Grenades, Guesthouses, and Internet

Well… Today am absolutely terrified! About 10 days ago there was a grenade attack at one of the taxi/bus stations about 5 miles from our house. One person was killed and eight people were hospitalized. Today – I have to go to one of these bus stations – the exact places we were told by the embassy to avoid. But I have no choice KHI will only pay for a bus - day taxi cost way too much money. so... I am going on a bus for 3 ½ hour trip into the countryside because I have to teach exercise physiology to the first year physiotherapy students at KHI’s extension campus. It’s interesting, but all the freshman, or first-year students, have to take all their courses at an extension campus before they can matriculate to the main campus in Kigali… So, I will be there this week, come home for the two-week genocide memorial and commemoration, and then return to the extension campus for the last week in April.

Apparently it is very common for the weeks preceding the annual genocide commemoration and mourning for there to be grenade attacks in very public and high traffic areas. Well, there are no more public and no more high-traffic areas around here than the bus stations. Mind you these buses are not greyhounds and my living accommodations - when at the extension campus - will be no hotel. The buses here are more like 1960-70’s Volkswagen vans built for eight people, which they cram 15 into… I’m not looking forward to it. I do have a small glimmer of hope that my particular bus I will be a little larger. So wish me luck!

Another thing of interest is that when I am there I will be staying in a guesthouse. The guest houses here are nothing at all like hotels! They do have hotels, which our like our hotels… But guest houses are not. Guest houses are more like the summer camp bunk houses you experienced as a junior high student. There’s a cot in the middle of the room, you bring your own sheets and pillows and if they do provide them – you still want to bring your own because they are dirty. I understand that if you’re lucky there’s a folding chair in your room so you can sit on something other than the bed. It will be nothing more than a place to sleep and put your head at night! On the other hand, the location of this campus is very near Lake Kivu, which is one of the most beautiful lakes and all of Africa. So I am looking forward to the beautiful scenery around campus.

As I understand it by day I will be teaching exercise physiology… [sidebar: which to me is an upper-level course, to freshman who will be getting all of the content in an accelerated, high-intensity dose, without the advantage of technological classroom aids. Yep lecture! 80 contact hours of lecture over what amounts to a 10 day period with only one– comprehensive – exam at the very end of those 10 days to assess them. To me – who doesn’t even know anything about pedagogy – that’s crazy! But I’ve come to find out that a lot of things that happen here in Rwanda are crazy! End sidebar] And by night hoping I have a clean place to sleep under a mosquito net :-) did I mention that I love Africa and I’m having a great time – because I truly am in spite of how much it sounds like I’m complaining!

Okay, back to what sounds like complaining – but really isn’t :-)

I’m told that while I’m on campus itself – at this remote site – I will have Internet, but not when I’m at the guesthouse. Internet remains to be the most frustrating and infuriating thing about life and Rwanda… You don’t get it every day, and when you do get it you have no idea how slow it’s going to be. Mind you it’s never fast, but some days it is slower than others. On the bright side – if the speed of the Internet is really the only thing I have to complain about – other than trying to avoid grenade explosions – I guess I’m doing pretty well. Especially since next week begins the genocide commemoration. The genocide commemoration is a two-week long grieving process that the country goes through. It is very much a “sackcloth and ashes” type of two weeks. In fact they are not even allowed to play music, hold public gatherings, parties, or basically smile and laugh at all. In fact, it is strongly encourage that all muzungus (i.e., white people) leave the country during those two weeks.

So… When I return from the Kibuye campus – that is exactly what we are going to do – leave the country! On Saturday we are headed towards Uganda to what we are told is the very beautiful and picturesque Queen Elizabeth national Park, which will require a 10 and a half hour drive, in a Jeep, and on very much less than pristine roads. Once there however, we will be taking another Safari into the savanna as well as a river safari to see African crocodiles, hippos, birds, etc. We are all pretty excited about it. The bad news is we can’t afford to stay in a hotel – because hiring the Jeep is costing me $850 plus purchasing Ugandan visas and the price of the Safari itself adds up pretty quick – so we will be staying in a Ugandan guesthouse. Ugandan guesthouses as I am told are an entire level lower type of a guesthouse compared to what you would experience here in Rwanda. So we are looking forward to being able to describe to you all the experiences of Uganda. When we return from Uganda were jumping on an airplane and taking a few days in South Africa, Capetown to be exact. In Capetown we are staying in an “American” style hotel! Yippee! We are looking forward to that. Also scheduled for this trip Nathan and I have booked a shark diving expedition. Yes – we are getting into the Indian Ocean – in cages of course – with great white sharks! We are both extremely nervous and extremely excited. I don’t know if I have any right to complain about the grenade attacks and feeling a sense of danger when I am willfully and voluntarily getting into the ocean with great white sharks… Anyway, I will be out of touch for a while since all the traveling will limit my access to Internet. But when we come back online in May I’m sure we’ll have tons and tons of great experiences and adventures to share with you. In the meantime wish me luck and say a prayer for me I am actually pretty nervous about going on this bus and staying at the bus station, but I know that all will be okay. See you soon- Heading for the bus station in two hours!

Here are few pics for your amusement...

Dont know how he is going to carry those jugs back once they are all full of water, but I guess thats a problem for a later time. 

Not sure what to say here... biggest load I've ever seen on someones head... actually, I wonder if with the circumfrence of Brian Campbell's head this is what he feels like all the time...

I am giving a keynote lecture to Airtel Executives at the countries annual meeting. Airtel is the 3rd largest telecommunications company in the world. They are in 20 countries and the largest in India...

Amazing...