What women — and men — really want
When I walk to the main road, I try to give people I pass a friendly, “Good morning” or “Good afternoon” with my best…
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What expats really need
I was having coffee the other day with a media trainer the other day, who’s here with his family. It’s awkward to retell someone…
Read MoreOde to Africa Bite
No, this is not a restaurant whose name is also an imperative sentence. “Bite” is Kinyarwanda for, loosely, “What’s up?” And Africa Bite is…
Read MoreThe universalities and idiosyncracies of civil service
The mail in Kigali works. I can finally vouch for it personally. It takes a while–one month, door to door, for a package from…
Read MoreIt is your moral responsiblity to begin growing rice
Food prices are high, blah blah, we all know. Not that that’s not important. But this seems more important: Donors–who presumably (she says with…
Read MoreWhat do white people know about exotic plants, anyway?
That stuff in the garden I thought was bamboo? It’s sugar cane. This is just the latest in a long, long list of things…
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Sparing you the suspense: Here’s what I eat and drink in Rwanda
My morning meal was so remarkably German (smoked sausage and cheese) that it struck me I should maybe put a little post up about…
Read MoreThe contradictions of cleanliness
The first thing they tell you when you say something like, “I’m going to the middle of Africa,” is Don’t drink the water. This…
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