The road to Butare

On Friday after work I went with friends to a small shop which sold wooden artwork from the Congo. I purchased a drum and masks. My first African art! That night I went to dinner with three friends- Jenny from the American Embassy, Laurie from the British Embassy, and Michael (an architect student from Harvard here working on a public health initiative). After dinner we went to a local bar where they have "karaoke" performances. This was quite interesting; there were groups performing lip sync to popular music with costumes and elaborate dance routines. It was pretty funny but the audience of Rwandans were very serious and watched the show quietly. It was funny to us because the performers were lip syncing to Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera and not doing it very well.

On Saturday I travelled to another city in Rwanda: Butare. Once again I saw beautful scenery along the 2 hour drive. The road was paved and nice to drive on. Along the way we saw women carrying babies on their back and heavy items on their head.
We saw three and four people on each bicyle.
Sometimes people creatively carried large bushels of bananas and even a table and chairs on one bicycle!

We stopped along the way at a place where the Twa (a Pygmy people, 1% of the Rwandan population) make pottery. They had finished the actual pottery making for the day (often you can observe them working). Luckily we were still able to visit the pottery shop, and we bought a number of fun pieces.

Michael is taking a photo of the kiln.


Janice is surveying the pottery in the store.





Jenny and Michael are buying pottery





I purchased these pretty mugs and bowls.

The kids near the pottery place were excited to look at photos of themselves.

We stopped for lunch in Butare-

Me and Jenny



Janice and Michael





We also visited the National Museum of Rwanda (outside of Butare)

We learned about the history of Rwanda- and traditional dance, music, etc. As well as a history of the leadership and genocide.
These are traditional baskets which are a specialty and sold here.


This is a cooperative store in Butare which sold many of the traditional Rwandan baskets and woodwork.

I bought lots of fun things. Here is one of the colorful baskets I bought.


On Sunday I played tennis with Laurie and learned that I really need to take advantage of the lessons offered here (only $5 for a top-notch instructor!) I also got a massage which was only $12.

This is Laurie- she lives down the street from me in a big 3 bedroom house. She will be here for two years so she brought many of her own things, including a slow-cooker which she used to make a beef brisket with carrots and potatoes for us on Sunday night. Yum!