Soccer?

Sorry…tonight no pic because I’m an idiot. I will never leave my camera at home again. We had a great night at the local bar we call Neon Bar…it has an official name that I will give you on Sunday (as we watch the final)…Bar something. Anyway, you pay about $1 for a 33 cl. Not bad eh! It was great to watch the U.S.A. beat Spain and I invited Coach Cliff (from Kenya) to join us…big futbol fan. I will update more this week and will write another article tomorrow. I think we won over the Rwandese at the bar (they started chanting U.S.A.) and I will take photos on Sunday. By the way…their independence day is the same as ours…July 4th might be CRAZY!

A Male Thing.

What you see in this picture is a regular occurance here in Rwanda. I don’t know enough to say it happens in other African countries, but holding hands is a sign of friendship…and I like it. Not that I am comfortable with it myself, but it is comforting to see that it can happen without judgement…you know? This is the cool thing about traveling outside the comfort doughnut (U.S.), which has been an education in itself.

But getting back to the issue at hand…or hand in hand. These are my new friends Eric and Shema. They have known each other for many years and what you see them discussing is the fight I witnessed at the High School Basketball Championship game this past Sunday. Eric is the Rwandan Basketball Federation President and Shema is an international referee with FIBA (International Basketball Federation). The picture just sort of happened as we were headed back to the truck to leave. I had been wanting a photo like this for a while but never had an opportunity without feeling intrusive to the guys on the other end. However, I knew Eric and Shema would understand, especially after showing them and explaining why I took it.

The interesting thing is that I was discussing this issue (male hand-holding) with another Rwandese man I know named J.C., for Jean Claude. He expressed that after he visited the U.S. and returned to Rwanda, he no longer felt comfortable holding the hand of another male. I was sort of taken a back. He was born and raised in Rwanda and he was now uncomfortable with the “norm” of his homeland after visiting the U.S.? It made me think…hmmm…very interesting.

Hit you back later.

Rwandan Film Festival

Went to the Rwandan Film Festival tonight in a really cool setting outside at a new restaraunt in town. The weather here is awesome and at night it probably stays in the low 70′s / high 60′s. I didn’t know what to expect of the movie but it turned out to be a great documentary about a child soldier from Sudan that turned into the #1 hip-hop star in Africa…very good story. The movie is called “War Child”…

http://warchildmovie.com//

Time for bed. Will update more from Rwanda tomorrow and even begin writing some articles about some things I have been observing. As the late Chris Thomas (Sports Radio Guy in Tampa) used to say, I am presently an OOL (Observer Of Life).

Sweet dreams.

Water is delivered!

Another opportunity to use the FlipCam. It should explain the situation…

My biggest fear…realized!

Well, I knew that leaving Heather for close to 3 months would be challenging…but this was the last thing I expected…and now that she has found someone else to be with, maybe I should just stay in Rwanda. I thought skyping would keep us close but it seems like she has gotten close with someone else.

Moving Date.

I packed up my stuff this morning and moved across town from Kisimenti to Gaciriro. Somewhat ironic in the fact that I have moved to a nicer place that always has hot water and electricity…however, “always” is not necessarily the word to use because we are presently without water. Oh well, maybe it’s me.

This is the only place in town with house numbers and I am living in #26. There are no addresses here because mail is only delivered to P.O. Boxes. This place also comes with a 24 hour guard, Francioure (who lives on the grounds) and a maid, Claire (6 days a week). It is very hard to get used to having someone else do things that you normally do, i.e. after I make coffee, Claire brings me the whole pot, along with the saucer and cup…just doesn’t seem right. However, this is her full-time job and it is a major source of employment in Kigali, both maid and guard. In addition, if you have kids, there is usually a live in nanny.

I will miss my place in Kisimenti for only one reason…Alex. I got to spend a lot of time with him last night and it reaffirms my belief that a dog is a man’s best friend…at least here in Kigali, that has been the case for me. From the first night in town (Alex barked the whole night), I got a different perspective on treatment of dogs…he barked the whole night because he had not been out of his cage for about 24 hours. Therefore, the barking was understandable. But…I had two other American roommates that didn’t care about Alex. This is still somewhat baffling to me.

No matter what or who is being mistreated, don’t we all have an obligation to try and change the situation? People have to answer this question on a daily basis (consciously or unconsciously). Really…we are faced with this question all the time…whether it be over the internet or physically staring us in the face. So because I have dogs, maybe this was just an unconcious thing for me, but that is what consumed my stay in Kisimenti…to try and change the situation for Alex…even if it was for my short stay, I feel very confident that I did just that.

For the record…

And you thought is was great to see the score on digital display? This is big time baby!

The official score sheet. In the basketball world, if you are up at halftime and lose?? Coaching. If you are up at the 4th quarter? Definitely Coaching!!…Film and stats don’t lie!