iheartrwanda

Monday, January 02, 2006

so much to say

i have not written in a while because i have been so busy here and so much has happened. here is a brief overview.

the woman i lived with during my first trip, a member of parliment, has a friend whose daughter wants to visit america. i was told she only needed a letter of invitation because her friends were not citizens yet. it turns out she wants to spend a month with me, having me show her around america (i want to see the rap stars on the streets of miami) and buying her whatever she wants (please get me a camera phone and ipod, now). now i have to find a way to tell her she can't come to america through me without upsetting harriet (the mp) or the girl's father (an important colonel). who sends their 15 yr old daughter to america for a visit with a stranger?

the christmas/new years celebration was held at solace. i wore a traditional rwandan outfit and served the dignitaries that came. during one part a widow and orphan gave their testimonies. the testimony of the widow was especially horrible with rape and torture. about 5 people were so traumatized they started screaming and fainting and had to be carried out. one woman had a flashback and thought everyone there were hutus trying to kill her. i didn't like that part.

new years was uneventful. i watched "when harry met sally" with florence in our room and it ended at midnight. there were fireworks and lots of screaming from the national stadium. they started the fireworks last year - first time since the genocide. they always publicize it well so people aren't scared but it is still frightening to hear lots of explosions and screaming in kigali. i really didn't like it, and i wasn't even here for the war in 1994.

today it is off to kabuga to look at a farm or something and then i am buying creches. i spent about 100 dollars buying crafts made by solace widows that i will bring back for main street umc too.

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