There was a time when I characterized this as a daily blog. Clearly, that was over-optimistic! I am going to make a sincere effort to keep up for my remaining ten days in Rwanda, but for now I want to catch myself up. Generally, what I have been doing is research work, as well as projects back home (at The Crimson and working on scholarship applications). For the rest of this post, I’ll try to summarize what I did on each day since my last about… oh dear, two weeks ago!
Sunday, 6 July 2014
Went to church—the theme was how God watches over us, but is not like a security camera because of his deep care for our well-being. Had some very good capati afterward—two nice big loaves at Fr. 100 (14¢) each! Did some photo-editing in the afternoon.
In the evening, my host-father and his mother (who was staying over after the wedding for a couple of days) turned on the TV. Whether by choice or chance, they ended up watching a French dub of the recently remade “Lone Ranger,” which was a truly bizarre scene to observe. He had to explain to her what a horse was, because those are not native to sub-Saharan Africa, and she kept asking whether he was sure they weren’t dogs. Both were pretty confused by Tonto, though—as were many Americans, actually, by Johnny Depp’s performance.
Monday, 7 July 2014
Had a meeting with a professor whose contact information I had been given in relation to dialect research. He was extremely helpful and qualified, having taught courses about Kinyarwanda dialects in the past. He offered to prepare me a list of sources, with a note about where I could find them; he sent it to me later that night, and it was just about what I was looking for. Also, it turned out he had a lot of the material in question and would be willing to lend them to me… which was pretty great.
On the way back from that meeting, I happened to see a store selling ice cream. This was kind of a big thing, because it’s really not easy to find ice cream in this country! I caved pretty quickly—avocados and mangos are great, but only sustain me for so long—and consumed a fairly large container of it on the bus ride home.
Later, I went over to the Ministry of Education to see about renewing my research permit, but the person I needed to see wasn’t there. Oh well.
Tuesday, 8 July 2014
Didn’t leave the house much, just for a short walk. I spent a lot of time very carefully reading one paper that the professor had given me a copy of before:
Nkusi Laurent, “Une Problème de Glossonymie : Les Appellations du Kinyarwanda.” Etudes Rwandaises 1.2 (1987).
It is apparently a very important article in the field, so I read it, typed it all into the computer (to make sure I understood it all) and even took the trouble to translate it to English. The problem Nkusi addresses is the numerous names that exist for different varieties of Kinyarwanda, which very often do not equate to actually different dialects. (For example, two neighboring regions might speak the same dialect but call it different things.) He reviews past work and assesses evidence for the existence of different dialects that vary regionally, ethnically and socially, and ends up with a framework that shaped the field for the following decades.
Wednesday, 9 July 2014
Again went to the Ministry of Education; I did find the guy I needed, who was very nice, and kindly informed me that I needed to apply to renew my research permit at least a month before its expiration date (tomorrow). I told him I could bring an application the next day, and he said that was fine.
I could have, and probably should have, made my application earlier, like as soon as I got into the country. I didn’t do so because I did not think I would need a research permit for what I was doing. Either way, the system is well designed for people staying in the country for a long period of time, but not really for those leaving and then coming back: there are no online instructions for how to renew a research permit, and it must be submitted in person. I was not in Rwanda a month before my permit expired… anyway, it seemed like it was working out.
For the record, renewing a research permit is pretty much the same as applying in the first place, except the cover letter and the letter from the affiliating institution have to give a reason for the renewal.
O.K., now I am going to go to bed, but I will continue my catching up tomorrow. (Maybe if I make a public statement like this, I will feel more pressure to actually do it!)
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