The sports section of the Rwanda newspaper reports:
“The national basketball team arrives this morning after a two week tour of North Africa. The 22 man team is expected to arrive at 11 am at Kanombe Airport aboard Kenya Airways. The team has been undergoing a series of build-up games as part of its preparation for the African Cup Basketball Championship that throws off (?) August 15 in the Angolan capital of Luanda. On top of testing their strength against Tunisia and Egypt, the tour was also supposed to help the team get exposed to much more improved court facilities than it is expected to meet in Angola.”
I’ve also been told, quite discreetly, that the Indonesian hockey team will soon be playing scratch matches with Thailand and India in order to sharpen their skills!
Welcome back, friend. I am really getting stuck on this place! Is it just the sheer joy of traveling and working, spending a bit of time on my own (no offense to Jane or the kids!), having quiet dinners, reading the paper, and the exhilaration of meeting new people from a completely different culture? Or is it really Rwanda? Or, as they pronounce it here, ER-wanda.
This morning, when I met my colleague Sifa, I asked her what ‘nani’ means. Rwandans do three interesting things linguistically - they say ‘nani’ a lot, peppered into sentences when providing me with an explanation. “This stonework is, nani tilework”, or “The building is nani a secondary school”. So, it was explained to me that this is a Swahili word for ‘like’ or ‘similar to’. The second interesting thing they express is the sound ‘mmmmm’ - it’s almost used the same way a Westerner would use the word ‘uhhh’, except it’s a bit more of a pause (not without it’s own dramatic effect!). Lastly, the main language is Kinyarwanda, which is universally spoken, with most people speaking English and French as support languages. So when someone is talking to me, they will chat me up in French, switch to English halfway through, go back to French, and so on. I’m beginning to think that I understand them perfectly!
Today we met with the architects for the project we are realizing, and it was an extremely productive meeting. As it happens, I was given a mango juice yesterday whilst on my tour of the city (I professed my love for it!), and lo and behold, this morning the conference room was stocked up with said beverage - that just about sums up how thoughtful the people are here. I declined the extra sugar and went for my customary Rwandan tea - delicious!
We were expected in Rwamagana by early afternoon (province of the site for the work) to make a presentation to the governor of the province. He had arranged for us and the architects to give him, his underlings, and the mayor a powerpoint presentation in an open air salle de reunion (meeting hall). So, off we went from Kigali - one car with three people from the architect’s office, and the other car with Sifa, myself, and ‘Kiki’, the grand patron (boss) of the office - his driver had us in the Mercedes. Kiki (officially, Bertrand) is a dynamic and intelligent guy, smart but sensitive, who started his firm originally in the Congo (Democratic Republic of, are formerly Zaire). He is wealthy by any standards, has two sets of twins (ages 9 and 6), lives in a villa - well, you get the picture. He also looks a bit like a young Idi Amin, but is a much more benevolent dictator!!! I like him a lot, not least because he is dedicated to this project and is really giving of his own personal and professional resources to realize it!
I have driven slash been driven in many places in the world, but today’s journey was ‘white knuckle’ all the way. This slickly dressed driver, Prada sunglasses and all, looked like P-Diddy sans the handgun. He sped deliberately but scarily across the countryside, often times brushing by the colorful pedestrians passing on foot or bike - I literally was dreaming of ‘landing’. But we made it safe, first visiting the governor in his office (meeting in Kinyarwandese). The ubiquitous image of the President, Paul Kagame, was framed on one wall, while the flag of Yemin Orde, the model for our project in Israel, graced another wall. I sat comfortably on the ivory Ligne Roset sofa trying to understand the French-laced conversation. After a few moments we left for our ‘conference’.
We met up with the rest of our team at the open air pavilion, which did have one smooth white wall for projections. Birds chirped all around us while the powerpoint LCD presentation was prepared. A buffet lunch was offered (read: insisted upon) - fish kebabs, go figure. Quite good, actually! Everyone whipped out their macbooks, futuristic cell phones, and other toys - and connected instantly and wirelessly! Amazing! All of the men, sharply dressed, sported cufflinks and pointy Aldo-style shoes. I was asked to make a presentation, and since I practically am fluent in the local dialect, it was no problem for me get across the essential qualities of the concept based on the interdependency and value of the mind/body/spirit tri-part ideal. Can’t really say it in English, either.
The meeting was great, the governor totally supportive and responsive, pressuring the mayor to throw behind his own city resources to help us get the work done. Very impressive, and we even extended the conversation to upgrading the nearby town (schools, health clinic, market) and attracting foreign investment and tourism at a nearby provincial lake.
Speaking of foreign investment, you’ll be happy to know I’m not the only person from the Syosset Central School District here. Our own (former) Natalie Portman is visiting (as is the head of Macy’s - gorilla treck). I believe I heard that Ruth Messinger will be here soon - it’s becoming like the Meatpacking District on a Saturday night here - did someone just say Nobu Kigali?
We ended the afternoon with an incredible stop at the site - it was spectacular this time, even more so than the other day. Our whole team was present, the sun was going down, the hills were alive with (not musical) goats, and a large group of local kids descended upon us. It was just one of those magical moments.
Another terrifying drive back to town (seatbelts working!) brought me home feeling exhausted, challenged, and exhilarated. I’ve had my beer, a burger and fries, hot apple pie (creature of habit), and after a quick video chat with my lovely wife, I’ll be off to sleep.
A demain,
Harley
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