Rwanda in Conclusion

After another tedious bus ride, I have returned to Kenya. I'm glad to be back, if only because most of the time I understand what people are saying, I am fluent in Kenya Shillings, and I know my way around.

Rwanda is, like I've said before, gorgeous. So fertile, so green, so hilly... Wow. I saw so many amazing things while I was there. I saw a volcano that was steaming, and at night, the top glows orange! Talk about freaky. I saw funny things, like a baby sitting in the middle of a field with no mother around. (Baby looked happy though.) I also saw a goat on the back of bicycle. Another interesting thing: Alain and I were walking down the street in Gisenyi and two huge trucks full of very worn-down looking people with the UN Refugee Agency symbol on it. Alain told me about how the Hutus that committed crimes in the genocide had ran to the Congo to hide afterwards, but now they are being resettled. I asked Alain how he felt about it, and he said fine. I told him I was surprised he wasn't afraid, or mad. He said that the only thing that worried him was that the children of the Hutus wouldn't be socially educated like most people in Rwanda now - most people now believe that they are Rwandese, not Hutus or Tutsis (he calls himself Rwandese, not Rwandan, which I find strange but hey, it's his country).

Later we were on the bus from Kigali to Kampala, Uganda, and a lady got on the bus who was also very worn-down, in fact she wasn't wearing any shoes. She had clearly walked for days, and so some people gave her biscuits, we gave her juice, another man gave her some little money. I didn't get the whole story because it was told in Kinyarwanda, but somehow a bus left her and she walked for like 60 kilometers. Later Alain said that he thought she was a Hutu refugee like the ones in the trucks, and that she was probably being accused of crimes during the genocide. (Community courts in small towns are still full of cases of accused killers from the genocide.) He figured she was fleeing. Now, I have no idea how Alain got all that. She probably was a Hutu, but who knows. But no matter what, he thought that was her situation, and he gave her some food and drink anyway. That's how the Rwandese are now, after a genocide. It's fascinating.

I got a unique look into the Rwandese mindset about politics, Africa, corruption, and of course, the genocide. Because I was always staying with families and being with Rwandan people (I didn't talk to a mzungu face-to-face for almost two weeks, my god!), I was able to talk about a lot of things with a lot of people. I was lucky that way.

Another interesting thing is that I can really compare how different governments affect different countries in Africa. For instance, Rwanda is peaceful, safe, and is developing quickly. That's because the government isn't completely corrupt and irresponsible like Kenya's. Rwanda is still very poor, but the government is TRYING. That leads the people to have more faith, I figure, and maybe that's why crime is so much less there. Although the government is good, it's definitely less developed than Kenya. Getting money was a constant problem wherever I was. There are few ATMs, and the existing ones are frequently broken. Additionally, they are not 24 hours but only open when the bank is, so like 9am-4pm. I had to do some weird "cash advance" junk that took about an hour. Anyway, returning to Kenya was good, but a bit depressing too. Immediately I got the "mzungu" BS, and the streets were dirty, and the driving was crazy... Rwanda was just so beautiful and nice. I'd love to stay more time there someday, but I don't think it will be for a few years.