As every working day in Rwanda starts incredibly early I had to rise and shine for Rutsiro. The green bus was another adventure. It is way too big for the bumpy hilly road. The view was amazing but I fell asleep. Numerien woke me up to let me know we had arrived. We were both starving. We left at 7 AM and it's noon time now. We went to have lunch which was a dish I call 'everything on a plate'. Basically a small volcano on your plate of potatoes, rice, bananas, manioc, meat, carrots, peas, cabbage and red kidney beans. Awful ! Most veggies grown here are the Belgian winter veggies. I am not fan. Numerien said : 'On va bouffer' ! I thought to myself, you are going to bouffer; this chick is going to munch a little. I asked him to finish my plate but he was too full. The bookkeeper from Cotrago came to get us and again we were in for quite the walk. In the office, I interview everyone and made a big effort trying to stay awake. Narcolepsy was hitting me again, but the days are so long ! If Rwandans wanted to advance, they had to work for it themselves. No need to wait for help. It is clear that the people have understood. I have never in my life seen such hard working people. Rwandans all mutually agree that they are here to advance and put a stop to poverty. Numerien said the same thing. He said: 'we can not slack off or we die'. Poverty is an ugly battle and hard to get out. That's why I brought you out here, you have to help us with an action plan and I will follow it religiously. He continued: 'We are copying Europe and we will excel'. I totally loved it ! & laughed hard. Dude is a character. Dressed like a clown. Now with the skirt wrapped over the jeans I went to meet the plant manager. The plant manager looked Indian mixed with African. He spoke Kinyarwanda, understood French but replied in English with an Indian accent. I couldn't figure him out. He must like me a mix of everything. I asked Numerien whether the man was Rwandan or Mohindi. Numerien said he is Rwandan but his behavior is different like Mohindi. I said isn't he mixed ? Numerien said oh that's maybe what it is. LOL Then I asked him whether the cooperative manager was Chinese and African. Numerien asked if I was feeling ok ? The cooperative manager was black but looked completely Chinese. I am sure the cooperative manager as well was intermixed somewhere in his family line. At the end of the factory visit, I got to taste the fresh finished black tea. OMG! It was delicious. In the factory I found out that all tea is made from the green leaves. I thought black tea was from black leaves. No the process to create white tea, black tea or green tea is in the factory. It has nothing to do with the leaves. Dummy ! The sun was setting and we were heading back to the cooperative office. There a random man starts talking to me and asked if I was Canadian. Canada? Out of all the countries I have been labeled, Canada is new on the list. He asked me if I wanted to have a drink in his house. Then Numerien shows up and says: Oh you have met my best friend, he is the owner of the house in which the tea cooperative resides. Hence, all the questions. I had no choice but to say yes to the house visit. Tired and packed with my backpack, sleeping bag and overloaded Salvatore Ferregamo purse, I drag myself to his house. He pulls out a pink juice, I felt my stomach turning. He pours the pink juice in wine glasses for a special occasion. His Canadian guest. I just let him call me Canada as being of Belgian origin isn't something to be proud of in Rwanda. The awful things the Belgian colonials and Catholic missionaries did out here is horrifying. So Canada it is ! I quickly drink the pink juice which was by far the sweetest drink I ever had in my life. I think if you mix Hawain Punch with every soda pop on the planet, you'll get the level of sweetness. Well I wasn't going to get sick from that. After a bit of chit chat and Numerien telling him that since he has an international consultant; he had become a big man. ( A grand homme ) I had to laugh. Having an Exchange BNP Paribas Benevolab expert can elevate your status in life. Well done Numerien! We had a budget for lodging but incredibly stingy Numerien wanted to check out the cheapest lodging in town. I was sleepy and tagged along. He decided upon a church with guest rooms. The town had no electricity since a day. The convenant was dark and dirty but I was prepared. Fitted insect sheet over the bed, pop up net and sleeping bag, towels and soap. The toilet I won't even mention but I did kill the worms on the floor. I thought the day was over and then Numerien came knocking on the door. The manager wants us all to go out for dinner and drinks. With the flashlight on my head, we hit the darkness. (Thanks Guy Callebout for the tip.) Even with the flashlight, I didn't see anything and almost twisted my foot. Numerien knew a shortcut. A steep mini rocky path down. Seriously ? We arrived in the darkness in the town and people are swarming around me. They heard that the Canadian was in town. There I was looking like a clown, with a flashlight on my head. The head of district said they never have visitors and was sad he wasn't informed of my arrival. He would have done a parade. Thank God that didn't happen! I would have been completely embarrassed. We head to the bar and the guys turnt it up! They chucked down the 65 cal of beer too easily. As usual I order water. They didn't like that, party pooper. Is it so difficult for people to comprehend that I barely drink. Well, I still hold it down though with my jokes. We had a good time and I ordered the brochettes and grilled banana. I love the grilled banana. When I was eating my second brochette, I had a strange taste in my mouth. I asked them why does the second one taste different ? They replied: oh it must be a different organ. ORGAN !? I spontaneously shouted ? Yes intestine, they replied. What ? No my lovely brochettes I had been eating was intestine? FML! I couldn't eat anymore. #screwd After dinner we headed back in the darkness to our logement. I had asked the Church acolytes, if I could have hot water. They knocked on the door and left me a dirty plastic jerry can with hot water. With the flashlight on my head a green bucket and the dirty jerry can I make an attempt at washing myself. I treated the water as liquid gold because I would only get one. I was so grateful for the hot water that it turned out to be a pleasurable bathing experience but no way I would repeat this in the morning. Exhausted I fall asleep, not touching anything.
