Hitting my comfort zone
Trip Start
Apr 21, 2008
1
28
225
Trip End
Apr 20, 2009
Kigali,
Rwanda
Monday, May 19, 2008
To my surprise, there was a lot of life surrounding the church. There was a primary school right next door and you could hear children yelling and screaming in the school yard the whole time I was there. I was the only one at the church. It was quite shocking. They had all the clothes of the victims neatly placed on the church benches in small bundles. 10,000 peoople died in this church and the surrounding area. When you looked at the roof top, there were holes everywhere. I was told that the holes were caused by grenades thrown into the crowded church. In the basement, you would find the remains of some of the victims. In the back of the church, they had doors that opened from the ground.I stepped down the open corridor and there you would find remains of more victims. I had seen enough after about 5 minutes down there and called it a day.
When I returned to Kigali, I went to visit the famous Hotel Rwanda which is really called Hotel des Milles Collines. It is a pretty posh hotel - posh for East African standards. It has a swimming pool, tennis court and a beautiful garden. I plan to go back later in the week and spend some time by the pool.
After that, I went to visit the main genocide memorial in Kigali. Some of the things I read were pretty unbelievable. It's a must see for anyone visiting the city. When I arrived, security explained that the museum would close in 30 minutes. I was disappointed but there was nothing I could do. When I walked in, I realized I was the only one there. I had the whole place to myself which was nice. After aboout 30 minutes, no one came looking for me. I just kept reading and looking until someone kicked me out. I ended up staying for 2 hours. Suddenly, all the lights closed. I ran upstairs and juct exited the door as they were locking up.
After seeing all these genocide sites and memorials, you can't help but imagine what happened on the streets of Kigali during the war as you walk through them. There are a few main roads and I just think about the roadblocks that were put up stopping people from leaving the city. You also think about how the world let it all happen.
Later on during the day, I went to an internet cafe to do some emailing. While there, a muslim man approached me and started talking to me. He asked my name and where I was from. I said I was Canadian. He smiled and said "I Like Canadians. They don't like conflict like Europeans. See what they did to Rwanda and other parts of Africa?". I didn't know what to say. I just nodded and said goodbye.
My French has come in handy here. I speak it for most of the day - especially to the staff at my hotel. One of the staff people asked if I was Italian. When I asked him why he would ask me such a question, he said I spoke French with an Italian accent. I thought that was funny.
I am going to end it here. On a final note, I am feeling very comfortable now in Africa. It's is like night and day when you compare my feelings the first day I arrived to those I have now. I think I have hit my comfort zone. I am travelling on mini buses all alone. I am walking the streets at night. No one needs to worry. It's starting to get easy.
