Karibu Nshuti: Going South

Yesterday was supposed to be a relaxing day around town, to recover from the gorillas, but turned into a bit of a palaver lol

Went to my office in the morning and popped into the café next door for omelette. Usually breakfast omelette is plain, but this came stuffed with meat. Dad and M had to pick it out, then the guy charged us double and said 'we like people like you' (meaning 'rich') as we left. Shan't be eating there again.

There was no one but Léon in the office. Augustin had apparently told everyone that we were coming, but 11am is a bit early for most of my colleagues. At least Dad & M got a taste of my daily routine - sit on my ass on my own in the office all day, achieving very little. 'Welcome to my world'
:op

However, I did take them for a wander around the market. It's a traditional back-street 'buy anything you could ever need' kind of place, which was really nice, and everyone was very friendly and said 'hello'. They saw people pounding imboga (food made from cassava leaf) and traditional cloth sellers.

Then we went to Nyarutarama pool - supposedly to enjoy the sun and a drink by the water but, as we walked down, the skies were darkening. There was absolutely nobody else there, being an overcast week day, so we got the entire place to ourselves - I made the most of it!

We ate at the restaurant and bumped into an ex-colleague, Bob. As we were leaving, the heavens opened. We got absolutely soaked walking home as there was no public transport. Where are all the 'taxi! taxi!'s when you need them!?

By the time we got through the door my red shawl had dyed my white top pink! lol

We relaxed, dried out, and then went for Ethiopian at Lalibela.

The next morning Amos picked us up again at 8am and we went for a mad dash to the far South.

Our first port of call was Murambi. I was really unsure about this. It's somewhere I've wanted to go, but which would be very difficult for me by public transport. I thought, since we had the 4x4 and a driver, we could fit it in. Again, part of the contrast of the country.

It was very much as upsetting as I'd imagined: room upon room of bodies preserved in quick-lime. You could see how many of them had died: some covering their faces, others reaching out with butchered limbs, some still with hair and scraps of clothing. The mass grave of some 50,000 people killed over two days whilst, just prior, French soldiers stood and played volleyball with no intention of protecting the people there. Shelves stacked with 'poor clothes' - the ones not worth stealing from the soon-to-be murdered masses.

Poor Clothes

On the drive from there back up to Butare we didn't speak, each lost in our thoughts. Is it a good thing never to bury those people? Just to leave them in those rooms where the doors clank open as the guide, like jailor, creeks open the squeaky-hinged metal and clanks it shut to the rhythm of tourism? Not sure about that one. It profoundly affects you though - perhaps this is what humans need to test their own humanity? A lasting, graphic reminder of what we're capable of?

We lightened the mood at Butare with a wander round the National Museum. It was fun, and a great section on traditional beliefs - including one part that puzzled me. In the section on umupfumu (witches) and traditional beliefs, it explained that your body is made out of two things: umubiri, the flesh, and igicucu, the shadow.

'Amos,' I asked our guide when we got back in the van. 'Am I missing something? I know the word igicucu, but doesn't that mean 'idiot'?'

'That too,' he replied.

So, it would seem that my shadow is an idiot lol

After Butare, we headed up to Nyanza, where you can visit the traditional Mwami (King's) palace and the modern one, which housed the Mwami until the late 1950s, when he died. It's an impressive place. We weren't sure we'd make it before closing, but they let us in, and I'm so glad they did. It was a truly fantastic way to end the evening.