When you need a little respect...

...wear a t-shirt with Paul Kagame on it. At least that's what we discovered today. Becky and I went for an evening jog which would normally be quite an event. We already stick out a lot and attract large crowds of school children during that time of day. Wearing shorts and t-shirts normally doesn't help matters much...unless your t-shirt has a picture of the President of Rwanda and former RPF (Rwandan army) General on it. Becky got the t-shirt three years ago when Kagame was running for President (an election he "surprisingly" won with a mere 95% of the vote). Before leaving to run I asked her to please not wear it because it would attract even more attention than usual, but she persisted so we went for our jog. It soon became apparent that while we were a spectacle it was very different that usual. Instead of calling us white people and daring each other to talk to us or touch us the school children kept a healthy distance. Instead of looking Becky up and down and hissing at her men kept quiet and only glanced at her. The shirt apparently had the magical quality of putting fear in the hearts of Rwandans. At one point Becky overheard a child saying to another one in Kinyarwanda, "they're not white people, they're Rwandans!" I will be on the lookout for my very own Paul Kagame t-shirt.

That was the most exciting thing that happened today. Becky has some things to report about her research that are pretty cool...I think. I'll let her do that.