The Weekend (continued from below)

This memorial was created in the location of an old school, where 50,000 people had come for shelter when the killings had begun. The killers came and tried to kill people but the 50,000 were strong enough to keep them at bay. Then the interahamwe came with grenades and machetes and they managed to kill nearly everyone at this site. 48,000 people were buried in mass graves, and 2,000 bodies were placed on display, to remind people that there was a genocide in Rwanda and that it should never be allowed to happen again. What I didn't realize was that the bodies had been preserved - so in each of the 20 rooms we had to walk into, you were greeted with a stench as well as the atrocity of seeing bodies in very unnatural positions. David had visited this site before, and still walked with me from room to room, though we didn't say a word throughout the whole visit. The French, when they eventually came, used this as one of their homebase sites, and had unknowingly built a volleyball court over a mass grave. I have to say that I was a little disappointed that I was the only tourist at this site. If you go to any of the Jewish death camps in Germany or Poland you'll find busloads of tourists paying their respects. But here it was just David and myself, and the survivor who took us on our tour.

After finishing at the site (and leaving a 2000 Rfr donation - food was going to be tight!) David and I slowly walked back to Gikongoro. While walking he talked to me a little about his own experience and together we tried to understand, as a younger generation, how people could hate so strongly as to conduct mass murder. It truly is incomprehensible.

The rest of the day was very pleasant. I couldn't go out dancing with David because I had so little money (and nowhere to stay post-midnight!) but he invited me to his place for dinner (score!) and we spent the evening chatting, comparing cultures and looking at photographs.

Sunday I made my way into Kigali where I secured a gorilla trekking permit for this coming weekend (woot!) Getting this permit was a pain in the ass and is a story in itself. Then I walked to the official Genocide Memorial Museum (to complete the Genocide weekend!) where 250,000 bodies have been buried. This Memorial was very well put together and I was happy to see that there were more tourists visiting it. I spent two hours walking around and reading and found it interesting in that there was very little information surrounding the events that led up to the Genocide, but there was tons of info about when and how the victims were killed. Is this because we just don't have the details? It was pretty striking.

Oh and just to keep the food story going...that morning I had leftover popcorn and water for breakfast. I then ate a chocolate bar that I had bought a week ago for lunch - but it was so disgusting! The chocolate had turned white and powdery, but I needed to eat something! Then, happily, I was able to find some guys on the street who gave me an excellent exchange rate (better than the bank!) and I then headed directly to a restaurant where I got myself the requisite plate of carbs :) The things we take for granted! haha!

Ok. I should probably get back to the research I came here to do. One of the interns has asked me to teach him about abnormal heart sounds and I need to refresh myself so as to avoid confusing them, and myself!