Tuesday

Tuesday - Angela

It's all about details. It's often details that adds richness to an experience or gives it depth. Without that depth there is less meaning taken from experiences shared by people. Sometimes those moments are the most beautiful, laughable, and can be insightful.

As we left Kigali this morning, I realized that our group has coalesced. Our group has been together many hours over the last week. We all know who the Princess is, who gets separated easily (causing delays and a bit of crankiness of the part of those waiting), who has money left for food and who might not, and who is absurdly afraid of primates with long tails. There was camaraderie on the bus this morning during our two hour hike to Musanze. Good natured teasing each other about their idiosyncratic ways. These are the details that add a richness to our group experience of Rwanda, Africa, and each other.

This afternoon we were able to observe the performances of two different villages near Volcanoes National Park. The two groups displayed versions of their traditional singing and dancing for us, which were different in dress and lyric but similar in that each was specific to their people. The details distinguished their renditions from each other, while at the same time uniting them as Rwandans celebrating their culture. I've wondered whether or not performances like these, displayed for tourists, fit in with the idea of restorative justice. By celebrating the differences between villages, is tolerance fostered? I think so. Just less than twenty years after the genocide, distinct groups of people in Rwandan society are able to publicly perform their interpretation of history, the details of each group being encouraged and celebrated.

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