missing mutzig

it's been just a few days since my return, and it's taking me a bit of time to acclimatize to life outside of africa ...

just barely a week ago i was relishing my last 'day' in rwanda, sipping earthy beer by the pool and enjoying the african sky ... work completed, feeling satisfied!!!

jet lag, regular life, easing back into the routine - it's all good - but no mutzig here - wahhh!

home sweet home

a long trip draws to a close ... and the same is true for a long evening.

upon landing in kenya, i chat with the woman sitting behind me on the plane ... very sweet and interesting!  i call jane, text jc (*code name), and continue on my merry way.  8 hours later i awake to find that we are landing in bruxelles - a good night sleep has been had!  i have breakfast with my new 'swedish' friend, which is a complete treat!  i am delighted to find out that for the final leg of the journey, i have been upgraded to first class, which will take the edge off the eight hour flight home from europe.

i chat with dear debbie from bruxelles, feeling sorry that i didn't get to see her and her gang this weekend.  alas, nice to speak nonetheless, and after purchasing boxes of chocolates for my crew, i take off in style!  fully reclined, drinking champagne, watching tv, i zoom back to new york fairly rested ... it's a gorgeous day, i'm off the plane and through customs instantly; no checked luggage allows me to get into the waiting limousine straight away.

back in woodbury, i get a warm greeting from waiting children who promptly ignore me shortly thereafter - jane arrives, insisting i stay awake despite the time difference; my parents are here too, looking great and enjoying the kids.

another inspiring journey for which i am thankful, but it certainly is great to be back ...

best,

h

the long haul

in congo, one way to success is to invest in toothpaste. if one can somehow finance the investment - that is, the purchase of 12 tubes of crest or colgate, there is money to be made. the young entrepeneur takes said cleansing agent, and offers it for pennies (everything in congo is in dollars) to eager buyers, who extend their toothbrushes for the daily dose that they have just paid for ...

in nigeria, it is possible to get rich off corruption - businessmen in cahoots with crooked government officials scheme to siphon off oil from corporate pipelines. by sending out a flotila of 'fishing boats' manned with skilled divers, one can tap into exxon and mobil's oil flow in smallish quantities, then send the stolen slick into offshore waters, where chinese tankers wait thirstily for the goods.

just about to take off for kenya, finally!!! hoping i make my connection in bruxelles tomorrow, que sera sera!

today turns out to be quite pleasant! a good workout in the gym (inexplicably, every fitness center in rwanda is incredibly well equipped!), a light breakfast, and lounging like a lizard at the pool (yes manda, wearing sunscreen this time!) - no attempt whatsoever to immerse myself in african culture. today, i am an expat!

just to reassure you, people ARE people. some observations from today on rwandans:
*they put ‘floaties’ on their kids when they go into the pool (although how they learn to swim in a landlocked country is beyond me!
*they put up fancy tents here too for weddings (one happening today at my hotel)
*they laugh at the same things westerners do, and boy, do they LOVE to laugh!
*they are diligent and deliberate - in all manners
*they are incredibly clean and proud - spotless dishes, floors, bathrooms, etc. - restaurants too!
*they LOVE clothing - and are fast forward stylish - low slung jeans, pointy shoes, crisp shirts, gold and silver handbags
*the husbands bring cash down to their wives who are sitting by the pools
*the dads are the ones swimming with the kids and ‘teaching’ them
*they have incredible table manners, and they eat their vegetables!
*they can switch back between french, kinyarwanda, english, and swahili with the greatest of ease!
*they are very relaxed - no shrieking parents, hushed tones, and the kids are extremely well behaved
*they are shocked when i relate that i have been married 19 years (to the same woman!) - generally, both men and women finish higher education, work for a few years, and get married in their low to mid ‘30’s
*they enjoy a broad range of ethnic foods in kigali, from great italian, to chinese, to indian!
*they work to live, and don’t live to work
*they mind their own business while still engaging with others
*they are happy that famous westerners are visiting rwanda - ben affleck, jenna bush, bill gates
*they believe (rightly so) that they are an ‘isle’ of civilization and are incredibly unique, compared to their neighbors
*they don’t understand how the genocide happened, and they are not so sure it couldn’t happen again - yikes!
*they have extremely clean nails and hands
*they wear sporty adidas and nike outfits to work out
*they love dancing
*they love ping pong
*they love american music (a foil to native senegalese and congolese music which is popular in other african countries)
*they are fond of their internet access
*the like tall lattés! starbucks, here we come!
*they eat fresh, not frozen
*they despise government corruption, which is NOT endemic in this land
*they don't smoke and they rarely drink

an interesting, if too-long adventure comes to an end - ready for home!!!

amour d’afrique,

h

how green is my valley

thinking that today i would be leaving for nairobi and bruxelles, i relish my last day in africa ... a leisurely breakfast on the terrace overlooking the lake! a long chat with oscar and alain about the political situation in neighboring congo, the internal situation here in rwanda, and the purpose of the UN forces (peacekeeping, but what peace ARE they keeping?). oscar, the manager, explains how being raised in congo means receiving a single cow eight days after birth - this animal ‘brings’ others during it’s lifetime, resulting in a much larger herd which serves as a ‘bank account’. when one travels, they sell a cow to finance the trip. for university, a couple of cows are sacrificed for the good of higher education. sure beats a trust fund!

at the guest house where we stay, there must be twenty people servicing the four large apartments. workers come and go, bringing coffee, wiping terraces, opening gates - quite a contrast to the skeletal staff at any hampton inn, where a sole individual seems to man the night shift!

we begin the drive back to kigali, as i need to review some drawings at the architecture office prior to taking off. the countryside continues to astound me - it is green, lush, and terraces, and truly looks like hawai’i. it’s a gorgeous day and a glorious drive - many people walking along the side of the road, women balancing baskets, sugar cane, and twigs on their heads with nary a hand to help them. the men, on the other hand, stroll along at their own pace, chatting or riding their bikes (whose ownership gives them elevated social status). as we zip through small villages, we see large clumps of people hanging out, standing still, just not moving.

we make it back to kigali mid-afternoon, and when we arrive at the offices, we are joined by fred, the contractor for our project. he queries about my schedule, and asks if i’m flying SN tonight ... my affirmative response is rebuffed - the flight has been canceled i’m told. no!!!

unfortunately, my dear friend speaks the truth ... the plane is not coming from bruxelles, and alain helps me scramble over to the town office of the airline. they rebook my on an improvised flight for tomorrow evening, much to my chagrin, and refuse to put me up for the night at the serena. they propose the milles collines (the hotel of ‘hotel rwanda’ fame) ... the carpets in the rooms have not been cleaned since the genocide, so i pass and opt for the also-offered novotel.

i will now miss seeing my close friends in belgium, will be forced to spend an extra nonproductive day in kigali, and will have to run to make my connection on monday to get back to new york in time to bake marlee’s birthday cake (the big day is tuesday!). not to mention i will be traveling straight from kigali to nairobi to bruxelles to new york - 22 hours!

time for a quick bite and a whole lot of mutzig!!!

h

go jump in the lake

today i am treated to a mini-break. i leave my home for the past week, the serena (and how serene it is!) to travel east with my friend alain to gisenyi - a 'resort' town on the shores of lake kivu, directly on the border with the scariest and most tense part of congo.

we weave through the countryside which links kigali to this part of the interior - and pass through more of the terraced, steep hills which define this land. the colors are vivid and eye popping, as are the throngs of people in each town - it is market day today. alain and i discuss the genocide, which seems more incredible and incomprehensible the more we talk. why did it happen? how could it happen? could it happen again?!

we arrive to lake kivu, which looks like an african version of lugano, switzerland. it is a huge lake with high hills around it, and a lovely if somewhat neglected corniche. we make our way past the villas, ending up literally at the congo border - it is wierd and frightening to think of what is happening on the other side of the post. we turn around, and find kiki's apart-hotel a few steps away - it is a newly constructed property, and we have been offered a three-bedroom, four bath apartment overlooking the water. it's lovely, with all of the finest accoutrements, and we relax on the terrace before heading out for a lunch along the shore. we dine on tilapia and mutzig, and pass a relaxing afternoon staring at the water.

we return to the rooms, and i actually nap while alain visits family. i enjoy a bit of television from congo - basically, a series of long commercials, which really are a gas. in the most memorable, a band of three young men burst into song - reggae married to hip-hop, and go around to various 'fictional' characters in distress, singing about their products and offering hope. it is hysterical, particularly when the product placement finds the recipients of their benevolence grinning in thanks!

we hang out, read the paper, and listen to the extraordinarily loud christmas carols being sung by the children of the family occupying the apartment next to ours. mercifully, i am armed with xanax, ear plugs, and eye patches for sleep tonight! convoys of trucks from ngo's crossing into congo pass us - medecins sans frontieres and the like - to help with the throngs of people just over the border who are in distress.

later in the evening, we go the the serena in this town, the only other in rwanda owned by the south african hoteliers. the hotel is really spiffy, and we have dinner on the terrace, complete with music and dance enacted by a troop of intore performers. it's quite superb! suddenly, a huge rain looms and appears, replete with thunder and intense lightening crackling against the huge lake. we move indoors, and end up meeting the brother of eric, who works at the architecture office in kigali - we know this as they look and sound practically identical! moments later, we bump into the manager of bourbon coffee, at who's establishment we dined last night before sifa flew off to belgium. rwanda is a VERY small country!

tomorrow is my last day in africa before scurrying back to belgium to see debbie and dino and gang (if we can arrange it) or paris - not sure yet. it will be a long night tomorrow, so i'm off to bed to get some rest ...

shabbat shalom!

h

'allo, dear chap!

from today's new times, kigali:

one evening, bayingana had his supper while watching the english news on rwandan television; little did he know that he was watching his beautiful sony for the last time. the next day, he was up at 6 am, and to his dismay a window-like hole had been created on his wall. he must have begged g-d to turn it into a dream but everything was real. "so, this is how i've been paid for the hard earned savings that enable me to get all these super machines", he thought. a hand must have been borrowed from an engineer because they had tools and expertise which helped them put his house wall apart. and that's the last time his living room heard of the screen, dvd player, and decoder.

the scenario taught bayingana something so true about a section of our police. my dear friend always heaped praise upon our police force; you would think these guys walk on water and have a direct line to g-d. they got his emergency call and the best help he parted was being told to take pictures of the scene as if every citizen of rwanda is meant to have a camera. this is ample negligence enough to let bin laden smoke at one of teh c.i.a. headquarters' balcony.

say, wah?

i am continuously struck at the formality of rwandans, and by conjecture, sub-saharan africa. there is a manner of speaking which belies the informality of any given situation - people are friendly and physically affectionate, and yet they converse rather oddly in this way. people are most often smiling broadly and warmly, and i assume that perhaps this idiosyncrasy is the result of a long period of colonization. it is evident in both the french speaking people who have 'come back' from congo (belgian) as well as in the english speaking residents who have returned from uganda or kenya (british).

at any rate, it is quite endearing and actually extremely pleasant to listen to - particularly coming from america where slang is de rigeur, and there is little or no emphasis placed on grammar or pronunciation.

my work is pretty much done here for now, so tomorrow i leave for a 36 hour mini-break, where i hope to recharge my batteries. last round of samosas and mutzig beer are enjoyed in my room while packing, and tomorrow brings my last breakfast on the terrace overlooking the garden ... goodbye summer, hello winter -

h

good times, ain't we lucky we got 'em!

from today's new times article, 'how to increase sales this christmas':

now that christmas is underway, you need to get the best profits out of your business. end of year parties are thrown with bonuses for best performers as well as remunerations for other employees. so they seem to have just enough money to meet the exorbitant bills. one of the reasons as to why you are in business is basically to make profits; but how can one get profits this season amidst cutthroat competition?!

probably not the best choice of words, but i digress.

another long day in rwanda, where the sun goes down long before the work is ever done! fear not, we have made progress - yes hillary, it really DOES take a village!

amongst other things i do today, i have the opportunity to meet the minister of youth, sports, and culture - the political attaché for our project. we visit him at his office, at the football stadium, to get some papers signed. his administrative assistant, alice, is a bright and lovely young lady, who sports a fashionable bustier top over flared pantaloons and heels. her hair is braided back and astonishingly reemerges as a thelma evans' mystical pom pom bun (jj's sister on good times) - extremely flattering and stylish!

did you know:
1. many men in rwanda are named desiré?
2. the rwandan handshake comes at you like a left hook, grabbing you squarely and swiftly at the palm of your hand?
3. rwanda has more female parliamentarians than any other country in the world?
4. rwanda is the most densely populated country in africa? (i don't believe that one either!)
5. this country was colonized initially by the germans, and then by the belgians?
6. that dian fossey, the gorilla scientist, died here in 1985?
7. the vast majority of the people are either roman catholic or protestant?
8. the twa are a native pygmy people and were the first ethnic group to settle here?
9. the most distant source of the nile river is in southern rwanda?
10. it is currently summer here, as we are 2º south of the equator?
11. they play a muzak version of the song 'sweet life (it's the only life i know)' on a continuous loop tape 24 hours a day in the lobby of my hotel, thereby rendering all inhabitants temporarily insane?!

a quick update - we have almost concluded with design for the village - it is incredibly laborious, requiring hours and hours of intensive work, but we are actually getting there! we have nicknamed the major pedestrian path between the residential and scholastic zone the 'mustache' in honor of it's curvilinear shape which mimics my own recent facial hair. school, library, dining, visitors' area, homes for 500, landscape, and support - very broad indeed. we will conclude tomorrow, when part of the team will fly back to the u.s. and italy. i will stay through saturday, visiting the lakeside resort of gisenyi on the border with congo, before returning to europe.

hope you're all well, wishing you a great holiday season and happy travels if you're hitting the road ... hariko, whatever that means (heard it a lot today!) -

h