Monday July 26, 2010
The last few days have been hazy and overcast, although it hasn’t actually rained. Rwanda is a good 5 degrees cooler than Uganda, pleasant during the day in pants and a tee-shirt but cooler in the evenings - socks and sweaters required. There is a continual turnover of people here - there are two professional staff who work in the office here, plus several veterinarians that come in and out depending on whether they are up the mountain doing gorilla observations or paperwork, and a range of colleagues/friends/collaborators/ neighbours who come in for meetings or to chat or for a cup of tea. Plus today people were arriving from Uganda. Congo and Rwanda for the trainings. Most are staying at the small hotel where the workshops will take place, but they come by to touch base and pay respects. There is always a guard here, although the guarding part is really just keeping people who don’t belong here out, opening the gates for vehicles, helping out with other jobs like car washing and general upkeep of the facility. There is a fellow who comes in to work in the garden, and of course Leon. Leon is the housekeeper - he must be in his 60's or 70's and is in charge of the kitchen and meals, the laundry and ironing, and keeping the house clean. He is a great cook - lunch today was home-made pea soup, pasta with meat balls, and a sort of ratatouille. He leaves in late afternoon so for dinner we either fend for ourselves, or go out. There are usually leftovers if we want them.
Boots, one of the younger dogs, lost his private parts this morning. It was first on the agenda - desktop neuter in the lab. There were mixed feelings in the staff about whether this was necessary or not but the deed is done. He spent the rest of the morning sleeping it off and then the afternoon tearing around the garden with Amah, his wrestling buddy.
Dallas and I trimmed another case and used up the last of the cassettes - she will go back to vet school with a whole new appreciation for how those slides end up on the microscope. We do the trimming outside because the formalin stinks and there are no specific ventilation facilities as you might normally find in a lab. The afternoon was spent with us all hunched over our laptops preparing talks and writing reports and checking emails. At one point there were 5 MGVP people and myself clustered around the table in the library all diligently typing away.
For dinner we walked about 5 minutes away to the Muhabura, a landmark hotel and restaurant that has been here for decades but is apparently under some peril as the owner’s are in jail for some kind of financial mismanagement. Apparently they take that very seriously here, unlike Uganda which I think was listed second after Burundi in terms of level of corruption. About a dozen of us lined up a row of small tables on the verandah and had a very pleasant social evening. People from all round the world working on gorilla populations, from the US studying the MRI anatomy of gorilla brains, on the paleoanthropology of primate skeletons, people doing development work and clinical work and research. Plus a 6 year old daughter of one US couple here for a few months and having a great time. A fascinating mix. The number one meal at the muhurbua are the brochettes, or shish-kebabs, of meat, served with french fries. Goat, beef, lamb or fish. Goat seems to be the most popular. But the trick is actually getting the meal. Drinks, they come quickly. But it’s absolutely incredible how long it takes to get the food. Probably about 2 hours. Perhaps it helps the bar bill, who knows why so long. You don’t go there for fast food, that’s for certain. The local beers are Primus and Mutzig, and there is a local specialty drink - Guinness and coke. I tried it last time I was here: interesting, drinkable, and once was likely enough for me.
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