusion of the original application process with the embassy in Ottawa dodging my calls and not picking up the phone no matter how many times I called, it was an easy process. It just involved me going to the immigration office three mornings in a row.

The first day I got delayed going and didn't realize that you can only hand in visa applications in the morning. I would still have had time except someone directed me to the wrong office (somehow I missed the big "VISA APPLICATIONS" sign above the correct door...) so by the time I made it to the correct office it was too late. So yesterday I returned and was there by 9:30am. I got my number - 3090.... now serving 3054.... lovely. So I waited in line for two hours for my turn. I nodded to some of the people who were there the day before and stared at the tv in the corner playing something about volcanoes without any volume. Finally it was my turn and the immigration agent told me that actually, because you're staying with a Rwandan we need a copy of their identification. When I told Dora this she was very confused because none of the interns who have stayed with her in the past have ever needed a copy of her identification, but those are the hoops so we jump through them.

I went back early this morning. For the third time in a row. I smiled at some familiar faces - at least I wasn't the only person jumping through hoops! The immigration office is starting to feel homey. I know which seats squeak, (the one by the window has a pokey thing in the backrest) and I know the powerpoint slideshow on how to get your number and stand in line quietly off by heart. This time I only had to wait 45 minutes and the time flew by. I spent it staring at the picture of President Kagame hanging on the wall trying to figure out if he was sitting crookedly or if the picture was crooked in the frame.... Finally it was my turn and the immigration agent remembered me from yesterday (or maybe from the day before...) so he quickly pulled together my documents and entered some info into the computer. Success!! I should be able to pick up my visa on monday and have a nice day.

Now I'm at Magda Cafe and I check my email and apparently I have two seperate visa applications being processed... with two different tracking numbers.... neither of which have my name spelled correctly...

Someone noticed that it isn't Christmas yet and changed the music. Now I'm listening to Dolly Parton.

Happy Thanksgiving!

***Preface*** Finally!! Enjoy these pictures. They took FOREVER to upload and I'm not entirely sure why. I wrote this post on sunday night and it is now wednesday morning. Hopefully it will still be wednesday morning by the time this actually gets posted....

It was Canadian Thanksgiving this past weekend and even though I am not in Canada, I got to celebrate it anyway. Jen is a friend who lives here in Rwanda but who loves thanksgiving. When she moved here and later married Serge, a Rwandan, she decided that just because she lived in Rwanda didn't mean she couldn't have thanksgiving. So their family has started a tradition of inviting other Canadians for thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings. Including turkey.

Maddy and I arrived at Jen's on sunday morning just after 9am and there were three turkeys running around. One of them was very grumpy and liked to chase people around. I called him Dinner.

We spent the day cutting, cleaning, chopping and frosting (alliteration fail) and helping Jen stay sane while preparing a dinner for 36 people. Cooking three turkeys at once would seem crazy even in Canada - how do fit three turkeys in the oven?! The answer? You don't cook them in the oven. It was a great production involving a charcoal fire, a huge drum and a spit. Two and a half hours later, and voila. Yummy thanksgiving turkey!


After the turkeys were killed, plucked and cleaned they were prepared in the outdoor kitchen.

The turkey is placed under a drum with hot coals under it and on top to cook it evenly

You can only take the drum off when you're sure the turkey is cooked because as soon as you lift it all the heat is lost. It is a bit of a guessing game based on experience and the way the turkey is smelling...

Cooked to perfection! And it smells like heaven.

Time to eat!!




It was a great evening of meeting interesting people and eating entirely too much. Growing up my family had a tradition of going around the table and saying something we were thankful for. I am thankful that things finally came together for this trip to Rwanda and that my research is going reasonabley well. I'm thankful my friends, new and old, that have enriched my life. And I'm thankful for my family, my sister who is also my friend and for my parents who support and love me even though I'm crazy and they don't always understand me.

Road Humps

There are occastionally "humps" in the road here. There are usually two in a row and they are often near schools or where there is a lot of pedestrian traffic. They are fun to go over on a motto if your driver knows what he's doing. They suck when he doesn't.

I had a 'hump' in my road this week. Being sick sucks normally, but there is something extra pathetic about being sick when you are alone and far from home. Almost every one of my trips so far has had me spending the better part of the night sleeping/trying to sleep on the bathroom floor and this week that happened again. I still don't know what made me sick - each other time it was food that made me sick but I don't think that was it this time. I was also sick longer than I have been in the past from food poisoning. But today I am feeling nearly human and have even left the house to run some errands and to sit in bourbon where I am thinking about ordering some chicken soup. A nice change from rice and crackers.

It has been frustrating to be stuck in bed when I really want to be doing work. I have plans for next week and I am determined that things will Progress and that I will Get Things Done. I have some tentative meetings scheduled. There are several places that I have yet to find contact info for - next week I plan to go to those organizations and ministries and hope someone talks to me... but first I have to find them. There are no addresses per se in Kigali. Some of the roads now have names, but most people don't know them and they aren't widely used. There aren't any numbers on the houses. For example, my address is Kabeza, across from the Air Force. Kabeza is an area of Kigali and we are literally across the street from the Air Force. One of the organizations I want to visit has the address of Kicikyru near the World Food Program offices. Kicikyru is huge and I think there are two WFP offices there. So you can see how it can get a little complicated. But, I am confident with a little wandering I'll be able to find everything I need to. I just hope the rain holds off enough so I don't have to do my wandering in a thunderstorm and in the mud!

Random Stories from Kigali (Part 2)

This happened on Saturday while Maddy and I were in town. We were in a shop downtown and all of a sudden there was a HUGE commotion outside. Someone had stolen something further up the hill from where we were and was running down the street. I have seen shoplifters in Canada running away. I once saw someone running away after stealing a purse in South Africa. In my experience generally most people just stand and watch. Not in Kigali. In Kigali when someone steals something EVERYONE chases them. Motto drivers kick at them as they pass, random people on the street yell and chase after the thief until they are caught. Maybe this is why the crime rate in Rwanda is so low?

Relearning an Old Lesson.

There is a joke in my small group, and among many Christians in general, that you shouldn't pray for patience - God will answer! In all seriousness, patience is a lesson that I think God has been teaching me for a long time now. I often joke with people that it is a lesson I have learned well and would God move on to a new lesson already?! I know that there is a reason for the lesson and all the waiting. I believe that God is using circumstances in my life to shape and mold me into who he wants me to be, into the person he can use. Sometimes I wish I knew more about his purposes, but I have faith that he has a purpose.



This morning I had coffee with an old friend, David. He was one of my best friends when I lived here before and I saw him nearly every day. He is very busy with work but he had this morning off so we met downtown. We talked about a lot of things; people we both know, the goings on in our lives since we saw each other last, how Rwanda has changed etc. One conversation was centered on past experiences here in Rwanda and how you need to have patience to work here. He admitted that even as a Rwandan sometimes he ran out of patience when working with Rwandans - people say yes when they mean no, they don't always take deadlines as seriously as you do, and generally things take longer than we might like. So you need to have patience.


This afternoon I was finally supposed to have my first interview with a policy and advocacy analyst at a Rwandan civil society organization. I was excited because finally I was going to get some real data, do something tangible on my research. That is why I'm here!! I went early to the appointment because I was not sure if I would be able to find the building easily. I had general directions - near that embassy, across from this building, opposite that building and beside this building. It turned out to be much easier than i thought so I called to see if he was available earlier but he was out of the office for a meeting and could we push it ahead to an hour from now? Sure, no problem. I decided to explore that area of town as I hadn't been there much before and I found out where a few ministries are that will be important down the road. It was a beautiful hot day so it was not a big deal. I found myself at a familiar hotel so I went to have a drink of fanta by the pool while I waited. Then I got another phone call - the meeting had gone long and could we please reschedule until tomorrow? No problem.

I knew when I was preparing to come here that things would not happen as quickly as I wanted them to. I knew that I would have to wait for appointments and that meetings would be postponed and rescheduled sometimes a couple of times. I knew that I would need to have patience.

Wow. It has been a week since I posted last which means I have now been in Kigali for two weeks. Time is flying! Or running, as they say here.

I had a bit of a frustrating week. On one hand I officially got my ethics approval from my school so I am now allowed to start my research for real. On the other hand things are moving very slowly on that front. A few of my contacts have fallen through although I made a few new ones this week that will hopefully make up for that. Everything is just slow and it's frustrating. But I knew this coming into it. Part of it is cultural - nothing happens here in a hurry. Part of it is just the nature of doing research in a new context. It is all about who you know and it takes time to form the needed networks.

It also rained A LOT this week. It is rainy season so I expect it to rain. But not all day. And not when I planned to go somewhere/do something. I am not used to the weather dictating what I can and cannot do. I live in Halifax where it rains a lot. We had a particularily rainy spring and early summer this year so I am used to rain. But in Halifax I can do things even if it rains. I can take a bus, I can walk in the rain, I can get a ride from a friend. Slightly inconvenient but no big deal. Here it is a different story. I think I have mentioned before that I live pretty far from downtown, and from basically everywhere I need to go. So I have to take a motto or a taxi everywhere. Mottos don't really run in the rain because a) the drivers don't like to get wet and b) it isn't really safe in the rain. So twice this week it started to storm just as I was about to leave the house. On thursday the power went out and my computer battery died so I just had a nap all afternoon.

Today has been an improvement. It didn't rain today which meant I got a lot done. Not on my research, but I ran errands with Maddy my housemate (read her blog at the side of the page) and we bought ingredients for dinner tonight. Neither Dora nor Maddy really know how to cook so tonight is the first "cooking class with Laura". We are going to make faijtas and chocolate no bake cookies. Next weekend we're doing lasagne I think. Our morning started at African Bagel Coop where I had a doughnut and coffee and hung out with Jen and her kids and met two new people who might be able to help me with my research. Nicky is doing her dissertation research and knows a really great translator and Kelly works with a women's organization here that would be perfect to talk to for my research. I am hoping this will help me kick start my research. Time to get moving!

From there we went downtown to wander and run errands. I met up with Shemsa, the niece of my old landlord from last time I lived here. She lived below us and would come hang out with Pip and I on a regular basis. She speaks really good english and was a huge help to us and is a lot of fun. It was good to see her and to hear that she is finishing highschool this year.

To top off the day, I had another interesting motto driver today. While we were driving, weaving in and out of traffic, he was singing. Loudly. It made me smile all the way into town.