Words of my Rwanda life

Goats Everywhere

Banana trees Cover the hills

Motorcycles Most popular mode of transportation

Bare black baby buttsSeen frequently around neighborhoods

Hills Not a single part of Rwanda without them

Carrying on the headThe large items locals can balance continues to baffle me

Dirt roads Main roads paved, side roads not

AK-47 rifles All security and neighborhood guards carry them

Tropical fruitMango, passion fruit, pineapple…yum

Broken house amenities One after another

Roosters Cock a doodle doo outside my window at 5:30 each morning

Rain Every afternoon, but doesn’t usually last long

Sunglasses Rare

Orphanages Visit countrywide as part of my internship research

Mzungu My name to locals, means “foreigner” or white person in Kinyarwanda

Compliant First word I think of when describing locals

African teaIn all restaurants, reminds me of chai

Tin roofs Cover rural homes

Tile roofsCover new homes

Cassava Staple food, widely produced

Bidets In some larger houses, I use them daily to wash my dirty feet

Primus Most popular beer in Rwanda

Internet Slow

Dogs Rare, occasionally owned by mzungus

Tourism Expensive and inconvenient

Baby feet Peek through waist-bound wraps carried by women and children

Bicycles Many in rural areas, often made into bicycle taxis

Voicemail Does not exist

Rice With every meal

House girlsTypically one in every home

Head wraps I wish I could pull these off

Apparel from America On the backs, legs and feet and of many locals

Potatoes With every meal

Showers Curtain-less, rarely hot, sometimes out of a plastic basin

Villa-like houses Taking over the once-rural hills of Kigali

Flies Too many

Clotheslines At every house

Posters of Paul Kagame’s face Hang in most public places

Fanta Most popular soft drink

Mud bricks Made and used to build in rural areas

Avocado Plentiful

Shaved headsMen and women

Guards Typically one monitoring the gate of every home

Cigarettes Sold everywhere, but rarely smoked in public

Desserts Flavorless and unfulfilling

iPhones Only in the hands of mzungus

Credit/debit cards Almost nowhere, cash-only country

Shorts Rare for men, considered inappropriate for local women

Mosquito nets Above beds of those who can afford them

Chocolate Near unaffordable for people of most socioeconomic classes