This week, we finished up our speakers from the ICTR. We spoke with representatives from each of the three organs of the tribunal - the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), the Chambers (the Judges) and the Registry (which handles all of the logistical concerns, like the detainment facility, legal aid office, etc.) The best speaker of the week and easily the overall group favorite was one of the Senior Trial attorneys from the OTP, an amazing woman who was not only incredibly sharp and knowledgeable, but a really enjoyable speaker.
We also had a lot of fun last night - one of the guys in our group, Dan, who is from Uganda, turned 22 yesterday. So we wanted him to experience his birthday in classic American style. There's this super-mart called Shop Rite which is like a mixture of a grocery store and a Target, a.k.a. a western tourist haven. Thanks to Shop Rite, we were able to buy some cheesy children's birthday hats (of course, decorated with race car pictures) and a Happy Birthday sign. The restaurant which the program has arranged for us to eat at every night puts all 19 of us in our own dining room - so we hung up the sign, donned the hats, and had a nice little birthday party - we even ordered a cake, turned off the lights and made him make a wish before he blew out the candles. After dinner, we made our way to Via Via, a cafe that turns into a club at night. Yep, classic American-style birthday celebration. We have 3 more birthdays over the next 3 weeks, so I guess we're just going to have to celebrate a LOT.
Speaking of birthdays... Happy birthday America!!! We have this Friday afternoon free and all of Saturday and Sunday, so a group member arranged a 2 night camp out in a Maasai Village. We're going to rent tents, set up a bonfire, and roast s'mores out in the savanna, celebrating America's Independence Day the very best we can. It's a "Maasai 4th of July", if you will... okay, bad joke :)
I've been able to post a lot lately because we've been going to the Center everyday this week, and I'm able to hook up my laptop to an ethernet connection during our breaks. I'm still having a hard time loading pictures, so I'm really behind, so here's some more pics to catch you up.
Brian, our friend from Miracle Corners, with Kim, Dave and Mary, at the Nijiro Shopping Center, the most modern and western friendly place in all of Arusha - a.k.a. we kind of try to avoid it now :)
The view of downtown Arusha from the balcony outside of our room... it actually looks quite nice at dusk.
We couldn't resist this photo-op... Brian is a natural poser, clearly.
Dan blowing out the candles at his American Birthday Celebration
1 comment:
Caroline! Everything you are doing sounds absolutely amazing, including your American birthday party haha :) Too bad there's no funfetti in Africa- would have been perfect!
Love all the pictures and stories! You're having such a unique experience. Keep having a blast! Miss you!
Post a Comment