The Great Lakes Adventure

[Kampala & Nairobi]

Okay.
Y’all know that recently my program ended and I am simply living in Rwanda.
Also, most of y’all know that I took a brief trip outside of Rwanda just after my program finished.
On this brief trip, I visited 2 countries in 4 or 5 days….by bus….

This was quite the Great Lakes Adventure.

So, here’s how it went:

My program with SIT officially ended on May 12, around 9am.
And, because I needed to leave on May 12^th for this adventure, I went to the bus depot to buy my bus ticket to Kampala the day before.

I got to Nyabagogo (the crazy huge, main bus park in Kigali) and had 2 options for busses to Kampala for the next day.  I walked into the first office of Kampala Coach and automatically, the guy at the counter looked at me, smiled, and said, “Good morning sweetheart!”  I was a little taken aback and thought I misheard him…but when I asked him what he said, he repeated the same thing and then just continued to tell me how beautiful I am and calling me pet names as I tried to ask him serious logistical questions on what time the bus to Kampala leaves and whether or not I can buy tickets.  Finally, after asking the same question like 48 times, he told me that they had 2 buses going to Kampala—one of which leaves at 5:45am and the other at 7pm…Not the right options for me…
So, I left the creepy Kampala Coach man and went to GaaGaa Coach.
Once I finally found this place, I figured out that I could take a bus to Kampala at 11am.  Perfect!  The only problem was that they wouldn’t let me buy tickets that day (because sometimes the bus gets filled up on the way to Nyabagogo from Butare).  So the guy working at the counter told me to come back in the morning and buy tickets and he would call me around 7am to let me know if there were any available.

So, the next morning, I called the agency and was told that tickets were available so my friend Kalvin went to go pick up our tickets.  Then, about 2 hours later, the guy at the counter called me and scolded me for not coming to pick up the tickets.  When I told him that my friend had come to pick up the tickets for us, he denied it to no end and told me that no one had come into the office and they had sold no tickets and that I wouldn’t be able to get a bus because I never came in to buy the tickets.  After him scolding me for 5 minutes or so, I hung up the phone, confirmed that Kalvin bought our tickets, and said goodbye to my group before heading to the bus.
I met my friends Becky and Kalvin there and then we hopped on our bus to Kampala.

Let  me tell you, this bus ride was pretty terrible…
The three of us were squished in the back row with three other people (a row that probably should have only fir 4 or 5 people) and the roads were crazy bumpy and it was just the most uncomfortable thing ever.

But after 10 hours or so, we made it to Kampala.  Once we got there, we found a hostel to stay the night at and all went to sleep in one bed without dinner.
The next morning, we woke up at 4:30 am to go to the bus station again and buy tickets for a bus to Nairobi that morning.  Well, it turns out that was a complete waste of time because the ticket office didn’t even open until 7—which really meant 7:30.  But after waiting a few hours, we got tickets to the earliest bus to Nairobi—which was the best bus ride I have ever been on—EVER.

There was a total of about 6 other people on this bus that fit at least 25-30 and the seats were really comfortable (and they reclined!!!), and they gave us free water and snacks!

It was beautiful.
The scenery was incredible too.  Absolutely amazing.

After 12 hours on this bus, the three of us made it to Nairobi and got a taxi to our hostel where we met our friends Cleo and Maria.

This hostel was quite surprising and really beautiful.
It was called Wildebeest Eco Camp and we stayed in a huge tent with 7 beds inside – and they had hot water and wi-fi and animals and babies and a trampoline and so much fun stuff  J  It was awesome.
Our first full day in Nairobi, we ate an incredible breakfast at the camp, walked to town, and had quite the debacle at Western Union (where my friend Becky yelled at the teller guy for me, called his manager, called the Kenyan Western Union headquarters, and then called the international Western Union headquarters and yelled at them for a while).  After all the drama cleared, we walked to the animal orphanage in Nairobi where we saw monkeys, warthogs, lions, giraffes, hyenas, cats, dogs, cheetahs, leopards, etc.  That was the best thing ever!  Then we went back to the camp and hung out until bed J

I left for the bus station at 6am the next morning to catch the 8am bus back to Kampala to meet Jesse.
This bus ride, though, was nothing like the amazing bus ride on our way to Nairobi…this bus ride was really not so great.  My seat was stolen by this Muslim man who sat next to me (with his smelly feet) cleaning his teeth with a wooden stick and spitting the wood pieces on the wall next to him and sneezing every 20 minutes.  This went on for the first 10 hours of this bus ride.  The last 2 hours, the man made me move out of the isle seat into the window seat that should’ve been mine in the first place (the seat that he had his smelly feet and spit out wood pieces all over) and wasn’t even nice about it.

I was so annoyed at this man.  Ugghh…

But anyways, after 12 hours, very little sleep, no real meals, and no phone credit, I made it back to Kampala where I found Jesse waiting for me at the bus station.  Oh man, it was the greatest sight ever – to see the guy I love waiting for me in a city I have yet to explore after a really crappy bus ride – so nice.
So Jesse and I dropped my stuff off in our hostel and went out for a lovely dinner of pizza and strange, yet delicious, Indian sandwiches.  The next say, we went and bought our bus tickets back to Kigali, and then spent the day exploring the city.  It was chaotic and dirty and noisy but so much fun.
We found a great little bookstore with some pretty amazingly offensive books, made a new friend named Esther, ate an incredible Indian dinner, had ICE CREAM, and just had fun exploring J

We got on a bus that night around 11pm and arrived back in Kigali around 10am the next morning.

From there, we went back to our place, and slept for the rest of the day, pretty much.
In this Great Lakes Adventure, I spent at least 48 hours on a bus for a full 36 hours in Nairobi and about 24 hours in Kampala…So worth it!

<3

Post 100 Days

Okay.

I think my last post was simply an update on everything I hadn’t been able to share over the last few weeks.
I’m sure it wasn’t too exciting, and I’m sure you’ll be disappointed to hear that this post will be quite similar.

Since I last wrote, only a few major things have happened…

I finished all of my interviews for my research.
This was a difficult and sometimes extremely frustrating process, but incredible interesting and eye opening.  I learned so many new things that I can’t wait to share with you all!

I went out on a lovely date with my boyfriend
After a long day of work, he took me to a great Chinese restaurant and then we watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which I’ve been dying to watch since I got here!  It was a really fun night.

I finished my ISP (Independent Study Project) and completed all of my research.
I finished transcribing all of my interviews, compiling and analyzing all of my data, and writing my final paper.  My final product was 66 pages and a presentation.  :)

I have officially been in Rwanda for over 100 days!!!

I took a trip to Kabuye.
After finishing our ISPs, SIT thought our class needed a break–which we really did.  So, they took us on a trip to Kabuye to stay at this little place on Lake Kivu.  It was so incredible!  The lake was beautiful, the weather was perfect, and it was the best ending to such a hard month of work and research.  We immediately hopped in the lake, as soon as we got there, and then found out after we all got to dinner that swimming was not allowed because we’re not covered by insurance…lol   But we all did it anyways.  The day after we got there, the group rented a boat and sailed out to one of the islands, Napoleon Island, on the lake.  This island is home to 5 million bats….
As soon as we started getting close to the island, we could see them all swarming over the trees–it was so cool but kind of creepy at the same time lol
But we landed and then hiked up to the top of this mountain of an island, weaving through rocks, plants and bushes, guava trees, cows, goats, and poop along the way.  Once we got to the top, it was the most incredible view.  We sat on the peak of this mountain to listen to the thunder roar and watched the storms roll in from the Congo.  It was powerful.  One of the greatest experiences of my time in Rwanda.
And we just had the most amazing time while we were there on the lake.  It was awesome!

And now I’m prepping for a trip to Kenya.
But now, we are back in Kigali, at our hotel, getting ready to all go our separate ways.  I will be heading to Nairobi with some friends tomorrow morning and then heading back to Kigali.  But others are heading home.  It will be sad saying goodbye but I’m so excited for the start of this new adventure!
It’s going to be amazing

Well…That’s another update.
That’s the super slimmed down and simple version of the last week or so.
Feel free to post questions, comments, or whatever else!
I miss hearing from you all!!!
Also, feel free to email them to me also.

I love and miss you all.

<3

Update on Life

Okay, so I know that I’ve been kind of A-wall for a while and I’m really sorry about that.
But I’m back to action and ready to fill y’all in on everything that’s going on in life here in the land of 1000 hills.

So first off, let me tell you about Uganda…since I never wrote about it like I said I would…

Uganda is amazing.
Crossing the border was a little bit of a process, as we had to go through at least 4 different border checkpoints, but it was fairly easy.

The very first thing I did when I got into the country of Uganda, too, was break the law….

Haha sounds like me—just getting into trouble..

I was walking over the border of the last checkpoint and, instead of walking all the way around the median dividing the two countries, I just hopped over it.  Immediately afterwords, I was informed by the guard with a very large gun that that was illegal and I had just broken the law…

Hahah

It was great.  My rebellious side is really coming out in every way and in every country.

But anyways, Uganda was great—absolutely beautiful.  But very different from Rwanda.  Uganda is much rockier, flatter, and not as lush with vegetation.  It is also a lot dirtier, in general.
From what I saw of Uganda, it looked much more like the stereotypical view of Africa than Rwanda does.

We went to Mbarara, Kampala, and Gulu.  We stayed the majority of the 2 weeks we were there in Gulu, studying the conflict and resolution of Northern and Southern Uganda along with the LRA, NGOs, refugees, and so much more.  It was fascinating!  I learned sooo much!!!!!
We did a lot of crazy stuff there, and I experienced a lot of new things, like::

A crapton of amazing Indian food
God’s Grace Peanut Butter (cheap and freshly ground)

Nearly dying multiple times from almost being run over by bicycles and motos

Nearly dying but instead watching the car accident that happened 100 feet from where I was standing about 45 seconds earlier

Learning how to be sneaky

Eating the best pizza that exists in all of Northern Uganda

Getting ridiculously sunburned at the pool…but only on the upper half of my legs…

And oh, so much more 

On our way back to Rwanda, we stopped for a night in Queen Elizabeth National Park, where we went on 3 different safari trips and stayed right in the middle of a wildlife preserve.

The first safari we went on was a boat safari where we saw hippos, elephants, bucks, buffalo, birds, a type of eagle, storks, crocodiles, and all sorts of fun stuff!  We also saw the DRC

Then, later that day, we went on a driving safari and saw most of the same animals but in a different environment.  And the landscape was gorgeous!!

That night, we stayed in a hotel that was right in the middle of the national park, wildlife preserve.  So basically, we had wild and dangerous animals roaming outside our bedroom windows all night long.

So, as 20 year old college students, what we decide to do after dinner that night is buy some beers and drink them out by the open field where a significant number of wild animals spend their time.  When we first walked out there, I stood on the edge of the field with a friend.  She looked over and said, “I want to run…Lets go!!”  So we just booked it across this field, as fast as we could, running with one arm pumping and the other trying to hold our beers as steady as possible lol.  We got to the other side and stopped.  We looked around and saw that there were a number of animals spread out across the field….so we kind of flipped out and just ran back across even faster than we did before haha

Later, a group of us decided to walk down along the edge of the field and explore a bit.
Now, this was an incredibly stupid decision, but we proceeded anyways—with very little precaution.  After walking down a little ways, we saw a heard of some sort of animal.  And after another few seconds, we realized they were hippos….one of the most dangerous African animals, on land and in water.  We all started flipping out and then even more after one of the hippos started making angry grunting noises…So, some of us got the hell out of there while some others stayed to take a long exposure picture…so stupid….

But we’re all alive and it makes for a great story now! J

The next morning we all got up crazy early to go on another little safari—where we saw lions from about a million feet away lol

But essentially, that was my trip to Uganda.
It was wonderful and so much fun and a much needed break from hectic life in Kigali.

Since being back in Kigali, I’ve had a lot of work to do and a very busy schedule.  I had 3, 5 page essays due, a 9-15 page proposal for my Independent Study Project (ISP), and a bunch of other stuff.
Now, I’m not going to class, I have no real homework, and I have a whole month of my own time—because I’m now doing my ISP and my own independent research.
I have decided to do my research on the root causes of good and evil:  why people chose to become either rescuers or perpetrators during the 1994 genocide and what motivated them to do so.
I am super excited for this project and I’m really interested in the subject.  I think I’m going to come up with some fascinating results.

So, I’ve been in the process of collecting contacts, finding translators, setting up interviews, and conducting my own research.  And it’s been Awesome.

I love it!

Other things for update…
umm well I’m living in my own apartment in Kigali, I’m doing my own thing, I’m thinking and processing a lot, writing a lot, I’ve written a couple new songs, and I’m starting to figure out the beginnings of what I want my life to look like right now and what I believe and what I’m doing, in general.
It’s quite the adventure.

I’d love to share more with y’all but this post is already super long and I’m really hungry…
Ndashaka kujya kurya ariko ndashonje cyane. (I want to go to eat because I’m very hungry)

So murabeho for now, but be free to post any questions or comments and I’ll respond in the next blog
I love and miss you all!!!

<3

Rwandese Rain

[[3/4/13]]

This is a bit outdated, but I still wanted to share it with you all.

Rwanda Day 36

I got home today–after weeks of shutting God out and questioning Him–and decided to open my Bible.  But before I went downstairs, I stood on my balcony for a minute and just looked out.  A moth flew by in the light and flickered.
I went downstairs and sat at the table and began to read my Bible, when it began to rain.  My whole walk home was lightening filled so I was half expecting a bit of rain…but this was rain that I couldn’t just sit and listen to.  I couldn’t just watch it fall.  So I rolled up my pant legs and walked out into the storm.
I stood there, just letting the heavy rain pour over me.
At first, I was excited and smiled and laughed.  But then, I got so sad.  All I wanted to do was sit there in the rain and cry.  
I started seeing images from the genocide.
The rain suddenly felt like drops of history, washing me back 18 years in flash floods..
It suddenly felt like rain from the genocide.
It was no longer the rain I so dearly love, no longer the rain I longed to feel…
It was the same rain that fell over the land, over the people during these horrific months.  It was the same rain that washed the land clean of death and bodies clean of blood…
I froze in that realization.
 I just stopped.
Because, what could I do?
The Lightening flashed and the Thunder roared.
I felt something in me, close to me, something like fear but different somehow.  I looked all around me to see if God was there, somewhere.  I couldn’t see him.
I looked back up to the sky and the lightening flashed again—but no thunder followed.  It was like I knew God was speaking to me, but I couldn’t hear him…
I was trying to listen, trying to understand.
I thought, maybe its our failings as humans, maybe we just need to fight for and create that change…but then I looked again at the purple flash of lightening that lit up the whole sky and thought, but God, you’re so powerful…

I stood in the rain, being drenched with thoughts and questions, while getting soaked by the thick drops of water, when all of a sudden it stopped.
The rain slowed to a stop and then, it was gone—as if it had never happened.
I noticed that there was no rainbow.
I stood for a minute, waiting, and then went inside.

It’s so funny how things come about.
Saturday I was talking to Michelle about how much I love the rain and Sunday I stood with Jesse in a downpour and told him why I love the rain…
It’s so beautiful, natural, powerful, exciting.
It almost makes you feel more alive as it strips you down to bare humanity.
It gives you a sort of rush, deep in your chest—down in your core.
It comforts the brokenness, it compliments joy, it hides the exposed, but it exposes the truth.
Out of such nature, we find growth, healing, beauty.

Life.

<3

Back to Business

Alright y’all, I’m back in Rwanda.
Uganda was amazing and I had so much fun!!!
But now that I’m back in Kigali—that is all long gone.
I have 3 essays due (5 pages each), my research project proposal due (9-15 pages), all the prep and organizational work for my research project, housing to figure out, an oral test in Kinyarwanda, and scheduling for next fall….
I’m swamped.

I am at the library today, and have been here for quite a few hours now, and I just got so overwhelmed by everything that I just melted into a complete hot mess…
So…after leaving the library for a bit of a break and then coming back inside, I thought I’d write to you all instead.

But…now my amazing mother has gotten on Skype so I am leaving my writing to go and talk to her instead!

But I miss you all and I’ll try and fill you all in on my crazy adventures in Uganda after all my homework is finished and turned in on Friday!

<3

Uganda!

Hey Y’all!
I’m off to Uganda on Monday and I’ll be there for the next 2 weeks with limited to no internet access..
Soooo don’t expect much of anything from me during that time lol
But I’ll try and keep you all updated when I can and I’ll post tons of good stuff when I get back to Kigali
I love and miss you all!

<3

Belated Butare [General Overview and more]

[[2/20/13]]

Rwanda Day 24.

Yesterday, we visited the National University of Rwanda, here in Butare.  There, we learned about the school, talked with students, learned about the Unity and Reconciliation club and then visited the memorial site, right on campus.

There, I met a survivor, named Eric, who talked with me for quite a while about the genocide.  He showed me a picture of this couple, sitting together and laughing.  It was a beautiful picture.  Eric told me that they were both university students who were studying to become doctors.  They were planning on getting married around April 14^th—one week after the genocide began.  They were killed together at the university.
Eric told me that no outside forces came in to do the killings at the university.  It was all done by fellow classmates, teachers, staff, etc.

When I told Eric that I wasn’t sure if I would be able to stay here if I lived through something like that, he responded by saying that most people say that, but you have to stay here.  When something like this happens, you have to stay and honor your mother and father and those you lost, you have to stay and rebuild your family.  Honor the memory.

We exchanged numbers so that we can keep in touch and maybe I can talk with him for my ISP.
Later, we visited a group of women who were all survivors of the genocide and had now started a farming cooperative to support themselves.  These women all survived the genocide, genocidal rape, some HIV/AIDS, and some of these women even had children from these genocidal rapes.

These women now employ some of their perpetrators.
They are amazingly strong and beautiful women.  Every one of us was inspired by their stories.

Needless to say, they were really great to talk to.
It was amazing to see how these women have healed and learned, again, how to love.

<3

{{Butare–As a Whole}}

Butare is this tiny little town just outside of Kigali.  It’s basically a Rwandese college town.
Essentially, all that’s there are a university, an ice cream shop, and some bars/restaurants/supermarkets.  But it was a great little place to spend a few days  : )

While I was there, I….

-Met lots of new people

-Found a restaurant called Cheers! (but was thoroughly disappointed when I said, “Hey!  Where -everyone knows your name!”  and nobody understood the reference..)

-Ate wonderful pineapple ice cream (that was white and not yellow…which I thought was weird)

-Came across some sort of giant parade/rally/riot thing that was repping PLU colors

-Visited a Rwandan History museum where I was invited to go to my tour guide’s house and see his bed—an offer I decided best to decline, I explored a few restricted sections, I found cows!, and was given a Rwandese name—“Kayitesi” which means lovely <3

-Got serenaded with Rihanna by a small Rwandan child

-Decided to stop hiding my crazy weird self and just do me

-Bonded with someone over our love of poop

-Had really intense and awesome conversations

-Made lots of great new friends!

Overall, it was a very successful trip to Butare and very fun!

<3

Butare [first of many] *Warning*

*Warning:  This post has some explicit descriptions that may be difficult to read.  Please don’t read it if you are unable to handle the emotions/feelings it may cause*

[[2/19/13]]

We are in Butare now, and we visited another memorial yesterday.  This one was almost harder in a way.
I woke up last night around 3am and I was so scared.  I couldn’t remember having a nightmare or anything, but I just felt so haunted.  Even when I was washing my face last night before bed, I got so scared.  I could feel something behind me.  I was so afraid…

At the memorial, there were 50,000 people killed.  It was supposed to be a boarding school but it was under construction.  The government sent Tutsis there for “refuge” because it was surrounded by hills and nearly impossible to escape.  Within 24 hours, almost all 50,000 were killed.  In the museum, there were pictures, history, stories, etc.

And then, there were bodies…
There were bones, but there were bodies too…Full on decomposing bodies with nails, hair, teeth, faces, expressions…

These were victims.
What made them seem so much more real were such trivial things…Their feet—I could count their toes–, their hands and fingers, the patches of hair left on their heads, the size—some of these people are bigger than me, even after decomposing for so long…these were full size men and women that just didn’t have the strength to defend themselves.  The men that were bigger than me affected me a lot.

But the children…seeing these tiny kids was absolutely heart wrenching.

Some of these bodies were deformed, some were missing limbs or were cut in gruesome ways, some of the heads were smashed (mostly on the kids)..

Some of them were positioned in ways that just made their deaths seem so much more real.  A lot of them had hands and arms covering their faces and heads.  Some, a few of them, had their hands up, arms reaching out, as if they were reaching out for help, looking for someone to save them—to pull them out of the blood, the screams, the torture they were drowning in.  Their expressions, though, were so hard to see.  You could literally see the fear, the terror in their faces…

This memorial affected me the most of anything we’ve seen on this trip.
I sat and just cried.
I was so angry, so hurt, so full of fear..
I couldn’t hold it all in.

I still can’t describe it in a way that gives it the justice it deserves.
I’m not sure I ever will.
But it is a part of me now, in a way.  This is something I can never erase.  As much as I would like to not see the faces of these victims when I close my eyes, I can’t.
It is engraved into me, now.

I am forever changed.

<3

Every Day I’m Struggling…

Like for reals..

Every day there’s just a whole new set of issues and I’m driving the struggle bus at uncontrollable speeds..

There’s been tons of stuff going on and the past week has been very, very hectic–so, unfortunately, I have yet to post my blogs about Butare..
I’m sorry for that.
But, hopefully, If I get all of my homework done this weekend and start feeling better (because I’ve been sick for the last 3 days or so), I will be able to post those blogs and potentially (this one’s highly questionable) some new/recent ones.

But, I just wanted to let y’all know that I didn’t forget about you and I still want to keep you updated!
I miss you all like crazy and I hope I get to talk with some of you soon!

Until then!

<3

Updates

For those of you that are following, I wanted to let you know that I’ll be in Butari for the next few days and without my computer.  If I find free wifi, I may check in on Facebook through my phone, but other than that, I’ll be pretty MIA.
But, when I come home, I will write lots of new stuff about my classes/school, my neighborhood, my experience in Butari, my ISP (Independent Study Project), my recent change in food cravings, and whatever else I can think of.
It should be pretty great
I leave bright and early tomorrow morning (6 am..) so this is the last time I shall write until Friday or Saturday.
But, know that I love you all and I miss you all like crazy!
I hope to see all of your beautiful faces again soon
<3