Mu Rwanda: Ibiryo

I've been in Rwanda for about a week now, and it's been a great adventure so far. We've had training in language, medical things, safety and security, and teaching every day Monday through Saturday from about 8 to 5. We've also all got “resource families” now, who we visit twice a week for dinner and conversation. I know a lot of you were interested in the food I would be eating, so I'll tell you a little about what I've been eating on a daily basis and with my resource family.

The food here is generally pretty basic. There are a lot of starches; I've had multiple meals with two or three starches at a time. Also, being a tropical climate, there's a large variety of fruit. I get my daily banana (imineke) fix (though they're the small bananas), and I also regularly have passion fruit (maracuja), papaya (ipapayi), and the sweetest pineapple (inanasi) that I've ever tasted.

Breakfast is typically made up of bread (umugati) with some combination of cheese, peanut butter, jelly, butter (amavuta), omelet (umureti), pineapple (inanasi), or banana (imineke), along with coffee (ikawa) and tea (icyayi). The coffee is usually fairly strong, and the tea is very nice, too. True Rwandans prefer tea to coffee, and they tend to put so much milk (amata) and sugar (isukari) in it that it turns a milky-white color and has a distinctly sweet flavor. I still prefer mine black.

During training, we have a mid-morning break where we have more coffee and tea and then some small snack. This is usually sambusa, chapati, waffles, or these donut-type things that are amazing. It helps tide us over until lunch and gives a nice break during what can be a long day.

Lunch and dinner are similar in composition. They almost always have two starches, some sort of vegetable, some protein, and some fat. Common dishes are rice (umuceri), potatoes (ibirayi) cooked in various styles, plantains (ibitoke), spaghetti (amakaroni), carrots (karoti), cabbage (ishu) often as coleslaw, this green leafy vegetable that looks like spinach (dodo), beef (inka), beans (ibishyombi), and ocasionally guacamole (guakamore). The most special meal I had was with one of roommates at his resource family's house. There we had an avocado (avoka) with a nice vinaigrette dressing (it was the first, and so far only, thing that I've had in Rwanda that was made to not only taste good but look good, too), cassava leaves (isombe) with fish (ifi), and what is known in South Africa as mealie pap (ubugari), a thick porridge-like mixture of water (amazi), salt (umunyu), and ground cassava (umwumbati).

Unlike Americans or Europeans, Rwandans do not often have anything to drink with their meals (with the exception of breakfast). When we first arrived, we had soda (either Coke or Fanta) with dinner, but that's no longer the case. When I go to dinner with my resource family, I'm typically offered milk (inshyshyu), a kind of buttermilk (ikivuguto), Fanta, or beer. The beer here, unless specified, is Primus, a Pilsner-style lager brewed in Rwanda. It's fairly good, cheap (about $1 for 72 cl), and one of the few cold beverages that can be found. In addition to those beverages, I've had two styles of banana beer (urwagwa) and some traditional sorghum beer, which is non-alcoholic and very distinctive. The banana beer can be bitter, and it is very strong.

All in all, the food here doesn't vary too much from day to day. Personally, I'm fine with that, and some of the things we eat really remind me of what I would probably cook for myself back home. We have had one meal together in our house with the Rwandans who are staying with us, so I do know how to cook using the charcoal stove and one or two pots.

Rwanda is a beautiful country, with some amazing people. Everywhere we go people are friendly, and I'm really enjoying spending time with my resource family. I have a “dad” (data), “mom” (mama), three “sisters” (bashiki batatu) and an “older brother” (mukuru). The kids in the family are 20, 24, 26, and 28, and the two parents are 52 and 55.

Hopefully all of you loyal readers are doing well in your neck of the woods. I think about all of you at one time or another. Stay in touch.

To get an idea of what I'm experiencing, check out http://www.museum.gov.rw