Fortnight

Greetings Earthlings,

As I am VERY out of the loop here in Kenya, for those who are now engaged, married, expecting, purchased real estate, sold real estate, etc., could you be so kind as to inform me please. Super.Well, this past week has been a very interesting one to say the least. From a health perspective, it was horrid. I got sick again and had a nice little disagreement with my stomach which my stomach won.
Always wear sunscreen

Remember that song from 1999 that was all the rage? As stupid as it was, it was very good advice. Some of the best, really. I burned my calves on Saturday from a lack of sunscreen on them. The next day, I went to two stores - a general merchandise store and a chemist (what they call a drug store) to ask if they had anything FOR a sunburn. Both times, I was shown suntan lotion. That's like giving me the bulletproof vest AFTER I've been shot. I had to show them my reddened calves to clarify - they had nothing in particular so I resorted to using a product with Aloe vera. The again, as someone pointed out, Kenyans don't get sunburned.

You never give me your money

Well, last Saturday, after I took those 4 kids out for a meal in the early morning, one of them asked me for more money later that night. I recognized him from his jacket that he wore all day. I even asked him if he remembered that I bought him a meal that day and he did say yes. Well, I'm assuming he understood my question, b/c here in Kenya people have a tendency of saying yes without even understanding the question. Or even if it is in fact a yes or no question. I was promoting a vendor on the street, and at that point, I can't really tell him I don't have any money so I gave him 21 shillings - the extra 1 fell on the ground. Then the very next day he asked me again.

You say goodbye; I say hello

To get around the problem, I had my colleagues teach me the Swahili word for go away and I've already had to use it a few times. It does work like magic, but I still feel really bad for having to resort to it. I suppose it is better than my other plan - to walk around without any money, b/c then if I get hungry, I'm SOL.

Hit the road, Jack

Well, I was supposed to go on a road trip today to conduct some market research for my project. My boss kayboshed it. I was actually glad - see, when I made the arrangements originally, I thought the location was only 2 to 3 hours away. Turns out it was at least 5 hours away. I say at least 5 b/c the conditions of the road sometimes take a trip that should really be x hours and double it. I was relieved b/c 5 hours in a car with a bumpy road does not lend itself to reading, and as much as I like Joseph, the driver, 10 hours on the road with him is a long time b/c the conversation is very minimal - once again the language barrier.

Mr. Postman

This week was a good one for Jacob in the postal world - both regular and electronic. I got an e-mail from a friend I hadn't heard from in a long while. Always a nice little treat.

Then regular mail wise - not one, not two, but three, yes, three pieces of mail. One was a care package from Amazon.co.uk . I'm really playing fast and loose calling it a care package, b/c I don't think it can qualify as a care package if: a) you order it yourself; b) pay for the stuff sent to you; c) pay to have it sent to you (shipping costs).

But, I also got a postcard from some dear friends who visited Thailand, and they also sent me footwear. I thought he was sending me basketball shoes b/c that is how our friendship blossomed - on the hardcourt.

Sheep go to heaven, goats go to hell

One of the most surreal experiences I've ever been privy to was the sheep draft. One of the NGOs that was taking me to meet farmers had to deliver to said farmers sheep. It's a great system that they have here: the NGO buys the farmer a sheep or goat on credit-in-kind. That credit is repaid when the farmer's animal has a female offspring, which is then taken by the NGO and given to either another farmer within that group that is livestockless or to another group. The process keeps getting repeated ad infinitum. These goats represent an important food source for the farmers.

So I went to the farm to interview farmers, and after, they had to draw numbers b/c there were 8 farmers sans sheep but only 5 sheep available. Well, instead of logically just letting the person who draws #1 get first pick the farmers wanted to assign numbers to the sheep. Uber odd.

After the winners took possession of their sheep, they had their photos taken with said sheep, and the owner shaking the hand of the chairman of the sheep project. Almost a carbon copy of the NBA draft.

We can be heroes for just one day

My friend Dan is going to buy a goat for said NGO. Sort of the way those TV commercials ask you to sponsor a child, Dan will be sponsoring a goat. Right now, we're looking for suggested names of said goat. I am opting for "Bananas" because when Dan and I shared an office, our office was overrun with bananas. I plan on making sure that Dan gets regular updates and photos of said goat so he knows how the goat is doing.

You know the cliche "Familiarity breeds contempt"? Not so for me in Kenya. So far, I've left my hat in cyber cafe, my rain coat in a cybercafe and a restaurant, my cell phone in another cyber cafe, and all the times bc those are places I frequent quite frequently, the proprietors have either put aside my personal possessions till i was able to return, or in one instance, my main man Dixon, one of the waiters at the Sweet Mart chased me down, commenting that I walk too quickly. Really, Kenyans walk very slowly.

Heroes and Zeroes:1) Dan 1 - for helping to build a nation, one goat at a time.2) Dan 2 and Norah - for their gifts.Zeroes:1) Dan 3 - who told me how much he hates short e-mails, and that was pretty much the extent of his reply.

Until next week, stay classy.

Jacob

Lucky Number 13

Ok, I've actually lost track of how many e-mails I've sent out so this is my feeble attempt to get a numbering system of sorts back on track!

The good news for some of you is that I've booked my return ticket to Toronto this past week. I was able to get a hold of my Aeroplan number. Had I not, I may have been stuck in Vancouver, b/c you know, you can't book an Air Canada flight without an Aeroplan number.

So, as of April 30th at approx 7 am I will be back in Toronto. Just in time to do my taxes, like the good Canadian I am, and watch Season 6 of 24, like the good Canadian that I am.
Since I watch the insignificant parts of 24 at 1.5 or 2x speed, I'm pretty efficient with my 24 watching habits. For instance, in Season 5, any time the President and his wife were talking - 2x it! Any time the CTU tact teams were walking someplace 2x it. Plus, it's kind of funny to hear the characters speak in such high pitched voices.


Mr. Taxman

Did you know that income taxes were started to pay for WWI? I think. I could be making that up. Maybe Lincoln started them to pay for the civil war. Either way, you should know the history of your taxes. Please prepare a report for me on the history of income taxes in Canada for next Monday.

Here in Kenya, tax collecting is a new phenomena. I think their Revenue Authority is less than 10 years old. The country has to remind people via propaganda that it is their duty to pay their taxes, and each year there's an award given out for taxpayer of the year. It's a corporate award. This has inspired me to start an award to be given out each year to the "Non-murderer of the year". I'm accepting nominations now, so please, let me know of someone you think has been a law abiding citizen.

Oops, I did it again

Living in Kenya is going to bankrupt me, not b/c I buy useless or expensive crap here. I took 4 kids out for breakfast today again. Street kids. I just hit the bank machine to take out money to pay my rent, so I always feel "rich" on those days, and sometimes I think the street kids have radar. It's really sad to see the kids walking up and down the street, some of them without any shoes, asking for a little money. Clearly, I have to leave Kenya, soon, lest I run out of money feeding the poor and hungry... here's hoping I don't pass anymore on my way back to the hotel. The money I took from the bank today was to pay my rent. If I don't pay my rent, then I'll be homeless. Well sort, of. I could always live in my office.

I also think I'm going to be the death of these kids b/c I do buy them meals. Why? B/c they always order chips (french fries, or freedom fries for my american/british readers) and soda (pop for my Canadian readers), which are probably the least healthiest items you can eat. Ever. That's my diet tip for you all today.

The biggest thing I've noticed here is not so much the poverty (you'd have to be blind not to see it), but rather how the cycle of poverty is perpetuated. I notice this with the kids with whom I used to train at the boxing gym, and with the kids with whom I train for basketball (more on that later). But the kids who are in the secondary school system, some of them, can't afford to go to college/university, which obviously caps their earning potential. They'll go on to have families of at least 3 or 4 kids, and won't be able to afford to send them to college/university, etc. etc. I see this a lot. Two of the kids with whom I trained at the boxing gym asked me to sponsor them for college. A lot of Kenyans see mzungus as money pits.

Last Saturday afternoon, I was reunited with my true love - the game of basketball. And like a woman scorned, she was cruel to me. Clearly, the 3 month layoff from the roundball did my game serious damage. I was invited to train with a team based in Nakuru, so on Tuesday, I showed up at the court. The first thought that went through my mind was that this team is rather small. Turns out, it's the high school team coached by the captain of the men's team. So I trained with them for 3 days last week, and will continue to do so until I leave.

I'm twice as old as most of them, twice as fat, and twice as slow. The first day, I thought I was going to have a heart attack from all the running. But I'm so glad I'm doing it. I'm learning the fundamentals, and getting in good practice with drills that will help keep me in shape. There's one kid who reminds me of Isiah Thomas, he's a pretty good dribbler too. If I could bring him back with me to Canada I would. There's one kid who is almost as tall as me. He's 18 and his name is Collins. Had he been any younger, I swear, this kid would grow to be a giant. He's one of the kids that I was discussing earlier, who can't afford to go to college right now, but hopes to do so one day. His grades are good enough, just not enough for the public college system (much cheaper than the private ones), so affordability is a real issue for him and his parents. I'm pretty sure there's not such a great student loan program offered by the gov't here in Kenya, after all, that would just cut into the money that governments could embezzle.

There's one kid, that is soooo skinny. The coach has to help him with the pushups. My calves are bigger than all of his limbs combined. I keep thinking that the wind is going to blow him over. Most of these kids play in shoes that are not fit for the dumps. I'm going to leave behind the basketball shoes that I brought to Kenya for these kids, and if anyone has athletic shoes that they'd like to get rid of, I'd be more than happy to take them off of your hands, and ship them to Kenya where they can get good use out of them. I'm going to solicit shoes from the basketball leagues in which I've played, too. Think of it like "Shoes without Borders". I'll use my charms to get FedEx or DHL or UPS to ship 'em for free. I've always wanted to start some sort of "without Borders" type organization. Please don't anyone suggest a Lawyers without Borders. I seriously doubt that most people whose biggest concern is when their next meal will come are concerned with doing an IPO.

Doctor Robert

This past week, I got sick. For those who have gone to India, the phrase you'll be familiar with is Delhi Belly, or for those who have gone to Mexico, Montezuma's Revenge. I don't know what the African/Kenyan equivalent is, but it hit me this week on Monday and Tuesday. Thankfully, I came prepared with those packets of rehydration powder, so now I'm back up to snuff. But, I have to make a concerted effort to drink more. I'm thinking of Beefeater Gin. I have more trust in the booze in Kenya than I do in the water.

I do realize that I'm probably missing all those letters of the alphabet that make up the nutrients I need. I found a package of Centrum multi-vitamin capsules (90 of them) for approx. $35 US. Could someone please go to Shoppers Drug Mart and price compare for me? Thanks.

My DVD player is broken. Good news: It's under warranty; bad news: I lost the receipt. The store said if they know it is their's, they'll fix it. If they can't, I'm not buying a new one. It's not worth it for the 3 more months I'm here, especially, since I've completed watching 24. That DVD and I had some good times. Those 24 marathons, watching Remember the Titans. Again. And Again. Especially on Sundays, football day. I'd watch the plays over and over in slo-mo and give my analysis, just like John Madden would.

I tried to take the initiative and call a meeting of the people working on the crop trials of the organic fertilizer so I could find out the status of those trials and the product, and I had the Pastor tell me that I don't have the mandate to call a meeting. Talk about being uncooperative! His exact words a few months earlier were "We're all working together". Getting all non-mandate on me does not sound like working together.

Heroes and Zeroes:

Heroes:

1) My mother - who is keeping me out of Debtor's prison by having my credit card bills paid for out of my account.
2) Sarah - for telling me of a website that has free TV shows on the 'net.
3) Economist - for being a magazine that rocks.

Zeroes:
1) Kenyan Gov't - no child should have to go hungry or beg for change. That's the best part about being a kid - you are not supposed to have any worries (well no real worries). Kenyan gov't, you've failed the people.
2) Jen - for the second time making the Zeroes list. SPOILER WARNING: She failed to warn me that Edgar dies in Season 5 of 24. She knows I don't like those negative surprises, and then even after I chastized her for not warning me, she fails to warn me that Tony dies. Way to drop the ball! On a side note, when Tony came shooting in at the end of that episode in Season 4 when Jack and Audrey were trapped in the garage, man, that was the single greatest moment in television EVER. I'm probably going to pay for putting her on the Zero list twice when I get back, but I'll worry about that then.

Book review of the week: I finished Crow Lake. I had 9 pages left as of Thursday night but it was 11 pm so I put it down. It is very well written, with enough intrigue to keep you reading, and characters that are very real. Mary Lawson is efficient with her use of words. It has a nice little twist at the end, which is nicely foreshadowed earlier on in the novel. It's the kind of book that you keep reading, and don't want to end at times. I highly recommend it. It would definitely make my top 10 of novels I've ever read, if not top 5.

Request of the week: When Jack finally gets back to LA from China, could someone please tell me how? I mean the flight from China to LA has got to be at least 8 hours, and the show is only 24 of them, so that's an awful long time to spend on a plane. That's the only thing I want to know.

I be out.

jacob

Extra Extra

Hello my pretties!

You know what is really crazy - I'm probably less than 24 hours away travel time to a war zone - in Somalia. If fighting is still going on.

I have less than 100 days here. Probably less than 95 by the time most of you read this. I am quite excited to come home, if not to see you people, but to finally eat a salad. I used to eat one everyday for lunch and now I am saladless. Yes, I get fruit salad with my breakfast and dinner, but it's not the same - those spinach concoctions I used to create. Oh, how I miss thee.

Sadly, nothing as exciting as the Rwanda trip to report. I've settled back into Nakuru and back into my routine, including they gym, so I'm a lot happier now. I really do believe that working out and exercising release endorphins. I have a good relationship with the employees at my gym which makes working out there that much more pleasant. Although, I had a huge disagreement with one of the trainers b/c he didn't think bench press throws are safe but I told him I read it in Men's Health and he said the magazines just try to sell issues. I pointed out that isn't he just trying to sell his services as a trainer - 1 up for me. I have to find him the article b/c he is interested and the manager didn't totally dismiss the notion.

Going to the gym is a great way to take a trip down Nostalgia Lane - it seems like the only music they play in the gym is retro 80s. Some Madonna, Michael Jackson, and songs that are just so bad they can only have come out during the 1980s.

You know what I really miss from back home - showers that work properly. I broke mine this past week which was kind of neat b/c it turned into a steam room. There were three settings on the shower head - hot, cold and warm - except mine was scalding, cold and just slightly less than scalding. Now, the sucker is fixed so I can enjoy a warm shower without worrying about suffering 3rd degree burns.

My project is wrapping up. The primary research I'm doing is just now supporting the conclusions I've already made. My biggest hurdle is the lack of a viable product - the tests haven't been finished, so we don't even know if the organic fertilizer even works or even how good it is. It's a lot harder to sell something that isn't that good, i'd think. I'm initiating a lot of contact with orgs that the project should be working with, so that is good. Business development, which is something i'd like to do for a living.

The good news is that I'm still tipping the scales in the 85 kg range. My boss has said that i have lost weight but i'm hoping that it is fat, and not weight. I don't have the same resources (read: easy access to food) here in Kenya - I'm hesitant to drink most milk unless it has been boiled, but you know what is weird here, they have milk that doesn't need to be refrigerated until you open it. Go figure. One thing that the Gates foundation wants to work on is vaccines that don't need to be refridgerated - that way more people in the rural areas can get the medications they need. I say, look to the milk.

I've resumed one of my favorite hobbies - magazine reading. It's been a great way to keep on what's going on. I've been picking up the Economist and Newsweek (int'l ed) at my local shop. I can't get my alltime favorite magazine here though - the New Yorker. I do like it for the cartoons but the articles are excellent too.

Practical Action, my NGO wants to undertake a project involving the boda bodas. The night before, at my hotel, my colleagues had dinner there and were goading me for not wanting to try the boda bodas. I think the boda boda cyclists could use training in safety - they really ride without abandon. This past week, when returning from an interview with a stockist, I saw a police officer destroying the spoke of a boda boda wheel b/c apparently the officers don't like the boda bodas going down that street. I find the boda bodas to be quite entrepreneurial, and they should be encouraged, not that I'll ever ride one, but you go boda boads.

This past Saturday I ran into my two little friends again - Danieli and Judah, two brothers whom I met the previous Saturday. They said "hello" to me and came running to shake my hands. They are quite adorable - I think they are barely taller than my knee. Yesterday, as we parted ways, they G-d blessed me. I'm not religious expert, but I'm pretty sure that's a good sign if little kids G-d bless you and you don't even sneeze. Of course for every story I have of the friendliness of the people here, there are just as many where someone will strike up a conversation and ask for 10 shillings before we part ways. It's just the nature of the country, with so many people living in poverty here.

I managed to play basketball on Saturday and realized that my shot has not come with me to Kenya. I've been invited to train with the players with whom I played - Tuesday to Thursday. It'll be a good way for me to hopefully get back to the skill level I was at before I left (just above totally sucky).

While, I'm not even half-way through it, I have to give major props to Crow Lake- very well written and quite captivating. You have to be prepared for the fact that the book does really open up on a downer. I think Mary Lawson is Canadian, and if so, we really put out some great authors up here north of the 49th parallel. Heroes and Zeroes:Heroes:1) Canada's Junior Men's Hockey team - they took gold this year (I think and hope, otherwise I look silly). Canada's game is hockey so it's fantastic when they rule the world.

National Post Column Update: There should be one this Wednesday. Please pick it up. That will be #6. For those who missed #5, I will hopefully remember to e-mail it out next week.I hope to have some pictures up soon enough. No promises, but hopefully next week, I'll get some pictures from Safari and Rwanda up.

Have a great week.

Jacob

Mid-winter Blues

Hello everyone,

I hope that none of you are having the mid-winter blues given the gorgeous winter weather in Toronto. I'm superpissed you're not being snowed in, b/c hey, reason b to come to Kenya was to avoid the harsh winter weather. I'm going to do this e-mail in two parts: Part I will be my Rwanda trip, etc. with the usual fun stuff i include - book review, my praise of Jack Bauer, etc. and Part II will be about my visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial. This will let people who don't want to read about the genocide museum to read an entire e-mail.

I spent 4 nights and 5 days in Kigali. More specifically, I spent 4 nights and 5 days in my hotel with the exception of running a few errands. I didn't really do research on what there is to do in Kigali since i only was going to see the museum. The city itself is really nice - lots of greenery - something the t dot should incorporate into its city planning - greenery on road medians, and a very clean city - very little litter I saw as my cab sped along the streets.

The hotel I stayed in was very nice and at $50 us a night, was fairly priced. I arrived on Sat. night, my luggage on Sunday morning. Yes, somehow, checking in at the airline counter 3 hours before takeoff still didn't ensure my luggage got on the plane. So, I had nothing in kigali for that first night except my carryon (which consisted of a plastic shopping bag with holes in it, 3 novels, a massai necklace i bought for myself at the nairobi airport). Did I also mention that this is the 2nd time i've landed someplace sans luggage. funny enough, everytime i tell people that the airline lost my luggage, their first reaction is "did you fly air crapada?" and funny enough, no, air canada has yet to lose my luggage. The airline staff assured me it would be there on the Sunday 10:30 am flight to Kigali, so at 11 I called, and they didn't see it. At that point there were only three places it could be: Nairobi; kigali; in -transit. So I told them that they had 5 minutes to find it. After they gave me the number for the lost and found, and that office said the bag was there (I tried to confirm that they saw a bag with a canadian flag on it, not just that it was blue with green, but i don't think they understood me), I took a cab to the airport for a joyful reunion with my luggage. I had my doubts that the bag was actually there until I saw it.

Exchanging money in africa is always a battle. at the kigali airport, the forex counter didn't want to take a 1999 US $20. The lady told me to take it to the bank. I told her to take it to the bank b/c it was good currency. In Kenya, a torn US $20 was rejected by the forex counter here. Also, there are premiums paid for larger bills (at the kigali airport forex as long as it wasn't a $1 or $5 bill you got the higher rate, when i went to one in town, $20 paid out the lower rate, too). So my tip for those coming to the dark continent - only bring $100s and $50s and only crisp new ones. From now on, i'm going to insist on 2003 and above bills from my bank.

When I needed money on the Tuesday, i had a cab driver drive me to town to a forex counter. I swear he must be getting a kick back from the one he took me too, b/c we passed by at least 9 before he stopped. I'm using the term forex counter very loosely here b/c the one I went to was in an alley, and was just a room with a cage.

So how did I spend my time in Kigali: Well Sunday, I took a cab to the airport to get my luggage, so I could get into some clean clothes. Then I took a cab to the genocide memorial only to find it closed when I got there. Monday, I cabbed to the hotel in Hotel Rwanda for lunch there, and Tuesday I cabbed to the memorial. Those were the only times I left the hotel. I managed to read a book in its entirety and over half of another (the latter one being nearly 500 pages) and two magazine during my "house arrest" in Kigali. I also watched a lot of CNN and BBC, and a few movies, mostly in French. I saw about 1/2 of Star Wars Ep. I and most of Ep. 2 in French, and lightsabre duels are still awesome no matter what language.

At least in Rwanda, I could get by easier than I can in Kenya b/c French is one of the official languages of sorts. It made it easier to say no to the street kids asking for change and to ask a cabbie to drive to me to certain places, but still very difficult to actually engage in conversation. I asked my cab driver, Andre, who drove me to the museum on the Sunday, if he was Tutsi or Hutu, and it turns out he is a Tutsi, and he's a survivor. I only managed to catch the word survivor.

I managed to break out of my rut of meals of beef stew while in Rwanda, and ate a delicious vegetarian pizza for most of my meals at the hotel. Sometimes, I'd have Snickers for lunch. Delish! The pizza was way greasier than I usually like it, but c'est la vie.

Returning home, I lost my hat. Well, I know where it is - I left it on my airplane. THankfully, my luggage made it back with me to Kenya, since I had to point it out tothe baggage handlers as it stood on the tarmac in Kigali and tell them that was mine. That night, I had a joyful reunion with Stevie the TV and DaViD the DVD Player, as we started to watch what I thought was Season 4 of 24, but it turns out it was Season 5. I only got 2 hours in before I went to sleep, and the next day, I found out the error of my ways. Rest assured, I managed to get Season 4 that day, so I haven't gone for wont of terrorist-fighting television.

My book review of the week: The American Boy - sucks. You know the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover", well that literally should not apply to books, b/c that's the only way to judge a book. If you like murder mysteries of sorts (I do not) then you may enjoy the American Boy. It would've been too much of a hassle and too costly to return it to Amazon.co.uk so I had to suck it up and read it.

Black Gold: A book about the coffee industry. Interesting, but too much about the history of coffee, and not enough about the current state of the coffee industry, etc.

Heroes of the week:

1) Chris - my friend who was invited to the same wedding I was, but I had to miss it. He was going to look for a cardboard cutout of me back in TO a la the Canon commercial that's airing in the developing world now, so I could be at the weddings. A for effort, but if he actually found one, I'd be kind of creeped out that someone has a cardboard cutout of me for sale.

2) Mathew - the first person to call me ever from the first world. Thanks. It was nice to have a conversation where the only barrier to communication was the telecom connection and not the language.

3) Dan and Norah - who sent me a beautiful holiday card from Japan. It looks like a little theatre. Also, the hilarious stickers that they sent me of themselves on the back of the card.

4) Kenya immigration - who let me back into Kenya from Rwanda on a tourist visa b/c it is way easier than a work permit - even though I'm paid peanuts, I still am technically working here. It's only good for 3 months, so for about 2 weeks I will be in Kenya illegally before I leave here. Let's keep that between you and I. A secret is something that you tell another person, so I'm telling you, child.

Zeroes of the week:

1) RwandaAirExpress/Kenya Airways - it takes thousands of things to go right to get an airplane off the ground safely. It really takes only one thing to get luggage on a plane. Work on the latter, please.

2) My handwriting - I was trying to write some more of my novel and had trouble making out what I finished writing with. It took me 20 minutes to decipher that I wrote the word "evening" not "wishing". I know those words are no where near related, but I scribble really, really badly. So much that doctors tell me I have bad handwriting.

For those who are signing off here, I'll see you next week. For those who are going to continue reading about the Genocide memorial, I'll see you at the bottom of this e-mail.

Till then,
j.

Kigali is a very picturesque city. Much of it sits on hills, and the streets are clean and green with shrubbery. It's hard to believe that as recently as 13 years go, it was not uncommon to walk down the streets of Kigali and come across dead bodies - bodies belonging to your friends, neighbours, and even family. But, that was the case.

I'm not going to give you a history of what happened, but I will point out, that what took place was not confined to the 100 days from April to July, but was a result of years of problems between the Tutsis and Hutus, compounded by the propaganda machines that were the Hutu governments in power from independence until July 1994.

The Memorial Centre itself is not located on the paved roads of Kigali. Rather, you have to go off the beaten path, past the little shops, the kids barefoot running on the road. It's not big, made up of 3 sections indoors, and 2 outdoors (I missed one of the outdoor sections), and according to the one of the desk staff, should take approximately 90 minutes to go through. I spent nearly 3 hours there - reading every word written, looking at every photo, watching every video. The outdoors has three mass graves - each one about three coffins deep and I don't know how many wide or long. Some coffins will have the remains of 50 people placed in them - a lot of bodies were buried unidentified. People come by and place bouquets and individual flowers on these mass graves. The colour purple is predominantly used as ribbons. I forgot to ask the significance of this fact from the centre staff.

The three sections are as follows:

1) about the Rwanda genocide, giving an entire history of the situation, stretching as far back as control of the Belgians following Germany's defeat in WWI (Germany had control of Rwanda pre-WWI). It was the Belgians who required the labelling of Hutus, Tutsis and Twas. It was even more arbitrary than what was depicted in Hotel Rwanda - if you had 10 cows, you were Tutsi, and less, Hutu. What I don't understand is if a Tutsi had a couple of cows die on him, he'd be in Hutu-labelling territory and vice versa. The Catholic Church, propagated teachings of Tutsi superiority in the 1930s.

The final part of this first section is a series of three rooms. In the 2nd room, there is a display of the bones, and skulls of the victims, and even some personal effects founds by the victims - pens, books, etc. You can make out which victims were beaten hard, the cracks and fractures in the skulls acting as a badge of torture and inhumanity. The 3rd room has clothing of victims exhibited.

It is the first room where I spent the most time out of those three. That first room acts as a memorial to the victims. Survivors were asked to provide photos of their loved ones who died in the genocide. These are not photos that are adorned "in memorium". There are a few. The majority are photos that you would find in a photo album, on a mantle or on the wall - photos of three little brothers dressed in the identical brown tuxedo suits; a couple on the wedding day cutting their wedding cake; family gathered in a living room; friends gathered around the dinner table; parents with their children; grandparents proudly holding their new grandchildren; men posing with a recently won-sporting trophy; and people just joking around. I looked at every face in those photos, making sure that I saw every life that was lost. If these people were alive today, I probably wouldn't recognize them if I saw them on the street. It was the best way I thought I could pay my respects.

2) A section called Wasted Lives which examines other genocides in history: Hereros in 1904/05; Armenian Genocide; Holocaust; Khmer Rouge; and the Balkans.

3) A memorial for the children who died in Rwanda during those 100 days. In addition to the same photo exhibit of the victims that was in the first section, there were at least 8 children who were individually memorialized with their photos blown up and displayed on the wall. Plaques were perched below the photo - telling visitors the child's name, their age, and other details such as their best friend, their likes, how they were characterized, their last words/memory and how they died. A 10 year old tortured to death (how do you torture a 10 year old?; an infant, not even a year old, macheted to death in its mother's arms and another smashed against a wall. The hope and faith that some of these children had even in their darkest moments was still unwavering, one child's last words were "UNAMIR [the UN mission in Rwanda] will come for us.". I feel bad when I pass a child on the street asking for a shilling and I decline his request. How anyone can torture a 10 year old and not have such an image haunt him for the rest of his life is unfathomable to me.

The UN failed Rwanda in a way that no group of people should ever have to experience again. A Hutu informant agreed to tell the UN of the secret cache of weapons in exchange for security. Dallaire informed UN New York about this, but the UN couldn't guarantee the informant's security. That informant disappeared and was never heard from again. The UN was more shocked by Dallaire's suggestion to seize the weapons cache rather than the fact that the Hutus were getting ready to engage in genocide.

That's not to say that there's not stories of heroism during those times. There was one Hutu, so convinced by the propaganda spouted by the Hutus (the president was the largest shareholder in a radio station that was much responsible for spreading the message that the Tutsis were coming to kill Hutus), that this Hutu dug a ditch on his property so he could hide when the Tutsi came for him. When the Hutus began slaughtering Tutsi, that landowner hid a number of Tutsi in the ditch he had dug for his own hiding purposes. But for every act of heroism, uncountable acts of inhumanity took place - including a priest who bulldozed his own church with his own congregation inside. The cruelty of humans never ceases to amaze me. Today, Rwanda is a country of peace and tranquility.

Out of the ashes of genocide, arose a Phoenix of peace. Hutus and Tutsis live side by side peacefully and happily. It offers a lesson for most of the rest of the world that are constantly living in conflict. While a genocide will probably never be repeated in Rwanda, it will occur again in the world. I predict at least 2 more during my lifetime. I hate being wrong, but that's something I would very much be very happy about which I would be wrong.

j.

Mid-winter Blues

Hello everyone,

I hope that none of you are having the mid-winter blues given the gorgeous winter weather in Toronto. I'm superpissed you're not being snowed in, b/c hey, reason b to come to Kenya was to avoid the harsh winter weather. I'm going to do this e-mail in two parts: Part I will be my Rwanda trip, etc. with the usual fun stuff i include - book review, my praise of Jack Bauer, etc. and Part II will be about my visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial. This will let people who don't want to read about the genocide museum to read an entire e-mail.

I spent 4 nights and 5 days in Kigali. More specifically, I spent 4 nights and 5 days in my hotel with the exception of running a few errands. I didn't really do research on what there is to do in Kigali since i only was going to see the museum. The city itself is really nice - lots of greenery - something the t dot should incorporate into its city planning - greenery on road medians, and a very clean city - very little litter I saw as my cab sped along the streets.

The hotel I stayed in was very nice and at $50 us a night, was fairly priced. I arrived on Sat. night, my luggage on Sunday morning. Yes, somehow, checking in at the airline counter 3 hours before takeoff still didn't ensure my luggage got on the plane. So, I had nothing in kigali for that first night except my carryon (which consisted of a plastic shopping bag with holes in it, 3 novels, a massai necklace i bought for myself at the nairobi airport). Did I also mention that this is the 2nd time i've landed someplace sans luggage. funny enough, everytime i tell people that the airline lost my luggage, their first reaction is "did you fly air crapada?" and funny enough, no, air canada has yet to lose my luggage. The airline staff assured me it would be there on the Sunday 10:30 am flight to Kigali, so at 11 I called, and they didn't see it. At that point there were only three places it could be: Nairobi; kigali; in -transit. So I told them that they had 5 minutes to find it. After they gave me the number for the lost and found, and that office said the bag was there (I tried to confirm that they saw a bag with a canadian flag on it, not just that it was blue with green, but i don't think they understood me), I took a cab to the airport for a joyful reunion with my luggage. I had my doubts that the bag was actually there until I saw it.

Exchanging money in africa is always a battle. at the kigali airport, the forex counter didn't want to take a 1999 US $20. The lady told me to take it to the bank. I told her to take it to the bank b/c it was good currency. In Kenya, a torn US $20 was rejected by the forex counter here. Also, there are premiums paid for larger bills (at the kigali airport forex as long as it wasn't a $1 or $5 bill you got the higher rate, when i went to one in town, $20 paid out the lower rate, too). So my tip for those coming to the dark continent - only bring $100s and $50s and only crisp new ones. From now on, i'm going to insist on 2003 and above bills from my bank.

When I needed money on the Tuesday, i had a cab driver drive me to town to a forex counter. I swear he must be getting a kick back from the one he took me too, b/c we passed by at least 9 before he stopped. I'm using the term forex counter very loosely here b/c the one I went to was in an alley, and was just a room with a cage.

So how did I spend my time in Kigali: Well Sunday, I took a cab to the airport to get my luggage, so I could get into some clean clothes. Then I took a cab to the genocide memorial only to find it closed when I got there. Monday, I cabbed to the hotel in Hotel Rwanda for lunch there, and Tuesday I cabbed to the memorial. Those were the only times I left the hotel. I managed to read a book in its entirety and over half of another (the latter one being nearly 500 pages) and two magazine during my "house arrest" in Kigali. I also watched a lot of CNN and BBC, and a few movies, mostly in French. I saw about 1/2 of Star Wars Ep. I and most of Ep. 2 in French, and lightsabre duels are still awesome no matter what language.

At least in Rwanda, I could get by easier than I can in Kenya b/c French is one of the official languages of sorts. It made it easier to say no to the street kids asking for change and to ask a cabbie to drive to me to certain places, but still very difficult to actually engage in conversation. I asked my cab driver, Andre, who drove me to the museum on the Sunday, if he was Tutsi or Hutu, and it turns out he is a Tutsi, and he's a survivor. I only managed to catch the word survivor.

I managed to break out of my rut of meals of beef stew while in Rwanda, and ate a delicious vegetarian pizza for most of my meals at the hotel. Sometimes, I'd have Snickers for lunch. Delish! The pizza was way greasier than I usually like it, but c'est la vie.

Returning home, I lost my hat. Well, I know where it is - I left it on my airplane. THankfully, my luggage made it back with me to Kenya, since I had to point it out tothe baggage handlers as it stood on the tarmac in Kigali and tell them that was mine. That night, I had a joyful reunion with Stevie the TV and DaViD the DVD Player, as we started to watch what I thought was Season 4 of 24, but it turns out it was Season 5. I only got 2 hours in before I went to sleep, and the next day, I found out the error of my ways. Rest assured, I managed to get Season 4 that day, so I haven't gone for wont of terrorist-fighting television.

My book review of the week: The American Boy - sucks. You know the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover", well that literally should not apply to books, b/c that's the only way to judge a book. If you like murder mysteries of sorts (I do not) then you may enjoy the American Boy. It would've been too much of a hassle and too costly to return it to Amazon.co.uk so I had to suck it up and read it.

Black Gold: A book about the coffee industry. Interesting, but too much about the history of coffee, and not enough about the current state of the coffee industry, etc.

Heroes of the week:

1) Chris - my friend who was invited to the same wedding I was, but I had to miss it. He was going to look for a cardboard cutout of me back in TO a la the Canon commercial that's airing in the developing world now, so I could be at the weddings. A for effort, but if he actually found one, I'd be kind of creeped out that someone has a cardboard cutout of me for sale.

2) Mathew - the first person to call me ever from the first world. Thanks. It was nice to have a conversation where the only barrier to communication was the telecom connection and not the language.

3) Dan and Norah - who sent me a beautiful holiday card from Japan. It looks like a little theatre. Also, the hilarious stickers that they sent me of themselves on the back of the card.

4) Kenya immigration - who let me back into Kenya from Rwanda on a tourist visa b/c it is way easier than a work permit - even though I'm paid peanuts, I still am technically working here. It's only good for 3 months, so for about 2 weeks I will be in Kenya illegally before I leave here. Let's keep that between you and I. A secret is something that you tell another person, so I'm telling you, child.

Zeroes of the week:

1) RwandaAirExpress/Kenya Airways - it takes thousands of things to go right to get an airplane off the ground safely. It really takes only one thing to get luggage on a plane. Work on the latter, please.

2) My handwriting - I was trying to write some more of my novel and had trouble making out what I finished writing with. It took me 20 minutes to decipher that I wrote the word "evening" not "wishing". I know those words are no where near related, but I scribble really, really badly. So much that doctors tell me I have bad handwriting.

For those who are signing off here, I'll see you next week. For those who are going to continue reading about the Genocide memorial, I'll see you at the bottom of this e-mail.

Till then,
j.

Kigali is a very picturesque city. Much of it sits on hills, and the streets are clean and green with shrubbery. It's hard to believe that as recently as 13 years go, it was not uncommon to walk down the streets of Kigali and come across dead bodies - bodies belonging to your friends, neighbours, and even family. But, that was the case.

I'm not going to give you a history of what happened, but I will point out, that what took place was not confined to the 100 days from April to July, but was a result of years of problems between the Tutsis and Hutus, compounded by the propaganda machines that were the Hutu governments in power from independence until July 1994.

The Memorial Centre itself is not located on the paved roads of Kigali. Rather, you have to go off the beaten path, past the little shops, the kids barefoot running on the road. It's not big, made up of 3 sections indoors, and 2 outdoors (I missed one of the outdoor sections), and according to the one of the desk staff, should take approximately 90 minutes to go through. I spent nearly 3 hours there - reading every word written, looking at every photo, watching every video. The outdoors has three mass graves - each one about three coffins deep and I don't know how many wide or long. Some coffins will have the remains of 50 people placed in them - a lot of bodies were buried unidentified. People come by and place bouquets and individual flowers on these mass graves. The colour purple is predominantly used as ribbons. I forgot to ask the significance of this fact from the centre staff.

The three sections are as follows:

1) about the Rwanda genocide, giving an entire history of the situation, stretching as far back as control of the Belgians following Germany's defeat in WWI (Germany had control of Rwanda pre-WWI). It was the Belgians who required the labelling of Hutus, Tutsis and Twas. It was even more arbitrary than what was depicted in Hotel Rwanda - if you had 10 cows, you were Tutsi, and less, Hutu. What I don't understand is if a Tutsi had a couple of cows die on him, he'd be in Hutu-labelling territory and vice versa. The Catholic Church, propagated teachings of Tutsi superiority in the 1930s.

The final part of this first section is a series of three rooms. In the 2nd room, there is a display of the bones, and skulls of the victims, and even some personal effects founds by the victims - pens, books, etc. You can make out which victims were beaten hard, the cracks and fractures in the skulls acting as a badge of torture and inhumanity. The 3rd room has clothing of victims exhibited.

It is the first room where I spent the most time out of those three. That first room acts as a memorial to the victims. Survivors were asked to provide photos of their loved ones who died in the genocide. These are not photos that are adorned "in memorium". There are a few. The majority are photos that you would find in a photo album, on a mantle or on the wall - photos of three little brothers dressed in the identical brown tuxedo suits; a couple on the wedding day cutting their wedding cake; family gathered in a living room; friends gathered around the dinner table; parents with their children; grandparents proudly holding their new grandchildren; men posing with a recently won-sporting trophy; and people just joking around. I looked at every face in those photos, making sure that I saw every life that was lost. If these people were alive today, I probably wouldn't recognize them if I saw them on the street. It was the best way I thought I could pay my respects.

2) A section called Wasted Lives which examines other genocides in history: Hereros in 1904/05; Armenian Genocide; Holocaust; Khmer Rouge; and the Balkans.

3) A memorial for the children who died in Rwanda during those 100 days. In addition to the same photo exhibit of the victims that was in the first section, there were at least 8 children who were individually memorialized with their photos blown up and displayed on the wall. Plaques were perched below the photo - telling visitors the child's name, their age, and other details such as their best friend, their likes, how they were characterized, their last words/memory and how they died. A 10 year old tortured to death (how do you torture a 10 year old?; an infant, not even a year old, macheted to death in its mother's arms and another smashed against a wall. The hope and faith that some of these children had even in their darkest moments was still unwavering, one child's last words were "UNAMIR [the UN mission in Rwanda] will come for us.". I feel bad when I pass a child on the street asking for a shilling and I decline his request. How anyone can torture a 10 year old and not have such an image haunt him for the rest of his life is unfathomable to me.

The UN failed Rwanda in a way that no group of people should ever have to experience again. A Hutu informant agreed to tell the UN of the secret cache of weapons in exchange for security. Dallaire informed UN New York about this, but the UN couldn't guarantee the informant's security. That informant disappeared and was never heard from again. The UN was more shocked by Dallaire's suggestion to seize the weapons cache rather than the fact that the Hutus were getting ready to engage in genocide.

That's not to say that there's not stories of heroism during those times. There was one Hutu, so convinced by the propaganda spouted by the Hutus (the president was the largest shareholder in a radio station that was much responsible for spreading the message that the Tutsis were coming to kill Hutus), that this Hutu dug a ditch on his property so he could hide when the Tutsi came for him. When the Hutus began slaughtering Tutsi, that landowner hid a number of Tutsi in the ditch he had dug for his own hiding purposes. But for every act of heroism, uncountable acts of inhumanity took place - including a priest who bulldozed his own church with his own congregation inside. The cruelty of humans never ceases to amaze me. Today, Rwanda is a country of peace and tranquility.

Out of the ashes of genocide, arose a Phoenix of peace. Hutus and Tutsis live side by side peacefully and happily. It offers a lesson for most of the rest of the world that are constantly living in conflict. While a genocide will probably never be repeated in Rwanda, it will occur again in the world. I predict at least 2 more during my lifetime. I hate being wrong, but that's something I would very much be very happy about which I would be wrong.

j.

Merry New Year!

Hello everybody,

I know it has been a while, and I'm sure you've been waiting with baited breath fo the next instalment, and if you haven't, well I don't know what to tell you.

Safari was an interesting experience. First, it confirmed something I already believed - I hate camping. 4 days sans a shower, and no flush toilets (I can't even begin to describe the smell of the facilities at the place where we camped on the Tuesday and Thursday), is not exactly my idea of a good time.

I'm glad I did go on the safari. as much as I can google the animals to learn more about them, it is interestingt to watch them in their natural habitat. It's a w hole different scene seeing 1000s of wildebeats roaming the plains, and disappointing b/c not a single predator made an attempt at a kill.

Therte are tonnes of safari comapnies in the Tanzania area. There were safariiers from all over the places at all of the camps. On the thursday morning we got up at 5:45 am to go out to the plains for 6 am to try to catch some more game. We did se a cheetah but the whole experience was dampered by the annoying Europ0ean touists in the two vans next to us. they were clearly together b/c they kept taking to one another, and quite loudly. I saw them at the campsite that night, and I was realy annoyed with their presence.

Some of the people onthe safaris really went all out. Many of them looked like they went out and bought special outfits, and I swear, I thought I saw someone wearing a pith helmet out during the game.

I was on safari with two othe rcanadians - teachers from Saskatcahewan who were teaching in Cairo. Our guide, Ayubu, was amazing. he could drive on the tracks and spot game at obscene distances. Fo the first day I thought his name was a Ibouya and I had to catch myself from calling thim that for the next couple of days. We also had a cook, Joseph, who was the nicest man ever. He was always smling and always wearing this toque with an "M" on it and sunglasses perched on top of his head. His English was mnimal, alwasy responding with a "Fine" if we said "Hi Joseph" but, man, could he cook. Breakfast was fine, and lunch was nothing really special, but those dinners. Yummy. It was the thing I looked most forward to on the safari. Everyith we started with some sort of soup followed by this delicio0us and healtyh hot meal. That first nght, the 25th, we got a cake that read "marry christmas". I've started to learn that it is just easier to smle and nod rather than try to explain that I don't celebrate x-mas and why I don't.

We managed to see lots of game, and got as clsoe as 10 feet to a lion and 15 feet to a pack of cheetas. I did take pictures, but my digtal camera is more designed to capture kodak moments at closer range than where most of the animals were located.

The safari ended early onfiday and i decided to come home to nakuur instead of staying over in aursha. i bought a bunch of souvenirs in tanzania and I didn't want to drag them with me to rwanda as they were kind of heavy. In hindsight, that was a big mistake. Instead of 4.5 hours to get back to nairobi it took closer to 6. Add a 2.5 hours ride back to nakuru, and another one the next morning back to nairobi to get to the airport, and I spent more than 13 hours out of 24 just travelling in vehicles.

when i got back, i couldn't get into my hotel room b/c the key was locked away in the manage'rs office and she wasn't there. a shave would have to wait to the next morning. another disadvantage of camping is the lack of being able to shave. From now on, my defintion of campnig is a hotel/motel that does not offer room service.

I did something really silly before I left for safari - i almost left without finishing season 3 of 24. i was 4 hours away so I had to power thru it onthe sat. to see just how jack bauer saved amercai this time.

shopping at the local merchants is always a pain in the *ss. I was looking for the massai necklaces that are beaded, and i would just peak my head in and see if they were there. the store keepers are always trying to get you to look into their stores, and ewven after i bought a number of those necklaces (these things are the size of those old LPs, not the size of a regular necklace), and some massaid clubs, they still tr yto get me to buy more, giving me better deals. I bought some smaller necklaces, 5 of them for $43, and then he offered me two others for $10. So why did I pay more than $8 for the first 5. I just spent over $200 US in his shop (some of it goes to other merchants who provide the quantity of product i was buying if the first one doesn't have the number i['m looking for), and he wants me to spend more that i don't have.

The hakwers are very aggressive and don't take no for an naswer. it gets really annoying. At the border it was horrible. I don'[t see why they waste their time on me w2hen i've already tsaid no. One hakwer first wanted $100 for 5 carved anmals, then offered them to me for $5. The aggressiveness of the hawkers is one of the reasons i'm really tired o f living in kenya. They reach their arms into the shuttle offering me a plethora of necklaces for a "good deal". I don't care how good a deal I get, what am i gong to do with a bunch of necklaces bearing a cross?

One Massai hawker was offering me one of those big necklaces, saying it is a gift for my mama. I then pulled out one of the ones i already bought and said "I already have a gift for my mama." When they offered me necklaces, I showed them the ones I bought.

The most annoying hakwer was the one I encountered a tthe shuttle office. I kept teling him "no thank you" in swahili. I leanred how to say "no", "what's up" and "cool" (appana, mambo and poa) in swahili on the safari. I think at one piont he wanted me to give him 20 shillings for his fare. I didn't realize that he came at my beckon. A nice security guard intervened and told him to go away, finally. This was after 9 hours of travels already, so I was not exactly in mood to be annoyed by a hawker.

i did not end up going to the lake naivasha parks befoe the safari. i decided to stick around nakuu and pehraps go in 2007, since i can make a day trip out of it. I'm kind of animaled out though, and the only real appeal is tha tthe hell's gate park is a walking park, so yo ucan walk through it rather than drive through it.

if you're wondering why the first half of this e-mail contians a lot more typos than uusal, it is b/c the keyboard i'm using at the airpot is really stiff. i made the mistake of coming here realy, really early for a 5pm flight (at 2 pm), and the airport iun nairobir is really lacking in options for entertainment.

Now that I'm at a fully functioning keyboard, the rest should be smooth sailing.

The first day of safari was spent at Lake Manyara, which was our best game viewing until Thursday. We didn't get as close to the animals as we did on Thursday but we saw a lot.

While we were waiting for Ayubu to pay our park fees, there was a little kid hanging around, so I waved hello at him. He approached me, so I reached my hand out to shake his hand, under the watchful eye of his family/friends. Immediately after, this little girl in their group ran over to shake my hand. The two little ones couldn't have been older than 2 or 3 years old (well maybe 4 or 5, they were really short, and I'm a horrible guestimator of age).

Our camp that night was awesome for camping. We had hot showers (which I didn't use b/c the first shower I found only was cold and by the time I found out that 3 feet further were the hot ones, I was already dried and dressed), and there was a swimming pool, albeit, you'd have to swim with frogs and insects, dead and alive, if you chose to take a dip. That night after dinner, the three of us (Mark and Amy, the two other Canucks) and I headed to the bar across the street where we had a holiday drink (amarula). A Muslim named Muhamed, dressed in a sweatshirt that read Niike on the back of his neck (that's not a typo - I meant to write Niike) befriended us, and took our picture with his friends. I have one of Mark, Amy, Muhamed and the other two patrons. He gave me his address to send him a copy. He kept telling me that he does walking tours (or something like that b/c I couldn't really understand him). He asked us if he could provide us with company back to our campsite which we declined saying there was a no guest policy.

On Tuesday, we packed up and headed to Ngororngoro Park. The game is located in the crater, which is 1700 metres above sea level. Camp was 2300 m above, so we had to descend 600 metres. The descent wasn't so bad, the ascent made me so scared. First off, I thought Ayubu was taking the corners way too quickly for my liking. Add the fact that b/c the paths up and down are only one lane, I thought we were too close to the edge. I kept looking over towards the left side, thinking to myself "there's a good 3 or 4 inches closer to the wall that we're not using". At one point, I was ready to get out of the truck and walk, knowing that I could walk as close to the cliff wall as I liked.

Wednesday we headed to the serengetti, where we spent the night after viewing game. On Thursday, we got up real early to go see more game, before returning to camp for breakfast and then heading to the north part of the Serengetti. That's where we saw the really good game I described above.

I saw the president of Tanzania. Apparently, he was on safari also. I didn't get a picture with him b/c most of you wouldn't have any clue who he was. Plus, I don't know him from Adam. We saw him at the parking lot of the serengetti park entrance.Some girl, 11 or 12 years old or so (I'm totally guessing her age based on the fact that she looked taller than my 11 year old cousin Ori, but if Ori is really short, then I'm way off) asked her dad if he was the President of Africa. Clearly, her education is in dire need of an upgrade. I think by the time someone is in double digits of age, they should know that there are 7 continents, made up of various countries each with their own leader. Her dad analogized using the US and North America. I would doubt that she knew that North America constitutes more than the US, though.

On the way to camp, we stopped at this Gorge which is reallyf amous for some anthropological findings. It cost us 3000 shillings and really, there was no mechanism to enforce payment, I think. It was interesting to see, and a nice view, but I thought we were going into the gorge itself. The ride to the gorge was less than pleasant. The road was quite bumpy and Ayubu seemed keen on taking the road at 60 kms/hour, and while we thought he'd slow down over the ditches, not so much.

Thursday night was back at Ngorongoro camp, which was a long night for me. I thought I lost my flashlight that morning. Turns out, I put it in one of the pockets of my backpack, and when I checked the pockets upon our return to camp, i only checked the one where I thought I put it, when I put it in the other. My need to use the facilities had to wait for daylight. That was a long night.Friday, we left the campsite to head back to Arusha, where on the way I bought souvenirs as I mentioned above, and then had my long ride back to Nakuru.

Then my interesting adventures to Rwanda began, a trip I'm starting to realize that may not have been such a great idea. I'll share the details with you next week.

For those who did not see Column 4 when it appeared earlier in December, I've attached it for your reading pleasure.

Book review of the week: Red Dragon - ok as a book; much better as a movie (I very rarely say that). The movie was simpler and focused, while the book added detials and characters that I think just were not necessary.
The Google Story: excellent. I'm not finished it (less than 20 pages to go). I'd have finished it, but the lack of adequate light while camping put a damper in my reading habits while on safari, and I can't read on bumpy roads. Smooth roads are fine, bumpy, not so much.

Hero of the Week:

1) Jack Bauer - saves America from the release of a biological weapon.

2) My friend Brendon - for those of you who own TD shares or any Canadian mutual funds (which probably own TD shares) he just saved the bank $1 million, and reaped a nice little chunk of change. Ladies, he's single...

Zeroes of the week:1) My friend Jen: for not telling me how Jack Bauer saved USA in Season 3 or David Palmer's election outcome. When I watch 24, about 8 or 9 hours through I start to pick up the clues, then a monkeywrench is thrown into the story, and I am on the edge of my seat as to what will happen next. By the 12th or 13th hour, I want to know how Jack does it b/c one hour earlier I thought he had it solved, only to see said monkeywrench pop up again. As a fellow 24 addict, she should sympathize and give me the info I ask. Even though by the time I got her reply e-mail to my request for info, I had already finished Season 3, but it's the principle of the matter.

New Year's Goal of 2007: To eat marshmallow pies with rocking horse people (which song is that from?)

In 3.5 hours it is 2007 for me, so I wish you all a Happy New year to you and yours and mine.Reporting to you live from Kigali, Rwanda,Jacob