Iminsi myinshi!

It has again been a long time (iminsi myinshi – literally “many days”) since I have written. Everything is still great here. I love the opportunities this experience is giving me to learn more about Rwanda, and I especially love running around asking people about their views on gender, justice, and recovery. I know recovery is not the best word since one does not really recover from such things, but it is the closest I have found to imply continuing on with life after mass atrocity and suffering.
I think much like teaching took some time to be able to do well (or at least better than at the beginning stages), interviewing must take time to learn to do well. I feel I am finally getting better at interviewing and talking with new people about their ideas and experiences, though I of course still have much to learn. I have also been having some great interview experiences, including an interview in a parked car (though not in a dark alley so not as Dick Tracy as one might think). It is humbling that so many people are willing to offer their time to talk with me. I have had some amazing conversations! For more details see my forthcoming book. Actually, it will obviously be some time before something like that happens. I need to first write a dissertation, find a job, and more long before any book project starts. Just wanted to practice saying “forthcoming book” should I accomplish all the prerequisite tasks.

Despite getting better at interviewing, or perhaps only thinking I am getting better, I have not gotten better at navigating high level bureaucratic offices. These typically involve making the interview request at buildings with high security, needing to submit very specific letters of request (with revisions occasionally requested), and then waiting for responses. It always takes a lot of time, but it is one of the many reasons I am fortunate to have so much time here in the country. The research would be very difficult to do well without such time. Fortunately, in addition to having the benefit of time here, I also have a fantastic research assistant who is helping me schedule interviews in addition to translating and interpreting.

In addition to interviews, several things have kept me from writing more frequently. One of course is simply failing to write. Others though include the visit of my wonderful partner Andy, internet issues, and ongoing computer anti-virus program problems. The anti-virus problem should be fixed this weekend and the MTN network seems to be stabilizing, both for the phone and internet services. Andy’s visit went quite well and he, too, now really enjoys Rwanda. I showed him a bit of everything, and we also went to Gisenyi for my first trip out there. You can see lots of details of his visit at andrewhusk.blogspot.com. For those inspired by his blog to check out Rwanda, I HIGHLY recommend contacting Dr. Chantal Kalisa (mkalisa2@unl.edu) at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln regarding the summer study abroad. One does not have to be a current student to go. You can find out more information at http://www.unl.edu/iaffairs/study_flyers/summer/rwanda.shtml (keeping in mind that the most recent information can be attained directly from Dr. Kalisa).

While the research and visits from my beloved have been great, the living situation has also continued to be good. I like getting to meet new people interested in gender from around the world. Since I last wrote, there have been guests from the U.K., U.S.A., Australia, Kenya, and South Africa. Today a returning German guest will arrive. This is a busy house but it is busy in a good way. It has been a bit quite lately as the woman in whose house I stay has started a trip to the UN Commission on the Status of Women and Canada. Also, very sadly, the houseworker decided it was time to focus on her own business after becoming a grandmother. Definitely understandable but she was great to talk to, despite our conversations being a mix of basic French, Kinyarwanda, and charades. The Kinyarwanda in particular is getting better though. Ndagerageza (I am trying).

In other happenings around the city, it seems that the rain is again trying to make sporadic appearances. It particularly does so when I have meetings or places to be. Last Thursday I was caught in an amazing rainstorm that had me completely soaked in a matter of minutes with little warning. It was also raining as I went to the book launch of Justine Mbabazi’s This is Your Time Rwanda (http://www.thisisyourtimerwanda.com/). The trek was most certainly worth it, as there was inanga (a traditional guitar-like instrument that looks like a body board - http://music.africamuseum.be/instruments/english/burundi/inanga.html), traditional dancing (39 dancers in total), and interesting speeches. The inanga was traditionally played only by men but there is now a woman named Sophie plays the instrument. One song she performed talked about the rights of women in Rwanda. She would refer to times when husbands used to be able to beat their wives but said that now if they so much as shake a stick at her the police will be there. At the end of her performance she gave a speech talking about the change that has allowed her as a woman to play this instrument and her rights to participate in politics and elsewhere. After I read the book itself I will write a review of sorts.

As for travels outside the city, I got to take a particularly memorable trip to a village in the northeast called Mutaro. It was a very long ride out there, and I most certainly caused a stir as foreigners don’t often visit there. I visited the aunt of a friend, shared a meal and met the neighbors. I will go back later in March for a wedding. It was a great visit and a beautiful village (in which, as in much of the rest of the country, electricity and street lights were going up despite its seeming remoteness).

News I have heard from back home has been mixed. I sadly missed a milestone birthday for mom, but it sounds like her and my sister had a good time. I also heard from my dad about my aunt in the hospital. My thoughts are with her as she tries to recover. I did want to let everyone back home know I am thinking of you all, even though I have certainly not written enough.

With that brief overview of the last couple months, I will start getting ready to head out. Today is a big day as it is the second round of qualifiers for the World Cup I think. Whatever the specifics are, it is Rwanda playing Nigeria in the regional stadium rather than the national stadium by the house, which is getting renovations. This means I have to make it all the way to Nyamirambo and try to beat the crowds there. I will let you all know how it goes, especially as it will be my first live football/soccer game. I hope they will sell vuvuzelas, but somehow suspect that they will not. Future posts will also feature a lot about the women’s month celebrations here in Rwanda. Each week has a specific theme: malnutrition, women’s health, economic empowerment, and finally women in governance and decision-making. Also for those out there curious about the happenings of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, you can search for UNCSW on Facebook or Twitter, or you can go to http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/56sess.htm. These will have links to speeches, events, etc. As always, stay tuned for future, and hopefully more frequent, updates!

Ni aha ubutaha (till next time – nah-hooboo-tahhah)!

Umwaka mushya muhire!

For those who speak English, happy new year! I spent the holiday at a friend's house away from the craziness of the 7pm-dawn party at the large expo center. It was a nice gathering, complete with my terrible attempts to play rock band.

These past weeks have been very busy for me. I have continued getting great interviews. Also, I have been able to get clearance to attend a gacaca. Gacaca is pronounced gah-cha-cha, and it is a local approach to justice for genocide crimes in which the community gathers together to hear/make accusations, prisoners respond, and decisions regarding punishment are made by community leaders. The gacaca system is supposed to end soon, but there are a couple lingering cases. When I was here in 2009, I also received clearance to attend gacaca but it was delayed and I had to catch my flight out of the country. I had hoped to get a chance to see one before they closed and it seems that I, along with Andy, will get that chance.

The weeks of having the house to myself are over as a new housemate has arrived and the woman from whom I rent has returned as well. It was a really quiet couple of weeks and I am quite exited to have other people around at home again. The new housemate and I tried the cheapest local buffet I've found yet, and it was one of the tastiest! I was very pleased, and in addition to being cheap (1200 RWF = $2.00) it is a block from my house.

This post is a particularly short, but more will follow! I just wanted to quickly update on big happenings of the past weeks and assure everyone that I am safe and sound. It will be even better when Andy arrives tomorrow! I had considered taking him to the Ethiopian restaurant when he arrives since there will be dancing and music for Ethiopian Christmas, but I suspect he will be too tired. To all those celebrating Christmas tomorrow, melkin yelidet beaal! For everyone else, take care and stay tuned for future updates!

Lots of Happenings

It has been almost a month since I last posted. Many apologies! I have been quite busy, and have lots to update on, including many new experiences.

I went to my first Rwandan wedding a couple weeks ago. It was the wedding of a friend's cousin. There is a really complicated way to understand family relationships. To go to the wedding there was a special umuganda so we couldn't leave town until later. It was alright though, and the wedding right before the one we attended was a military wedding for someone that seemed pretty high up, complete with military band and sword arch. The wedding I attended was great! I was worried at first that perhaps the bride and groom were sad to be there, or at least not very happy about it. I was told that being serious requires not smiling. During the wedding ceremony there was really interesting discussions of how to treat each other with respect and how true Christian love would prevent people (husbands and wives and people in general) from treating others badly, with the priest also citing the well known example of Hutus and Tutsis during 1994. The reception was much more relaxed than the ceremony in the church. There were separate seats for the distinguished family members on each side, and many speeches. Particularly interesting was a speech from the bride's father saying that she was muzirankoni - meaning one who cannot be beaten, and stressing that she needed to be treated right and the couple needed to visit both families, his and hers. The father of the groom assured everyone that theirs is a good family that doesn't even like to take beer, they like milk. Also, he said that they have ways of settling conflicts and disputes that do not involve fighting or violence, and emphasized that their family's men always treated women properly. He assured everyone that the bride would be well treated by his son. It was a very interesting conversation: a GBV (gender-based violence) prevention discussion during the reception. Very interesting. After these speeches there was sharing of soda and cake, and gift-giving to the couple. At least two cows and a car was said to be given to the couple, and the bride's university class visited and brought gifts as a group. Rather than just leaving gifts by a table, one is supposed to walk up in front of everyone and give the gift, which meant I too had to walk up with my wedding cart and say congratulations. It was a great time, and allowed me to see the AVEGA (an organization for widows of the genocide - http://www.avega.org.rw/English.html) headquarters in Rwamagana since the reception was held there.

Another thing I have done is learn more of Nyamirambo as I have made a friend that is also without her partner right now. I really enjoy Nyamirambo. I would honestly have to say that if my current living situation weren't so perfect I would go get a place in Nyamirambo. It is a more energetic part of town with lots going on, lots of people, lots of colorful shops, buildings and buses. It's a very fun part of town that I suspect will be Andy's favorite while he is here. Notable places include Green Corner which is famous for fish and inkoko (chicken). And when you get a chicken they give you a chicken. It is quartered but it is all there for you, and very tasty. I was also taken to a juice shop that has a fruit dish from Mombasa, Kenya with pieces of pineapple and citrus fruits all in avocado juice. When it was described to me, despite my love of avocado juice I was quite uncertain about how good it would be. Surprisingly, it was incredibly good!

Other good places I have found to eat include Mr. Chips. Absolutely awesome if one is craving fried chicken! The fried fish and burgers are also supposed to be very good. For a lot of local food though I still enjoy the delicious meals offered in our house and buffets. Another buffet close to the house is quite cheap and includes drink and dessert. So overall I am eating quite well! I have also gone to Come Again and finally tried Akabenzi - a pork dish that I have heard a lot about since the last time I was in Rwanda. It was pretty good. I'm still going to have to say that brochette ihene is still my favorite (goat brochette - kind of like shish kabob without so many vegetables).

I also got a chance to meet Rwandan students that have been granted Fulbright scholarships to study in the United States. That was a really great experience as Rwandan alumni of the program and Americans in the room talked about American culture and things to expect, etc. It was interesting to think about my experiences here in Rwanda and then consider how a Rwandan might experience America once there.

In addition to interviews, meetings, and meals, I have also attended a couple conferences (of which there are many always happening in Kigali). One I attended was the second day of the Kigali International Conference African Security Organs Annual Review Meeting on the Prevention of Violence against Women and Girls. There were representatives from many countries present including Botswana, Burundi, Central African Republic, DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, as well as Eritrea and South Sudan as observers. There was a lot of representation from RDF (Rwanda Defense Forces) and RNP (Rwanda National Police). They took us all on police vans to visit RDF gender offices that dealt with gender and GBV concerns located at the Ministry of Defense as well as the RNP headquarters GBV office. There are also smaller versions in local police stations, as I have seen in my local police station. At the end of the conference, recommendations were discussed and agreed upon. This involved posting the recommendation Word document on a projector and everybody debating about them. It was really fascinating to see the ways people debated and argued about the recommendations, finally coming to an agreement.

I also to a conference with the invitation of IBUKA (a word meaning remember, this organization is a survivors organization - http://www.ibuka.rw/) on trauma counseling which featured the publication of a report of counseling offered during gacaca (a local form of community justice). This was extremely interesting and allowed me to meet more people involved with gacaca as well as student groups of survivors, and other researchers focused on trauma and gacaca. It also again highlighted the challenges of transitional justice, local justice, care services like trauma counseling, and recovery in general.

As for the holidays, there is no need to worry because there are plenty of people here making sure that I feel at home! There's lots of interesting things going on around Kigali for the holidays. Holiday reggae show, a place for kids to go and do kid stuff, special discount on Ethiopian buffet, some football games, a traditional dance show, and many gatherings. I spent part of Christmas Eve with a friend and we went to one of the nice hotels in Kigali. It had a choir set up by the very elaborate pool and garden area and the entire hotel was decorated beautifully. I will go to a Christmas dinner this afternoon with a few friends.

I do have to say that the reggae wasn’t holiday songs or anything. It just happened during the holidays. I really loved the band – Holy Jah Doves (their songs are available on youtube and samples are at http://www.rafikirecords.com/artists/jah-doves)! It was a shaky start the first song or two, but then once they got going it was really good. They started with some popular Bob Marley songs, but then moved into Kinyarwanda reggae written by the band which was a mix of reggae and traditional Rwandan sounds. Really amazing. And the crowd and bar was great. It is a place that serves pizza, but since we were full from Ethiopian buffet we will try the pizza another time. The Ethiopian buffet was fantastic! In addition to great food (and of course, my favorite: doro wat), the buffet included coffee ceremony and a bonfire in the yard.

I didn’t make it to the football game yesterday, but may go see one on Monday. I was not particularly worried about it since they are friendly practice games rather than games with opposing teams. Instead I went to lunch yesterday and while eating outside on the covered patio, got to see my first hail in Rwanda. It was a crazy little raincloud (there were other places with sun while hail was falling by us. It didn’t last too long but interesting nonetheless.

Other new experiences included planting a bit of eggplant with a really friendly woman I met at the home of an acquaintance, getting to see some new villages, helping judge a youth essay and poster contest hosted by USAID and the American Embassy during the 16 days of activism against GBV (http://www.unwomen.org/infocus/16-days-of-activism-against-gender-violence/), watching a woman’s football game after the 16 days march played between women in government institutions and women in civil society organizations (and during the march, police and military join in with other organizations marching to show their support for the fight against GBV), and being able to introduce myself in Kinyarwanda to a group of rural women just outside Kigali learning to read and write. Kinyarwanda lessons are reaching their end, but I was able to get enough to do introductions, numbers, market bargaining, and the like.  

The house will soon become bustling as more people start arriving. The woman I am living with will have a busy house in January. Should make things even more interesting as Andy is here since he'll get to meet many people and experience the business of a full house in full swing.
I have given up more or less on the early morning swimming. Maybe when it is not so rainy and cold at night it will be alright to get up early and swim. Or I just have to commit. I will still go every once in awhile (as regular as a schedule allows) to swim in the afternoon, and still do sauna time  since that seems to really help a lot. A lot of the exercise now is walking everywhere. Between the healthy food and walking I'm doing quite well. And of course I have been continuing to meet with many great people and trying to make sure that I continue work on all projects while here.

So as you can see, things have been quite busy! In the future, I will be sure to update this blog at least once a week. Until next time, noheri nziza (Merry Christmas), Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanza, and in general happy holidays!