***This posting was originally typed for July 1st - names and dates have not been modified***
It’s Burundian Independence Day, and for those of you who shamefully do not know the history behind that (tsk tsk tsk) I will give you a quick lesson. And for those of you like my father who will remember this forever, here are the dates. (Seriously, though, what’s wrong with you people? I fear you’re the reason Jeopardy still exists)
1924 - Germany is defeated in WWI and surrenders East African territories to Belgium (modern day Burundi & Rwanda).
October 20, 1924 – This territory becomes a Belgian League of Nations called Ruanda-Urundi.
1940s – People get together, start talking, and powers begin to split.
1948 – Belgium allows them to form political parties (no birthday or tea parties).
1959 – Burundi asks for independence because of ethnic persecution of the Tutsi tribe in Rwanda at the hands of the Hutu tribe.
1960 – Assassinations, parties rise to power, babies are born, older people die, things happen.
July 1st, 1962 – The country claims independence and legally changes its name to Burundi.
Ta-da! Who knew reading this blog might help you get that last piece in Trivial Pursuit.
Scenario:
(a living room at that house with that couple you can’t stand that your spouse/significant other/online date made you eat dinner with and then play the game that never ends)
Smug man with watch fob and monocle: In 1962, which African country declared independence?
You in all your glory: BOOM - Burundi!
(balloons and confetti fall from ceiling)
Ok, onto the festivities. Michael told us it was about a 30 minute walk to the stadium. Ah yes, he meant 30 minutes African time. 30 minutes US time meant that we would have been there about an hour before we were. Did you know that Burundi has the largest sauna (next to Houston) in the world? You probably didn’t. It was actually a very pretty walk, because I’ve decided there isn’t a plant in the world that isn’t growing here. It’s incredible. For some reason, people started asking what certain plants were or what was in that building over there even though there was no way any of us knew. I, however, took this opportunity to take some very educated guesses, and thus began my journey as a Burundi tour guide. Dan, who is an engineer, looks to me to explain the plants (regardless of the fact that I believe I named a tree Shamu from the genus C-whirl), because it gives him peace of mind just knowing there is a name assigned to it.
When we got to the stadium, we found wall to wall people lining the streets as the military marched through the town. You learned about the word Muzungu in a previous post (if not, see posting below). Muzungu is not typically meant as a derogatory term but more of a strange way to point out to others and the white people that they are in fact white. The only thing that makes sense as a comparison is a celebrity walking through a suburban mall. Everyone looks, stares, talks amongst themselves, points, and even calls out who/what (R2-D2) is passing by. Sometimes they follow you just to see what crazy thing you may do next (eg Winona Ryder shoplifting #wishicouldhavebeenthere). For this reason, we try not to draw attention to ourselves, so we split into groups of 2-3. 2-3 Muzungus is a lot less awe-worthy than 8 of them walking together. Since there were so many people, I had Super-tall-Dan capture the military marching:(posting later with pictures - internet is far too slow).
Next, came our trip to Hotel Club du Lac. The hotel is on Lake Tanganyika a lake that has 1/6th of the total water contained in all the lakes around the world. Yes, thank me for that information.
Scenario:
You: I’ll take Bodies of Water for 1000, Alex.
AT: The answer is, “this lake contains 1/6th of all the world’s lake water”.
You: What is, Lake Tanganyika.
(chaos ensues…except you will eventually lose in Final Jeopardy over some trivial question like - “this celebrity once shoplifted from Saks Fifth Avenue“. Hint: it’s Winona Ryder…you clearly weren’t paying attention to this posting)
This resort/hotel is something you might find in Hawaii and is absolutely beautiful. The rooms run from about $150 (if you’re by yourself) – $400 a night. Some said they would feel guilty about staying there, but upon reading more about the hotel I think their feelings shifted. The hotel was built with local labor and the mas con menos philosophy (the most with the least). Through a program of social reintegration, many Bujumbura prisoners made the furniture in the rooms. All of the staff (about 120 people) are skilled, native Burundians. If you’d like to learn more about it check this out.
We ate pizza, sat by the pool, and had a little relaxation time. Nothing too noteworthy except an intense conversation about hippos killing us (mainly driven by Tessa), a nice Muzungu we met from Canada, and a guy windsurfing who I was sure was going to run into the pier at some point, but never did.
We were smart and pre-ordered the buffet dinner (to avoid another 2.5 hour meal) and went to bed early so we could be ready for our long trek to Gitega in the morning.
Posted by Mom:
ReplyDeleteReally Beth, you and I both know that now Dad will quote this information, prefacing it with, 'When my daughter was in Burundi on a humanitarian mission...'then proceeding to share every detail, every speck, every crumb of knowledge - interspersed with stories about what Shakespeare & Dancer were doing at the time, too. On the other hand, it might make for a sparkling conversation! I enjoy reading your posts and looking at the lighter side. Based on our communications, I know that much of what you're experiencing is quite profound.