Home for the Weekend

This past Thursday I was honoured to attend an event in Kigali and I thought since I was half way back to Musanze I could just continue the journey and go to my Rwandan home town for the weekend.  It was great to see my Rwandan family and spend time with the kids.  The kids are on holidays from school, but Sandra like many other Rwandan children are attending morning classes to help them prepare for the new school year beginning in January.  Sandra will be entering primary six and in Rwanda the children take their first nation exam at the end of primary six.  Saturday morning Tantin made French toast for the family which was a very nice treat. 

Saturday and Sunday night I spent with a good friend Pam, she helps run Excel School in town.  It was wonderful to catch up and hear how the school year wrap up has gone.  Sunday afternoon she took me to Smart Saloon and I enjoyed a pedicure and manicure.  The girl, Grace, was very through and I am not so embarrassed of my feet any more.  My nails are now purple which I am very much enjoying.  I didn’t bring any nail polish with me as I was unsure how they would do in the plane and I have missed the colour.  Monday I made the four hour bus trip back to Butare.  I cannot say I am fond of the bus trip – especially as this round I was not able to sleep on it, but it was worth it to see everyone.

What start the trip was I was invited to attend an event at Akilah Institute in Kigali on the Thursday evening.  Akilah is a three year hospitality training program for girls.  The girls attend many different classes over the three years including management, community building, and two internships.  The event was fantastic and I was lucky enough to  be able to chat with a few of the students and hear their stories.  It was really good to see such a positive, impactful organization up close. 

Rwandan Pizza

Butare has been an interesting change for me.  The town is very different from Musanze and I have had to relearn prices and shop customs.  I am not alone in this change though.  Prince and some of his friends have also recently made the move from Musanze to Butare to attend the National University.  As it is Saturday and they are not studying too hard yet, we decided to enjoy some Rwandan pizza together.  It is mainly because none of us have ovens we had to make it Rwandan style.  The pizza began with a trip to the market.  In Butare, they have recently built a four story building in which the market is situated - already different as Musanze’s market is semi outdoors.  Food is located on the bottom floor of the market and it is there we picked up the essentials for pizza – tomato paste, tomatoes, green pepper, white onions, cheese and charcoal.    Back at home I taught the boys how to sauté onions, caramel colouring was not in the vocab so we went for honey coloured onions.  As the boys are uni students their kitchen is not fully stocked with utensils so I got to chop the cheese in to grated style pieces.  Now is when the Rwandan style really comes in though, we used chapattis as a base as I was not convinced we could cook pizza dough on charcoal.  After a quick demonstration of how to dress a pizza the boys each made their own pizzas to their liking and pan fried them to perfection.  I am not sure how the Italians would feel about our creations but we were all feeling satisfied by the meal. 

First Creation in Rwanda

As my blog is titled a journey in fashion, I thought I should begin including some style posts.  So far I have not had the courage to ask people on the street who are wearing fashionable outfits if I can snap their photo so for now you just get to enjoy my work.  In my first few days in Musanze I thought I would check out the market and see what is available and what the custom design experience is like here.  It was a little bit of a chaotic experience, likely more so because I am muzungu (white).  I began by looking about the many fabric stalls.  When I had decided upon the fabric I liked many people became involved.  As I don’t speak Kinyarwanda many passerbyers like to help and sometimes translate; however, not all of them know English so it often just leads to a big somewhat noisy crowd with many good intentions.  Once I purchased the fabric I went to one of the ladies in the market, many ladies come with their machines and do repairs and custom work right in the market.  I drew the skirt I wanted, a full skirt cut on the bias, with a piece of white chalk on her sewing table.  She then sat me down and cut and sewed the skirt right there.  I was wearing pants that day so I just put the skirt on over top to see if it fit okay.  It did fit well, but she cut an A-line skirt and with the waxed fabric so it sat on me a little like a lamp shade.  I took my lamp shade home and after pondering different options decided box pleats on the side was the best option.  This time I did the measuring and drew a line where I wanted the pleats sewn until.  I then took it to another lady in a different market and had her sew the lines.  Now the skirt works quite well and I am very happy with it.   

For the second creation of my trip I designed and cut the dress; then had one of the girls at the Masion Arbara sew it for me.  The design stage included an afternoon when David and I were colouring together, I would draw different sketches then David would share his expert opinion on which styles he likes best.  The floor length is thanks to him, he much preferred that to a mid calf length.  The sewing stage went smoother than I anticipated, the girl was very good.  I would illustrate where I wanted her to stitch by hand motions and usually the message went across well.  Here are a couple pictures of both creations; turns out taking pictures of oneself is more challenging than I would have thought, please bare with me will I learn the art.

November 1st Update

This past week has gone by smoothly without too many major events.  There were no jack-o-lanterns decorating the streets or fireworks lighting up the sky in Musanze.  We did have enough rain for me to almost think I was back in Vancouver though.  When I left Vancouver I told many people I was moving to Africa for the sunshine but it seems they have fooled me.  Sunday morning it was gorgeous and sunny so I took a chance and left the house without my rain jacket, probably the first time all month.  Half way to my friend’s place the rains came and by the time I reached her place, less than a ten minute walk, I was completely soaked.  So life goes here.  Many people just hide out in the shops or under the bus stops; however thus far I have been too stubborn to join them in waiting out the rain.  On Thursday I will continue my search for sunshine as I will be moving to Butare; there is a map as to its location on a previous post.  Butare is not as high up in the mountains so supposedly their weather is more enjoyable.  I will let you know if this proves to be true. 

To fill my time this past week I have taken up making breakfast with the kids I live with.  We made thin pancakes together last Thursday.  It was great fun to cook with the kids and share a breakfast from home with them.  This morning we fixed up French toast and fruit salad.  It may not sound like much of a feat but for those who know me well they know cooking is not my forte.  It should also be kept in mind cooking here usually includes a coal stove which does not have a turn dial to control the temperature.  Out of habit I kept looking for one when cooking the pancakes.