EMERALD NATION

I’ve been sick with a nasty cold for about 10 days, but I’m not the only one.  Many other people  are down with the same thing, which here is called “grippe” (from French, but it really means flu, not cold, in French.  Maybe Marianne can elaborate).  And, so we commiserate together.  People here say that our colds are the result of the change in seasons.  When they do, I can’t help but laugh because we say the same thing in the U.S. as the seasons change – especially as spring, fall or winter approach.  Here, the change of seasons is not so sharp; I’ve barely noticed the change.  Now, instead of raining every day, there is one day a week where the weather is stunning – sunny and pleasantly warm, not hot, all day, followed by rain at night.  That subtle change in weather, I’m told, is responsible for the proliferation of colds, including mine.  That’s as good an explanation as any, and since Americans (apparently like people in most countries) use an identical excuse for catching colds, I accept it and gladly blame my cold on the change of seasons here.

The result of so much rain is that Rwanda is a gorgeous country where everywhere one looks is green.  I recently learned the Kinyarwanda words for colors.  Green, of course, would be the most difficult one to pronounce: icyatsi kibisi (pronounced ichatsy-chibisi).  Because of the abundance of rain, Rwanda is particularly icyatsi kibisi.  It’s so amazingly lush that I’ve come to consider it the “Emerald Nation,” as it is not dissimilar to Ireland, which everyone knows as the Emerald Isle.  Rwanda’s ubiquitous greenery and cool temperatures remind me of Ireland’s cool verdant pastures and mountains, also due to incessant rainfall.

On the bright side, being sick has advanced my Kinyarwanda vocabulary, as I now know how to say I’m sick (Ndarwaye, pronounced Dargwhy-ye) and how to say cough (inkorora, pronounced inhorora).  I already knew how to say doctor  (umuganga), and fortunately I did not need one.