Did I miss the memo?

June 3, 2009
First day of work - Jeffrey Lee (CEO ofUrwego Opportunity Bank) and I met this morning, and he explained his intended placements for me - marketing research and editing. When I met the guys I would be working with in marketing, they were preparing to leave soon for a branch office to assess strategies for improvement and change - I tagged along. We took the public bus system - comparable to the Ghanaiantro-tro - with bodies squashed in for maximum efficiency. The crammed bodies, the smells, the inexplicable touching made me comfortable, though I tried not to dwell on it and attempted to shake my seemingly snobby attitude. Two things on the ride though particularly bothered me:

1. The girl next to me was vomiting throughout the ride and leaning on me (even while vomiting) - her head, her arms, etc. I was not sure what was making her sick, and therefore her proximity to me made me nervous. I hoped she was just car-sick.
2. My boss may or may not be a pervert. I was nodding off during the ride, and he urged me to lean into him, put his arm around me to brace me, etc. (Mind you, this is like an hour after I met him for the first time). I refused, but he insisted. ALERT. A few minutes later in my pseudo-slumber, I noticed a somewhat firm grip of both his hands on both of my shoulders with his fingers moving individually occasionally. I was not sure whether to stop it immediately or whether I was jumping to conclusions too quickly. Either way, I was uncomfortable, so when an opportunity presented itself, I "woke up." [I later asked my Malawian housemateTupo who has lived here for about two years about this incident and about personal boundaries/touch in general. She said Rwandans are rather affectionate - friends hold hands, etc. - but this incident seemed very strange to her.]

Luckily, one thing redeemed the ride - the scenery. Continuous lush, green hills terraced with agriculture and sprinkled with the occasional house or town. Unfortunately, I had not expected a road trip on my first day of work, so I failed to bring my camera. Lesson: carry my camera at all times.

In the Karongi region (our destination), I received much attention. People in this rural village had rarely, if ever, seen a white person. So children and adults alike would stare at me, some obviously intrigued, others confused or frightened. One little boy came right up to me, held my hand, smiled, and ran a short distance away to play, looking over and smiling at me intermittently.