Tuesday 16 feb – Moving

Today I moved from the guesthouse to a house that I will share with a colleague. My new home is in Nyarutarama in Kigali, if that tells you anything. Kinyarwanda is a very complicated language and it’s not always easy to pronounce all the names of places and areas. Before I lived in Kacyiru, the same area where the Swedish Embassy is situated. On the same street you can also find the British Embassy, the American Embassy and the president’s office. It’s quite funny, the president drives by our office several times a day and every time at very high speed with a number of other cars in front and behind, signaling and forcing all the other cars on the street to stop before he passes. It does not matter if you’re in the way or if there’s any space to stop, you still have to do it. Just down the street from the guesthouse is King Faisal hospital, a huge complex that was rebuilt after it was damaged in the genocide but have never been used to its full potential. A big portion of it stands empty. About half way between my old home and my new one is the parliament building. You can still see the bullet holes that it received during the genocide and civil war. This was the headquarters of the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) during the peace process that broke down when the genocide started. The RPF won the civil war that followed and ended the genocide. This is the same party that holds power today, largely through their leader Paul Kagame (the president). Sorry, I lost myself in some recent political history but I find it very interesting. Especially since most of the buildings around me carry so much of this history.

Nyarutarama is a new area in Kigali and has sprung up during the last 10 years. Not far from my house is a lake which together with a large golf course separates the area from Kacyiru so I have not moved very far. Now it will take me about 30 minutes to walk to work while it used to take me one. The large difference in time is mostly because you have to walk around the golf course and most of Kacyiru to get to the office. One can actually see both the guesthouse and hospital from the house in Nyarutarama.