Nziza - beautiful

I woke up around 5 a.m. this morning to crashing thunder, and the noisiest rain of my life. I know can say why they bless the rains down in Africa. It was so freaking loud though! I tried to fall asleep, but it just wouldn't work. I think I laid in bed for an hour with my eyes closed without being able to fall asleep. Part of the loudness is due to the tin roofs though, which makes a whole lot of sense. The rain seemed perfect though, and really cooled things down :) Throughout our whole day, the rain came and went, but it was such a blessing.  

Today I had a lot of fun soaking up Rwandan culture. We went into down-town Kigali. The walk to the bus station took about 30 minutes uphill. The altitude made this feel like forever, and but it was a beautiful walk. It was weird to have so many people looking at us and  pointing. It is weird being the extremely small minority. I could feel the eyes of everyone on us when we walked on by. The as soon as we reached the bus, it was hilarious trying to get on. The bus was pretty small, and at one point I could not help but grin from ear to ear when this Rwandan man's cell phone started blaring Poker Face by Lady Gaga! It was so funny to hear some of the same music I have heard over here in Rwanda! It just shows how small of a world we actually live in. The drive was beautiful, but also scary at some points because everyone here drives like crazy! People dart in and out of traffic on foot, motorcycle, bus, car, etc. Fast and Furious! It was exciting though. 

We then entered downtown Kigali where we exchanged money so we would have the Rwanda Francs. Then, we went to our first market. I had a blast, and found some really cool items that I can't wait to bring home! After market, we walked to lunch, and made a pitstop at Hotel Des Mille Collines, the hotel Rwanda hotel. We were able to take a few pictures, but it was weird being at a place where I knew that so much had happened. We then ate lunch at a Rwanda buffet, pretty interesting, and then continued on our way. 

Our next stop was the camp Kigali Memorial. Camp Kigali is where ten Belgian UNAMIR peacekeepers who were sent to guard the house of Prime Minister Agathe Uqilingiyimana, were executed brutally by the Presidential Guard, on the first day of the genocide. The location is now a memorial, but it was so touching/eye opening. The house still shows the bullet holes, and the shrapnel marks from a grenade. There is also a memorial garden  that has ten stones, each representing a peacekeeper, with the initials of the soldiers carved into the base of the stone, and horizontal slashes indicating the age they were. It was very emotional, and it took a while to take it in. I can't even image what it will be like tomorrow when we go to memorials of the many victims of the genocide. 

After the memorial, we continued walking, and walking, and walking, and stopped to have coffee as a group. Rwandan coffee could take out Starbucks any day! We finally finished off the day by taking a van ride back to where we started. The one van had 20 people in it! It was so crazy, and I laughed so hard as soon as it was done. What an adventure!  

We finally ended our day by going to the Inema Arts Center. This center is a collective of Rwandan creative artists. It provides space for residence to work, and specializes in African Arts, Crafts, Music, and Dance. At Inema, there is the Nziza Workshop, that started in 2010. In kinyarwanda (the language spoken here) Nziza means beautiful. The Nziza workshop trains and employs Rwandan craftswomen. The on-site workshop that they have is busy daily with women sowing, beading and finishing bespoke pieces, and creating all types of art pieces. They also have the Art with a Mission program, which works with orphans, offering them an opportunity to discover and use there talents. It was such a blast to see how art and creativity was playing such a role in the lives of many.

Today was such a busy day, but I am excited for what tomorrow has to offer and bring. 

With my love,

Leah