I Heart Kigali!

So far, my love for Kigali has only grown. This city has such a different feel from Nairobi that it’s hard to believe I was only there yesterday morning! This city actually has more of a western feel. The cars drive on the same side of the street as home, the buildings are so similar to home, and it everyone is so laid back and chill here. Combine this with the beautiful, hilly terrain, and it’s like the greatest place.

We laid on a sleeping bag in the grass yesterday evening, and talked for hours about live and love and hopes and dreams. The air was crisp, crickets were chirping all around us, and I can’t even remember the last time I was so deeply content. Before we went to bed, we walked to the edge of the grounds, where we could see the lights of Kigali across the valleys and hills. Then it was off to bed, a creaky little cot in our tiny little room. I had a pretty horrible sleep due to the humid temperatures and my consuming fear of bedbugs, but soon, it was morning.

I leapt out of bed this morning, grabbed my camera, and dashed outside hoping to catch a shot of the sun rising over the hills. Apparently 6:45 was too late, so I just snapped pictures of the hazy valley, then headed back to the room to get ready for the day. Shelby and I went to the coffee shop with Sarah, a fellow AUCC-funded intern from McGill, who spent her summer here in Rwanda. We had a nice breakfast and she shared all sorts of awesome Kigali tips with us. Then we all headed across the road to a marketplace. It has SUCH a different feel from the Maasai Markets in Nairobi. There, the vendors are so overwhelmingly pushy, often so obnoxious that their attitudes are the only thing standing in the way of making a sale. Here at the indoor market, the vendors were so laidback, and it was more like you had to chase them down to buy things, which was such a pleasant contrast!

After a little (ok, a lot) of souvenir shopping, we headed back to the hotel, put on our bathing suits, and walked up to Hotel Milles Collines, which is less than a 10 minute walk from where we are staying. For anyone who was seen “Hotel Rwanda”, it is based on this hotel. During the genocide, thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus, as well as targeted government employees and at-risk ex-pats and NGO workers hid in this hotel. While the hotel underwent grenade attacks and being under fire and more than one occasion, thousands of lives were saved as people huddled inside the walls.

We had hoped to spend the afternoon at the poolside, but when we got there, the receptionist told us the pool was under construction for the next 3 months. We were disappointed, but ended up spending a few hours on the outdoor patio at the restaurant. We each had a Primus (the Canadian, or Tusker of Rwanda, aka the local beer). Shelby read her book "Sunday at the Pool in Kigali”, a true story based on people who were sheltered at the hotel during that summer.

Despite all the reading I’ve done about those horrible 100 days, I just couldn’t associate the beautiful hotel with the horrors that I know went on there. It’s been the same way about this city the whole time we’ve been here. I can’t connect the dots between the atrocities that I know occurred, and the beautiful scenery around me. Let me just say that I don’t want to sensationalize what happened during the genocide AT ALL. Completely the opposite. I feel like the more I learn about the genocide, the more passionate I become about making sure it never happens again. If everyone could develop that kind of burning desire to ensure human rights and freedoms, imagine what a different place the world could be.

We are going to the Genocide Memorial Museum tomorrow, I feel like that’s when it’s going to hit me. I am a little bit scared that it’s going to change my perceptions of Kigali. I want to be able to keep loving this city as much as I do now, and I don’t think anything could change my mind about it. If anything, seeing how far the country has come so soon will only make me more passionate about what a great place it is, and how amazingly resilient the Rwandan people are.

On the way back from the Hotel Milles Collines, we saw the St. Famille church at the bottom of the hill, tucked in right around the corner from the hostel. I remembered the name from my book, and so we wandered towards it to take a look. The church is an ENORMOUS brick building nestled right in the base of a hill. Like Hotel Milles Collines, the church held THOUSANDS of people during the genocide. We walked up to the front doors, stepped inside, and both were covered from head-to-toe with instant goosebumps. The Catholic church was one of the most hauntingly beautiful buildings I have ever been inside. There were several people inside sitting quietly on the pews. We walked slowly and quietly to the front of the church and just stood silently for a few minutes, completely overwhelmed with the intensity of being in a building that had been such an effective safe haven. We silently made our way back outside, where we just stood for a few minutes in total awe of what we’d just experienced.

We made the walk back to the hostel, where we spent an hour or two suntanning on the grass before we finally mustered the courage to shower in the super smelly hostel communal showers. Then we hiked back up the hill to the Bourbon Café coffee shop for dinner. Seriously, it’s obsession! Lightening fast internet, a patio with phenomenal views, great coffee, and the yummiest, affordable food. Mzungu life in Kigali doesn’t seem to get better than Bourbon Café. We sat there drinking Mocha after Mocha until closing time, and we took the five minute walk down the hill back to the hostel. It’s amazing that we can walk safely around at night here, when I wouldn’t even walk half a block in a big group in Nairobi after dark.

We’ve just spent a few hours chitchatting here now, and now it’s off to bed. It doesn’t feel right to say that I’m excited to go to the Genocide Memorial Museum tomorrow. Rather, I am hoping to gain a deeper perspective into this dark era in humanity. I feel like it’s so important to reflect on the horrible aspects of life sometimes, in order to keep the great things in perspective. I hate that this kind of evil has manifested in the world. The least we can do is try to understand why and how it came to be, so that we can make sure it never happens again.

-Delaney xo