Kigali, the Singapore of Africa

1. Your car doesn't look good today sir! - I found out that residents here have to regularly get their cars checked up. One would think that it's about fuel efficiency, pollution and safety. But it goes one step further than that. The car needs to look good too! It's uncanny how none of the cars here have dents, scratches or broken windows.

One of our conversations extrapolated this rule to people, making plastic surgery and make-overs less of a choice. Funny yes, but also a little creepy.

2. No street food, no begging - The most typical attribute of the developing world, the street vendors tugging at you for selling food and every weird thing possible, don't exist here. Vendors do call out at the muzungus, but from their properly registered shops, or permitted trading areas. Same goes for the beggars, though some manage to practice it discreetly. And then you wonder, why does the capital city not look crowded and chaotic like you expect it to be?

3. Spic and span - I haven't seen a huge army of people cleaning up the city, nor have I seen too many dustbins here, but this city is strangely clean!

Elves.

4. Helmets, uniforms, traffic rules - People follow rules here, mostly. How weird is that??

5. Umuganda - Every last Saturday of the month, the whole country does community work for 3-4 hours, called Umuganda. Great way to get people together, build the sense of community. Also a great way to bring the whole country into a dialogue and to do publicity, as we did in a project I'm working on. I did Umuganda too! Was greatly laughed at by the village community and carried half the usual weight of water, only half the way, but still did it.

One would wonder how many people actually do the work.

If people are working, there's no need for cars on the road right? I wouldn't dare to drive my car with those tyre bursters on the road. And the police is not friendly that day!

Sometimes I get the feeling of too much control and artificiality, especially when I went to Kampala and was exhilarated to see the chaos, but wouldn't say I mind the niceness :)

Black supremacy

What is the source of racial prejudice? Are we born with a perception of what 'seems' better, more beautiful and superior? Or is it that we associate some attributes to a race - historic or behavioral - and that affects our every other perception about it?

Think of an alternate reality. With another set of butterfly effects, industrialization came to the African continent first, they explored the world and ruled it. Would then black be associated with powerful, exotic, sophisticated and superior? Would then almost every other country in the world speak their languages, try to adopt their culture and look up to them? I'm thinking, yes.

India is good place to explore this concept, since a variety of skin colors exists within one country. I wonder if grandmothers used to be happier if the daughters were born fair, even before colonization happened and our perception of superiority got associated with the white.

I guess one of the solutions to racial prejudice is extensive mixing of each society. If I grow up and live only with the same kind of people, it will not be too difficult for me to generalize based on race, make fun of 'other' behavior, respect or despise it.

How far are we from realizing that we are just another species in the kingdom of nature? Maybe the smartest, smart enough to manipulate every other creation by it (but not smart enough to stop ourselves). But just another species, all in it together.

Maybe the day we will realize it we'll decide to stop taking ourselves so seriously.

Almost like home!

So I touched upon seeing India everywhere. Africa as a whole is very similar to India. Now I wonder if it's the same for South American countries as well. I hope to find out soon enough!

There are some very prominent differences though. Most of the African countries have been under the oppression of dictators or military some time or other after their independence from colonial rulers. Why did that not happen to India? Possibly a very naive viewpoint, but I like to believe that we are more rebellious people. We defy authority more, though maybe just in comparison? It cannot be genetic, we are the same people.

Some discussions on this idea have brought out the possible cause of this difference being slavery, which destroyed the African sense of empowerment on a deep and large scale. Another possible reason could be the very unfortunate but ubiquitous sense of superiority that skin color brings to the rest of the world, even today. And hence a complimentary sense of inferiority and helplessness.

These questions are tough and sensitive, and I am by no means an expert. I don't mean to offend anyone, just wish to explore some of the questions that cross my mind. Open to criticism and ideas!

The common theme here seems to be that there were oppressive rulers, who exposed the worst sides of human nature without restraint. Idi Amine, Rwandan genocide. But they were not overthrown by the people rebelling in solidarity. They were overthrown by some hero who emerged out of the masses and changed things.

Thank god for those heroes.

Long time no see, see me in Kampala!

It's been a while since I wrote another post. Why? Because I've been busy traveling, exploring Africa, weekend after weekend. Right now I'm in Kampala, capital city of Uganda. I'll make the confession that is troubling me first, before going into details of my travels. I am at a 4 star hotel, paying $120 for my room, just for the internet, security and luxury. So much for my 'I don't need money to be happy' motto. I conceded, after a 12 hour bus ride, night in a $8 hostel, 8 hour moto-ride across the city, I conceded to luxury. I conceded to the power of money. Ugh. Now I know, I cannot be the budget traveller 100% of time. I need the security of conceding to the power of the green whenever I want/need. I'll blame my upbringing on that for now. But this pushes me further into the swamp of confusion that has taken over my life.

Hmm. Ok, now I can begin. The questions of my life for later, as always.

Yes, I'm in Kampala, and like all the muzungus in Kigali who've been here, I really like it. It is chaotic, dirty, crazy, but seems more alive and free. Kigali has its own charm though, with the cleanliness, orderliness, peacefulness and niceness. I can't decide which one I prefer. Kigali is better in all respects, safety and peace being my favorite, but Kampala seems more real. Or maybe it is just my homesickness speaking.

Talking about homesickness, I see India everywhere. And to the distress of those around me here, I talk about India everywhere, all the time. Lot of India education has been done for my friends here, whether they wanted or not. I am not particularly homesick to be home, with my family (I hope they don't think I'm a horrible person after they read this), but I'm homesick for my country. I yearn being in a place where people understand my language easily, one which I can use to express my feelings properly: " Arre yar bhaiya, moto dhang se chalao, giraoge kya??? Itni jaldi kis baat ki hai??" instead of just "Slow Slow!!" (hoping he'll understand).

And I miss the food. More than the food, I miss the feeling of knowing that I will get what I like. Knowing how a samosa will taste like, golgappe, momos, however badly they are made, I can find them everywhere, and they will be good enough to satisfy me. Knowing that I don't have to push myself to try and like some non-vegetarian option, just because the veggie options suck.

I miss knowing how to navigate my life well enough for it not to be my biggest concern. I miss knowing how expensive something is and how cheap. I miss not having to convert the currency three times (Rs., $ and now Rwandan Franks in Uganda). I miss knowing what is rude and what is not. I miss people understanding my head wiggle.

Yes, yes, first time living abroad, I get it. Bleh.

Indian Africans and Indian Americans

Indian Americans are very American and Indian Africans are very Indian. I wonder why.

1. Skin color prejudice still exists. Is this the reason for Indians, who are sort of in the middle of the color spectrum, are more drawn towards the perceived superior culture? I wish not.

2. Do people in developing countries care less about how cool you are, or if you are like everyone else or not? Or is it just the USA, including everyone in, but requiring them to behave as Americans more than anything else, to grant the inclusion at a deeper level?

3. Similarity in cultures means more tolerance and inclusion. Is it just the fact that India is so similar to Africa in many ways, that both cultures can easily co-exist and maintain their individuality?

4. More developed is more sophisticated and more sophisticated is better. So why not embrace it?

That makes me wonder how Africans feel in India. I think it would be similar to here, we wouldn't expect them to behave as Indians, however long they've been there. But that also might mean that we would never think of them as Indians, always as outsiders. Even if they completely embrace our culture. I think in India foreigners are always foreigners.

Sometimes I wonder why I wonder so much.

Muzungu with entertaining hair

That's me!
(and my Italian flatmate)

This happened when we passed a group of 6 girls coming back from school. Both of us were walking pretty fast, with hair flying at the back. This turned out to be very entertaining to this group of young girls, who walked for a long time behind us taking turns touching our hair and feeling the flow in the wind. It was incredible. All of us were walking fast, laughing hard, we at the absurdity of this situation and they at the absurdity of our hair. Finally my flatmate controlled the situation by pulling some of her hair and giving them to the group.

Before they found our hair

Earlier when I talked about not igniting curiosity by being a muzungu (foreigner) here, I did not include the kids, who love us. They shake hands to say hello, don't let go and keep walking with you. I have of course experienced such a thing before, but nothing like a kid far away shouting at the top of his voice 'MUZUNGUUUUU' and gathering a bunch of other kids who then follow you around. Everyday, in the same street outside my house, and everywhere else. Pretty awesome.

Hellooo, never let gooo!

MUZUNGUUUUU

Alone but not lonely, but worried about not being worried about..

Ok, here's one of my introspection ones, one thing that I love to do and probably should do a little less of.

So this is the first time I am so alone. I know no one here for miles, who I've known for more than a couple of weeks. I feel awesome, I was looking forward to doing such a stint with a more settled mind. I've been in an alone, remote area situation before, but my overactive brain and restless age made that one of the most difficult experiences I can remember. But I'm discovering that things are different about me now. I don't feel lonely at all. I don't feel the restlessness of needing to be around people and the sinking feeling from being by myself for too long.

Maybe it's too early to be happy about. Or maybe I've evolved into a more comfortable in my skin person. Or maybe it's Kigali. Actually when I think about it, I think it is this city. Peaceful, not too slow to be boring, or too fast to be overwhelming. There is so much freedom of movement, I can go anywhere anytime. Markets are open all the time and it is not weird to roam about or eat alone. I haven't had to compromise with my needs yet. Workout? There're awesome aerobics classes. Cafe? Art? Culture? People to hang out with? Ease of transport? Good weather? It's all here. I don't feel any kind of constraint, except that of my own exhaustion. This freedom is soothing to my soul. It's a weird peaceful feeling.

I've been handling everything pretty well (except one patience breakdown on a long long day). Sorting out my life here slowly, I am very satisfied with how I have settled in patiently and fluidly.

So yea, I'm happy and settled, but at times do feel deprived of concern from others about how I must be doing this alone. Of course it's a full time job of my parents and they're doing a pretty good job at it. It's a minor tick, but eh, a tick anyway. I guess it is a side-effect of portraying oneself as being confident and capable, in this case of living alone in a foreign country. And I guess it is also just another nuisance of growing up.

Well, I just hope my happy, loner self stays happy and excited for the next 2 months!

Taco bed, mosquitoes and Africa time

My biggest struggle in Kigali in the last week was my bed. Yes, my bed. Broken from the middle, it kept rolling me in even though I tried hard to sleep in all its corners. Jet lag with a broken back is not a great combination I realized and decided to buy a new mattress. Yes, mean land lord. Life has been so much better since the last two days. I missed a party to be on my new mattress.

Hmm. Mosquitoes. Inside my mosquito net. Buzzing in my ear and biting me here and there. Not cool. I'm not afraid of malaria, after having lived in a malaria prone zone all my life, but I HATE THESE HUGE MOSQUITOES. Their being huge also means that I have been able to catch them and kill them with my hands very easily. So here's my nightly routine:
1. Get bitten by the mosquitoes while I'm working on my table
2. Open the mosquito net
3. Search for mosquitoes inside it
4. Kill them / shoo them out
5. Tuck the net carefully
6. Sleep
7. Be afraid of letting in a mosquito whenever I get out of the net
8. Still get bitten and hummed

Ok, since this post is not sounding like I'm in a very appreciative mood, I'll pile on another thing that has tested my patience here. Africa time. My experience till now has not really been too different than Indian standard time, hence I must say America has spoilt me. I've stopped being used to preparing for long waiting times, like getting things to read, but I also don't want to be the person in the corner doing her own thing. Community courtesy says, wait and get bored with everyone else. Usually I have the energy to make conversations to pass the time, but on other days, it becomes just painful. For example when I had to leave home at 5am for a bus from office at 5:30, which did not arrive and then leave till 6:30. For an event which had to start at 10, which didn't start till 11:30. Not too bad, but I wasn't in the best of the moods to be patient.

That sort of summarizes my woes in this last week. More positivity to follow soon.

Home far from home, colors, Rwandan women and motos

One of the first things I noticed about Kigali when I came for a short visit in December last year, was its striking similarity to India. Kigali is just like an Indian town set in a green valley, just better and more comfortable in a lot of ways. It has a vibe like home, just with lesser people on the streets, less commercialization and less noise. People don't stare at you as much, even though you're a 'muzungu' (foreigner in Kinyarwanda). Men (and women) don't check you out with penetrating or lusty eyes, nor do they harass the muzungus with things to say or sell. We're just one of the residents, just more funny and weird. The wide expat population in the city has deprived me of the curiosity I expected to ignite. But then that makes it all the more comfortable to be here.

I do ignite curiosity and excitement here with my very meagre knowledge of Kinyarwanda. I'm always surprised at the warm response I get when I use the basic Kinyarwanda terms and this has motivated me to learn the language more. Yego.

Another thing that struck me early on was how fashionable the women here are. The colors are of course fantastic. I wonder why we are slowly getting averse to wearing bright, bold colors in India. With the extent of urbanization, colors are fading away. Lately however, I've observed a revived love of bright colors in Indian metros. But there's absolutely no comparison to Africa. I love it here!

Many women wear the most fashionable (and complicated) clothes, and have a great dressing sense. All the accessories, shoes, it's all pretty cool. Also, coming from India, I had extrapolated my image of a developing country to Rwanda, where I expected women to cover themselves up as much as possible. But no! Shoulder-less dresses, noodle straps, cleavages, knee length skirts, are a part of the basic dressing style. I'm also reminded of the female locker room in my gym. Ok, too much casual nudity. I am not used to this, but the perspective of 'what's the big deal' is amazing and at the same time, liberating. It's a small taste of the power Rwandan women hold and display.

Oh yea, Rwandan women are strong. They lead things, change things and have a sense of self-respect which amazes me. Of course, Kagame's focus on gender equality is a big catalyst, but I'm not sure how deep a role it plays. Strong does not necessarily mean physically strong, many professions like driving a moto are pretty male dominated.

That brings me to these ubiquitous motos. Common in Africa (east Africa I suppose, not sure), these are motorcycle taxis, which find you everywhere. Noone has to walk too far for a moto. Pretty convenient, but the helmet puts me off, especially if I've washed my hair that morning. Expats here are not a fan of the motos, because they can be dangerous. I'm yet to get worried about the safety, but for the sake of hygiene and my pocket, I've decided to take the bus more often. But that also means more walking. And more walking means better health.

I think I'll end up getting a lot of exercise here, I wish I could find healthier food too. But that and others in another post!

I'm here Kigali!!

Today marks the end of my first week in Kigali. I'm sitting in a nice cafe with great coffee and internet after treating myself to a great south-Indian lunch. Guilty as charged, this was not the image of 'Africa' I had in my mind before I came to Kigali for the first time. The image I had made was of tribal African people, with bright, colorful clothes and jewelry, nice dance and music. Or of young men  carrying guns, patrolling the roads and spreading terror. Or of extreme extreme poverty. Obviously media has not entirely made up these images, just that Kigali is a very different place.

I wonder how did the media miss the awesome weather, beautiful views, awesome and simple people, safety and ease of living in this place. Maybe it was too busy talking about the genocide and President Kagame's dictatorship.

I will try to document my experiences and thoughts while I'm here. First an idea of what I'm doing here: I am interning with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), which is a government agency dealing with increasing private investments in the country. One of their functions is to deal with existing businesses here, from the time of registration to after-care. And the other, bigger function is to promote investment, both domestic and foreign. The government believes that private investments are one of the most important ways towards economic development and poverty reduction in the country.

My work is two-fold: RDB works on formulation and reform of government policies which impact businesses. I am helping RDB with 4-5 such policy proposals and planning. I'm most excited about the Private Sector Development Strategy which is big a part of the more holistic five year Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy. Second, I'm helping them streamline their internal reporting system through an excel tool.

Pretty exciting!!

RDB is an amazing organization and I'm pretty impressed by it. I think there's still a lot to know though and hence I will keep my RDB thoughts for one of the last posts in this blog. For now, here go my first impressions!