Going Bananas

Bananas are the number one subsistence crop in Rwanda, and I never knew there were so many varieties, sizes, tastes, or dishes involving bananas. There are starchy bananas, sweet bananas, green bananas, and at the moment (attracting more fruit flies than Rob's high school science project) rotten bananas in my trash can....

One of my favorite sitings to date was a guy on the bus with a chiquita banana hat that said "Chiquita, the bright spot in your day"...well these bananas are not exactly chiquita, but as long as you get the sweeter variety-which at this point since they all look similar i have trouble distinguishing exactly what i am exactly buying-it is indeed the bright spot in my day.

Everyday on my way to work I pass women carting 100+ bananas in woven baskets on their heads (yes people do carry things on their heads here...the other day i saw a guy carrying a futon-type couch on his head-with no hands!). And usually I stop and buy some bananas. 10 bananas or so cost about 50 cents.

So far I have had:

Stewed Bananas: popular african dish involving manioc leaves that tastes remarkably like potatoes...
Baked Bananas: Drier dish and not as sweet as stewed bananas
Banana Bread
Banana "Wine": Called Ugwagwa which is thick and potent and after 2 glasses better than it sounds...
Banana Juice: Similar to Ugwagwa minus the fermentation/alcohol taste
Banana Fruit Salad
and my lunch staple: A peanut butter and banana sandwich.

(I have yet to try banana beer, Wagari (which is a banana based gin?!!), or boiled and fried bananas...)

But beware, because there is an incurable bacteria strain (xanthomonas wilt or BXW) that is jeopardizing banana crops in Eastern Africa. The bacteria attacks all varieties of bananas and if not contained, this could have devastating effects on the region. (not to mention my lunch)

This bacteria is like HIV for bananas--i propose it should be called BRB-Banana Rotting Bacteria (though i hope it will NOT BRB). It attacks the banana through wounds or opening in the skin, and then causes the banana to ripen and rot prematurely. Though if you cover banana tree with a plastic covered (latex not necessary) it protects the plant from "infection". Also removing the male flowers circumcis--i mean circumvents insects from spreading the disease...And again, there is no cure. (is this revenge for all my banana demonstrations in kazakhstan? hmm....) If bananas become extinct what would be the bright spot in my day?!!

For more info on the disease this article aPEELed (sorry :)) to me: Dealing with a Deadly Banana Disease

Showers of Rwanda

Since I'm sure that my bathing habits are of great concern to all the readers out there (and because I'm feeling particularly grimy after three days without a shower) I'm taking this moment to describe the various showers I've had during my 3 weeks in country...

Hotel Isimbi ($40 a night)
Hot Water: Instant Hot Water (!)
Conditions: Showing in a tub with no curtain and a hand held shower hose.
Cons: Not great water pressure

Alberge du Caverna ($14 a night)
Hot Water: Room number 1 (Yes, but took 1-2 minutes to heat up) Room number 2: in theory yes, but i only discovered this fact after taking a shower after Alana, so apparently it takes a good 20 minutes to heat up)
Conditions: in a cement shower stall with a curtain (unique for Rwanda!)
Cons: unpredictable heat and slow

My Home: (my rent=a refridgerator)
Hot Water: No
Conditions: an elevated sort of 3x3 cubicle 1 foot from the toilet without any curtain so the entire bathroom gets soaked while showering.
Cons: no hot water, horrible water pressure, no lock on bathroom door-so living in fear that someone may walk in and see me hunched over the faucet (cant' figure out how to turn on the shower head)--on a plus side because there is not hot water my showers there have been less than 2 minutes...

Gym at Novotel: ($7)
Hot Water: YES!!
Conditions: a little slice of heaven...A private shower WITH a lock. A porcelain shower basin, wonderful water pressure, instant hot water, soap dispenser, shower curtain so your other clothes don't get wet...
Cons: $7. But will I pay $7 to take a shower? yes!!! and actually its a great place to work out as well. They have 5-6 aerobic machines (and when i get there at 7 am, there is rarely anyone there), new weight machines, and CNN....The shower situation is actually a great incentive for keeping in shape while over here. Forget all those books and tricks to get people to work out...america could solve the obesity problem if gyms were the only places with available hot water!!

Easy Rider

Kinyarwandan word of the day: Cyirahenda cyane (It's too expensive)

This phrase has come in handy, particularly for my new favorite mode of transportation in Kigali: the moto taxi. Since I have moved in with my host family, I am in a very nice neighborhood, but unfortunately it is far away from most things (except Bourbon Coffee-which i just heard that they are opening a branch in D.C....be on the lookout! More on Rwandan coffee here). So rather than take the 3 buses it requires to get to work in the morning (or 2 to get downtown) I have discovered the moto-taxi. There is nothing like whipping across an african hilltop or bouncing down a dirt road on the back of a motorcycle. Plus, rather than take a regular taxi to town (which is at least $8) I can just hop on a moto for less than $1.50.

They are cheap, always available, and all drivers are registered with the government with numbers so if one has problems, it is easy to report. Also, helmets are required for all riders. I'm still looking into buying a bicycle, but for the moment i'm enjoying the ride.

No Wave was had....

So this picture of the soccer game took 15 minutes to load so i will try in the evenings to see if i can get a quicker connection....regardless, this captures the spirit of people crammed in like sardines...you can't see if from this picture, but just to the left there is a billboard outside the stadium that at least 30 people climbed up on to watch the game for free....

Attack of the killer....

dragon flies? I'm not quite sure what the creature was, but it definitely infiltrated my bedroom last night...The situation: I just said goodnight to Farita ("host mom") and went into my bedroom to read a bit before going to bed when i noticed a dragonfly type creature on the wall. No big deal. I am actually amazed at the LACK of bug problems i have had here. So i went to kill it and sat down on my mattress again. when i saw another...hmm....killed that. Suddenly, before i knew it my room had at least 30 of these guys flying around. I realized it was my light (combined with the fact it was raining outside) so I turned off my light.

But then i heard nothing but the flapping of wings which freaked me out, so i turned on my light to kill what i could, but it was an uphill battle. Packaging tape, towels...NOTHING could keep these guys from getting in...It was seriously like a scene from a horror movie, where you could see an endless stream of bugs, yet nothing i could do would keep them out....

So for the next 20 minutes-in what i am sure would be a humorous site for anyone that happened to catch it-I was runnign around my room with a flashlight and my flip flop trying to kill these guys....finally I gave up, but awoke this morning to a blanket of dragon fly wings and carcases all over the room....hmm....maybe i should invest in a mosquito net here...

Also, i purchased a mini-fridge for the family today for a whopping $430...not sure what mini-fridges cost in the states but this did seem a little extreme....Rwanda certainly is not cheap. I saw a snickers bar for sale for $2 yesterday. The first one I have seen in the entire country, but i was able to resist.

Ma Famille

I moved in with my new host family on Saturday. The family consists of Farita, my 33 year-old "host mom" and her 6 year old daughter Chelsea--as well as apparently 2-3 other family members who randomly sleep at the apartment. The best english speaker of the bunch is chelsea, who attends an english speaking school so yesterday morning we spent a solid three hours counting to 100 over and over again, singing heads, shoulders, knees and toes and drawing pictures of animals. While the morning was rather seasame street, the evening turned into a rather X-rated affair. When I walked in from playing ulimate frisbee with a bunch of other Americans (mostly embassy folks), Farita and her neice (who is my age) Kuku were watching some god aweful american movie "Rapid?" which alternated between extremely large fake boobs in a hot tub to guys (or in some cases sexy women) blowing up and shooting everything in site. Ah, american exports...but given the context and sad fact that farita and family probably witnessed this violence first hand, i'm amazed that they can sit through it.
In fact, earlier in the evening, Ish-a local friend and newphew of Farita-described his experience during the genocide. As a 14 year old boy on his way to school one day, he witnessed the family guard take a machette and decapitate someone right infront of Ish. Horrible. There are no words to describe this. Ish seems remarkably grounded after witnessing such things at an early age...he described going home sobbing, telling his mom what he had seen and she just hugged him and gave him a cookie. What do you do in these situations? He says he still can't watch an animal being butchered....
Once you get to know people here they are surprisingly open about their experiences. I am slightly terrified to hear others stories...

BUUUUUT!

So today I experienced a must see in any developing country. A World Cup Qualifier soccer match between Rwanda and Mauritania. This game had been hyped on the radio for a weeks leading up to the game and when we arrived at the stadium nearly three hours before game time the stadium was nearly full. So our $4 tickets allowed us entry into the covered area of the stadium and if we wanted we could buy a newspaper to protect ourselves from the dusty bleacher seats. Which in retrospect, the newspaper was probably not worth the 5 cents forked over because by game time we were PACKED into rows so tightly that my t-shirt is permanently infected with the guy next to me’s lovely odor (just a note, people tend to either completely neglect their personal hygiene or overcompensate with god awful cheap cologne) Unfortunately for me, my neighbor was the former.
Anyway, despite arriving three hours before game time, there was no shortage of entertainment. Every 15 minutes or so, crowd control would break down and there would be a rush of the gates as 100’s of people would barge in without paying the proper $1 admission (for seats in the sun). Eventually they had to bring in police complete with riot gear. Also, there were people running around selling bottles of water (the only thing possible to buy in the entire stadium) and because it was so packed (i.e. people sitting on the steps, etc.) the water vendors would sometimes have to throw the water 20 rows up, which undoubtedly would hit someone in the head. Also, once you entered the sacred covered seating area you couldn't leave...so you can only imagine what bottles of water and no bathrooms led to...
So aside from people watching the stadium was in a beautiful setting. There were no scoreboards and i had no idea how much time had passed but it was a side of a hill overlooking Kigali and you could see nothing but blue sky and rolling hills in the background...by far the best scenery in a stadium I've ever had. Definitely beats the view of the four train at yankee stadium!
As for the game itself, apparently Rwanda is not known for their soccer skills-they have never qualified for the world cup before-but today you wouldn't know it! They scored one goal (or But in French) within the first 15 minutes and the crowd of 10,000 or so went absolutely crazy...chanting jumping up and down, banging drums. (apparently the government pays a group of 100 people to come to the games wear special uniforms and be in perpetual motion, cheering mode the entire game)
The only other soccer game I had been to was in Almaty, so no offense to K-stan but it was a little more low key...But i was amazed at the number of injuries....at least every 5 minutes a player went down and was flailing about on the field while a group of medics would run up and attend to them. Rwanda ended up winning 3-0 and i was a little scared people would rush the field, but the only problem was a mauritania fan that had to be apprehended by the police for jumping the fence and waving the mauritanian flag...
Alana has some great pictures of fans/game which hopefully i can steal from her and post soon...