The invitation to this event was hilarious: it was sent to everyone on the mailing list of the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, and was formatted in standard State Department style with heading Warden Message / U.S. Embassy Kigali, Rwanda / Independence Day Celebration for Americans. It looked like a travel warning, but it was inviting us to a party!
It described a “traditional USG Independence Day Community Celebration” at the embassy with no entrance fee. In the Restrictions and other details section, it advised that, as “[e]lectronic devices such as cell phones … are not permitted inside the Embassy compound, … you may wish to leave such items at home.” Now how could I miss that?
The party was not actually on the Fourth of July: remember, that is a holiday here too. Presumably, they needed their workers, so they scheduled it for the day after.
I went with a friend from Harvard, and we found some other friends there. It was a bizarre experience to be in Rwanda, then pass through security and suddenly be in America. They weren’t barbecuing, but in every other way it really did look like an Independence Day party: a big tent set up with picnic tables under it, a popcorn machine, a jumping castle and live music, and lots of Americans walking around.
There were also tents set up by local restaurants selling food which, by and large, was very good. Heaven, Mezze Fresh, Mr. Chips and several others were all serving at not-outrageous prices. I shared a potato taco and nachos from Mezze Fresh, which was pretty interesting: it pulled off the Tex-Mex, surprisingly, though I couldn’t shake the feeling there was something different. Purple key-lime pie syndrome, maybe?
I saw some familiar faces: someone I had met at the wedding ceremony, several Harvard students and some people I am sure I have seen walking around. I also met several new people, mostly N.G.O. workers of one sort or another. What surprised me especially was the proportion of them who were somehow affiliated with Harvard. I guess there is something about the intersection between the socially conscious environment, a certain level of privilege and the encouragement to do unconventional things that brings large numbers of students and alumni to this faraway African country the size of Maryland.
After, I went with a couple of friends to a place called Papyrus (pronounced, at least in Kinyarwanda, poppy-roose). Depending on which part of the building you are in, it is a restaurant or a bar or a nightclub. We sat in the restaurant area for a bit, for the quietness, but my friends wanted drinks. They ordered from the extensive alcohol menu, while I ordered from the seven-item non-alcoholic menu. One of the items was juice; when I ordered it, I was told that it was not fresh, and also that they only had apple. It was cold, though, so that was fine.
It is a nice place to sit and talk, and the rooftop has fantastic views of the city. Something I have noticed recently about Kigali is that, because there are such regularly placed streetlights and so few tall buildings, from an elevated position at night one can see a roadmap of the city illuminated in all directions. The main roads are lit with salmon lights, and the rest with white fluorescent ones. This is not an opportunity that exists many other places: most cities that are more developed have either taller buildings or lots of lights in the buildings, and most of those less developed do not have the streetlights.
Unfortunately I had to leave a little bit early: I do not want to keep my hosts awake too late. It was a good day, though.
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