Day 5

After five days we are finally adjusting to the schedule and time change. The morning was pretty similar to the past couple of days— we started off with a lecture by Hollie covering the global context leading up to 1994. We briefly discussed the rise of states, globalization and how they affected the international world order. 

Today was far less emotionally taxing than yesterday. After lunch we took a bus to the Presidential Palace which is out by the airport. This is where the airplane carrying President Habyarimana and the president of Burundi was shot down on April 6, 1994. The actual house where the Rwandan president used to live was turned into a unique art museum, where we saw art depicting both the genocide and national recovery process. Many pieces emphasized the importance of hope, unity and development. After a guided tour of the house, we went outside to see the plane wreckage which landed in the former garden. It wasn't until a few years back that a wall was built around the wreck, and you can see some vandalism on the plane wing. Hollie filled us in with some details about the late president’s life, like what they used specific rooms for.

After the tour we went to Kigali Heights, a mall in mu mujyi (in town) where we had some gelato and tried to organize plans for our first free day. Then we headed to a milk bar, we were all tried a bit of fermented milk. It wasn't most people's favorite, but Ryan enjoyed it so much he drank the entire 12 oz. glass! Next we headed up to Mt. Kigali (really a hill) to see the entire city from above. Although we missed the sunset, we still got some pretty cool pictures from the top of the hill. This one is thanks to Michelle!