Saturday January 23rd

I awoke from a deep sleep to Danny’s alarm. (“It is seven AM. Get your ass out of bed. The weather is . . .”) On the way to breakfast I saw a few baboons along the treeline. Some of the hotel staff had sticks to keep the baboons at bay.

After checking out we headed to reception and the gift store. I bought 6 postcards for 3600 RWF ($4.67). We drove to Rwamagana and met Danny’s friend Shannon briefly. They walked us to a bakery so we could wait while Shannon and Danny drove to her place to pick up his bags.

We had cinnamon rolls and I had African tea. The bakery is owned by an American woman married to a Rwandan man. It is supported by a church. Danny told us Rwandans like the looks of the bright cakes but they do not like the sweetness of them so they ask for decorated cakes but not too sweet. The woman working the counter’s name was Alice. She was early to mid twenties. She spoke pretty good English. She said she learned it in the orphanage. She was originally from Gisyeni. She also crocheted as a part time job.

After Danny came back we walked to his host families home. It was behind a blue gate and and a beautiful garden that included corn, carrots, avocados, oranges and more. Papa Georges and Mama Jeannette had two daughters (Immacule [aka Mimosa} and Douce) and one son (Paceli). Mimosa was waiting for her exam results to see if she would be accepted to university. Mama and Papa did not speak much English so Danny and the 3 kids translated. We ate mashed bananas with a peanut based vegetable sauce, grilled corn on the cob (fresh picked from the garden), Rwanda candy and homemade banana wine. We went through a photo album. Papa and Mama met in 1995 in the church choir. They own their house and rent out a few rooms in a separate building in back. Georges is retired from the army and Jeannette is a nurse. We left when they were on their way to choir practice at their church. Mimosa was wearing a Chicago Bears sweatshirt.

Fun fact – when someone is drunk they are said to be walking 8s. If someone was drinking a lot of Panache (a non-alcoholic beer) they could be described as walking ones.

We drove to Nyagatare which was the large town near Danny’s village. Since his place was small and there was no lodging in his village we stayed in Nyagatare. We went out for brochettes and potatoes at a restaurant Danny liked. We met a parliamentarian who moved to Rwanda from Canada several years ago (I went on the Parliaments website and I think it was John RUKU-RWABYOMA.)

Nyagatare is in one of the lowest elevation areas of Rwanda. They have quite a few mosquitoes and plenty showed up to the hotel room. But for $13 a night you can’t really complain, right?

Sunday January 24th

This was they day we got to see Danny’s village and home. After a breakfast of omelettes (the only breakfast option offered during our stay at this fine establishment) we set off for Danny’s. After sort of losing our way on the back roads we pulled up to the compound to see Danny yelling at a dog. The canine in question was Simba and he was very interested in Kennedy when she is in heat. He would continue to be a problem all day. Danny’s house was two bedrooms, a central room and a separate latrine. A shower and kitchen were shared with his Peace Corp site mate Mark.

Danny took us on a walk through the village and introduced us to his friend and mobile minutes dealer Emmy. On the other side of the town was a rock with a hollow spot that you could hear when you pounded on it. We also saw Danny’s school and met the principal. Lunch was brochette and a coke at a bar which was a nice escape from the sun. Emmy asked a lot of questions about the USA. His English was impressive and language was his focus in school (the EKK track – English, Kinyarwanda and Kiswahili). After returning to the compound we delivered the suitcases of food and books for the school children and set some rat traps.