Day 7: Breakfast

Scott. You have desire to see Northern Province? Albert had asked me this a few days ago. He was going away for the night on business and asked if I wished to come with him. I did. We will take breakfast at 8.30 and we will leave at 9. We did.

For breakfast I had a tower of fluffy ruffs/eggy bread, and a cup of Rwandan tea without milk.

Albert told me to sit in the front of the car, and he sat in the back with his girlfriend. This is my driver. he said pointing at the man next to me. He is very good. The driver was good, and Albert kept repeating the fact. Very good. Very, very good. He wasn't what we would think of in England as a 'good driver', but in a country where few roads have markings (or pavements), where cars have to muscle their way through crowds of pedestrians and scooters, and where the right line is the racing line, he was a good driver.

We went through little villages, where corrugated-metal houses were surrounded by plantain trees and woven fences. Children were waiting outside ready to wave at any cars that passed. If they saw me they would wave and shout Muzungo! Muzungo! Muzungo!

Muzungo! Muzungo! Muzungo! Albert laughed, when you are with a muzungo, they cannot see you. They can only see the muzungo.

Day 6: Dinner

I've given up trying to take photographs of dinner in Albert's dark living room (for the moment). Instead I thought I'd post these photographs of some plantain trees in Albert's garden. The plantain is the harder, more savoury cousin of the banana, and it often pops up in food (cooked) here. The old man saw me looking at the plant and informed me that in Kinyarwanda, plantain is igitoki.

 The old man also pointed at an avocado tree in the neighbour's garden (which I don't have a picture of) and told me that it is avoka.

I wanted to go for a walk as the only time I get to myself is usually when I'm sleeping, and even then, the mosquitos seem intent on interrupting my thoughts. I told Albert that I would go for a walk, and by the time I had my shoes on, Jado, the boy, had his on and was ready to escort me for my walk. In this situation, I think it's better to go along with it. As it happens, it was a very enjoyable amble. Jado taught me lots of Kinyarwanda, which I can summarise best in these phrases.

kugenda mu rugo n'amaguro = to go home by foot
kugenda mu mujyi na moto = to go into town by moto (scooter taxi)
kugenda ku kazi n'imodoka = to go to work by car
kugenda kunywa amazi/inzoga = to go and drink water/beer
kugenda kurya igitoki = to go and eat plantain
igiti = tree

Very good. Dinner tonight was rice, potatoes, mystery meat, salad, no sombe (which I have discovered is made from the leaves of the cassava plant; nothing to do with spinach), and a beer.

*If you notice any of my Kinyarwanda spellings changing through my posts, it is either because I don't know how to spell the words, or because I've recently discovered the correct way.

Day 6: Lunch

Friday's lunch: Spiced rice, rolled-up egg thing, fried plantain, various bean mixes, yam, peanut sauce, red egg, passion fruit, 2x mini banana. Yum. Each day I see these wonderful advertisements on my walk to and from Camellia. I thought I would share them.

House burning down in apocalyptic chaos? Quick! Phone the insurance company. 'A friend indeed'.

On an aeroplane during a terrorist attack? At least I'm insured!

Simply Rwandaful

Day 6: Breakfast

Good morning! Today's breakfast was another round of bread-omelettes (two), and milky tea. I managed to communicate to the old man that I'd like to know to know the name of the dish, and he called it a farin.

Albert's girlfriend was around for breakfast, and knowing she speaks English, I took advantage of the situation and asked her how to tell the old man that his food was good. She told me nibyza means it's nice. I repeated this to the old man, and he seemed very amused at my small attempts at Kinyarwanda.

He even went so far as to show me the flour, with which he made the chapatis. (I would have guessed they were shop-bought.)

Feeling good about my new-found ability to communicate with the old man, I gave him my empty water bottle to throw away (there are no bins in the house) but 10 minutes he returned from the shop with a new one for me. (Orakozi.)

Here is a photograph of the clean water tap - from my bedroom window - where the washing up is done each morning. Those pots will be from last night's dinner.

Shortly after breakfast, Jado (the boy) flagged down a moto for me, and of I went to work. At the end of my first week, I am much less afraid of good moto drivers (and much more afraid of bad moto drivers). I have stopped holding onto the drivers, and started holding onto the handles behind my seat. (Most others I see don't hold on at all.)

This morning's words:
farine = chapati-omelette thing
nibyza = it's nice

Day 5: Lunch

This afternoon I walked to Camellia again to buy my lunch. The other staff told me again to let the cleaner go, but I told them I need the walk.

In today's pot I put tomatoes, spiced rice, chips, a sort of root vegetable mush, fried plantain (yum!), fried fish, a piece of the meat with carrot inside, and some peanut sauce (which you can see at the top edge). I picked up my usual two miniature bananas, and the packing man had an orange ready for me. He's very particular about wrapping the bananas and orange up in tissue, and the fork. In fact, the Rwandans that I've met so far, do seem quite attentive and careful. The meal cost me the usual 2,800frw, and I bought a mango juice from the shop across the road for 500frw (which I believe is a bit expensive) (50p).

Here is a rubbish photograph of the outside of Camellia. Today as I was on the approach, a little boy ran towards me, then walked the remaining few metres to the restaurant with me talking in Kinyarwanda at me. I don't know what he was saying.

I learnt in the office that when somebody says bite (hi), you should reply byza. And that amakuru (news) can also mean do you have any news? or whassup, to which you should reply imeza.


Summary of words learnt today:

byza = hi
amakuru = whassup
imeza = whassup in return

Day 5: Breakfast

When I opened my curtains this morning, I saw the old man polishing my shoes. I felt instantly guilty about this.

This morning breakfast was at 8. The old man went to fetch the policeman's friend (the boy in the white vest) who lives in the hut in Albert's garden. This morning he was not in a white vest, and instead just had a towel around his waste. "He wants me to tell you to wait here and he will cook your breakfast." he said.

The old man brought in two eggy-bready things (like yesterday) and some African tea (without ginger). All I could do was say Orakozi over and over again like an idiot. The man just smiled and kept saying yes. After I'd cleaned my teeth I was horrified to see the old man in the living room untying my shoelaces for me. It was too late to stop him. Tonight I will undo them when I take off my shoes. I must also learn his name, when I can find somebody to ask.

Day 4: Dinner

After a very difficult moto (scooter taxi) ride home (Albert's house has no address, and his road has no name) I arrived back at 8.30.

Dinner was ready early, but Albert was not around, so I ate with Serj, Ernest*, and a guy in a black polo shirt, whose name I don't know. The green soup made another appearance as a starter. I asked about this, but Serj told me it has no name in Kinyarwanda, so they call it potage. For the main was sombe or Sombi, a dark green mush, which I believe involves spinach; rice, which Serj told me is called morcheri; and had chips, which the guy in the polo told me is called ifirite. I took a very small portion today as I'd come straight from a cafe where I had consumed a pot of African tea (very milky, with ginger) and a (huge) slice of (dry) cake (with lots of icing). The photo is dark again because Albert's living room is quite dark.

There was no meat this evening, but double the carbs. I've realised this is not unusual, no more than having a dinner with two or three types of meat is unusual.

After we ate, the guy in the white vest (from yesterday) turned up to eat. He asked if I made it home okay. Later on, the boy came in to eat too. This is the first time I've seen him eat. The lizard was in his usual corner of the room, above the TV. No sign of Albert tonight.

Summary of words learnt tonight:

sombi/sombe = green mush
potage = dark green soup (ever present)
morcheri = rice
ifirite = chips
amakuru = news (Rwanda TV was on during dinner)

*His name may not be Ernest.