Rwanda Journal, Entry 46: Happy Crwanada Day!

Today is Canada and Rwandan Independence day and I'll be conducting myself accordingly.

I am allergic to beer but I think I might add maple syrup to some banana gin as tribute to my home and native land.

A fellow intern from Canada brought the maple syrup as a gift I can buy banana gin (Waragi) around the corner. Waragi is cheap and powerful, one of Rwanda's most affordable routes to an evening of zany antics; and probably blindness if you over do it. But what better day to over do it than on July 1st.

Anyway, I bought some beautiful Congolese antiques for an extraordinarily good price today. Perhaps it doesn't seem as Canadian as finding creative ways to get drunk off maple syrup, but theres no better way to celebrate your own culture than by appreciating others, I say. These are what they look like:

By far the most interesting piece is the statue of the Belgian soldier from the colonial era. The statue is about a 18 inches tall and carved in either the 1950s or '60s. A certificate of authenticity for all the items will be delivered on Monday.

The other items are pretty interesting as well. The necklace (at the base of the statue's feet) which I thought was wood when I bought it is actually ivory, stained brown over more than 30 years. The vendor, a man named Iphrahim, tells me it was a necklace that belonged to or was made in honour of a Congolese king. I will ask for more details on Monday.

The final item, the brown stauette is a bit of a mystery to me. Iphrahim told that me it's some kind of good marriage charm or something like that. Charms of such kinds are useful things to have from what I'm told, but again I'll get more details after Crwanada Day weekend.
 

Which reminds me, I'd better run to the shops for that Waragi. I've tried chugging maple syrup without it and I'm not sure it'd be the same.

Cam out!