March 31, 2010; 14.56 CST
Another very long day, with its ups and downs … and more downs than ups, I think. I am not coming away from this day at this point with a good feeling. It is so easy to complain about so many things – certain people getting on my nerves (either more than usual or the same as usual), the language barrier between us and the Rwandans, the fatigue enveloping us all, the planning that seems badly done, the miscommunications … I could probably write pages and pages, but in the interests of keeping things proportionate, I will only touch on each briefly. It would not do to have all positive in this journal.
People. The more tired I get, the more they get on my nerves. People leaving doors half-open or only locking once (the doors lock twice here). People focusing on their appearance much more than I think is necessary. People being rude or crude. People yelling or trying to exert authority which they do not have. It’s very tiring, but if everyone in the world was perfect, we’d be in Kingdom Come.
The language barrier. This is a super-frustrating one. Service at restaurants is awfully slow here (not sure why – Rwandan time?), and often restaurants will not have exactly what they list on their menus (or for the same price as they list on their menus). When we try to order or to clarify or just to ask questions, it is often difficult to get the question across and more difficult to understand the answer. I thought we’d be able to get along fine here with French and English – apparently in many cases that is not so at all.
The fatigue. We’re all exhausted, and as a result not feeling well and often very irritable. Changes in plans become huge issues when we’re all so tired. The adults are far more irritable as well, and the conciliatory manners some of them try to adopt sound condescending and patronizing and just get on our nerves even more. We were supposed to be back from Butare around 8 tonight and have a small, late supper. We got back at 9 and didn’t want to eat at all, but we had to because otherwise the food would be wasted. No one is very happy.
The planning. It seems like everything is done half by-ear on this trip. Things change quickly and word is not always passed along.
The communication. Oi. I brought money to buy souvenirs and a couple lunches, but we have gone to far more places where we have been obligated to spend money that we were not aware we would need to spend. This hasn’t been a problem for most people, but I brought less and feel a little left-out on occasion. If I had known about all these stops, I would have planned even better! I did not waste money, and yet here I am. Also to do with the communication issues is who is going where and when and for how long, and what to bring, and whether or not pictures can be taken, and the customs, and whether or not we will be outside, and how much time we have, and so on and so forth. I would have loved a schedule with markings like “shopping here” or “break here for food, pay on your own”, or “stop at grocery shop”, etc.
I am exhausted and want to sleep very badly, but I suppose I should say what actually happened today. We left for Butare a little later than planned, but the ride there was rather pleasant. I listened to music and read the fourth part (of five) of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which was an interesting chapter on the whole – he discovers part of his destiny at the end, which is done in a very neat passage. To go to Gisenyi one goes west and north; to go to Butare one goes south. The landscape changed from very high, peaked mountains to softer hills (still high, but with plateaus instead of peaks).
The first museum we visited was atop a hill, and was both the last king’s palace (a modern building) and the second-last king’s palace (traditional Rwandan royal housing). The modern house was somewhat boring, but very nicely furnished (the wood was very intricately carved as decoration, and I particularly liked the rugs – very colourful and plush) and somewhat informative. The plaques on the walls told specifically of the monarchical history of Rwanda, talking of the formation of the kingdom in the 10th century AD and the conquests that led to its apogee in the 18th century and then its slow decline under colonialism in the 19th and 20th century leading to today. It was interesting to see how an African empire had survived so long, but being in the middle of the continent I would imagine it was one of the last places to be reached by European influence. For example, when King Baudouin of Belgium visited Rwanda in the 20th century, he was given 120 different spears by the Rwandan king (whose name escapes me), a traditional Rwandan royal-to-royal gift. It was under the last king that the European influence really expanded, as he was very cooperative with the Belgians. At one point, the Rwandan kingdom expanded far into what are its neighbouring countries today, which is why there are still Rwandaphones in those areas. Rwanda is notable for the fact that its people only speak one language, unlike many neighbouring countries which may speak seven to twelve. This is due to the conquest nature of the Rwandan monarchy.
I am really not feeling well. I am going to sleep and I will finish this entry in the morning or later in the evening.
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