Sunday in Nyamirambo.

Nyamirambo was one of the first parts of Kigali to be settled, and now it is a bustling commercial district typically African and far different from the sedate and heavily fortified expatriate neighborhood that adjoins it. This afternoon I had a chance to spend a few hours in Nyamirambo as a local, and while this isn’t a story of the refugee camps I thought that you might be interested in how at least a few women passed a Sunday afternoon in Kigali.

The smiling woman in the red t-shirt is named Joy. She is the housekeeper for Barry Wheeler, ARC Country Director and my frequent weekend host. I had told Joy that I would like to get a pedicure this weekend—actually, I was in desperate need of one having walked through the camps in my Teva sandals for the past two months. So we agreed that this afternoon she would take me to Musa’s salon in Nyamirambo, nearby where she lives.

Musa’s salon is clearly among the popular in the quartier. Musa himself is a handsome, bearded Ugandan man who obviously enjoys being surrounded by the somewhat vain and appearance conscious women who fill his shop. Needless to say, I was the only one with white skin and for that reason was a major attraction during the two and a half hours that I sat there having not only my feet but also my hands massaged, smoothed and polished.

Two of Joy’s friends and fellow ARC staff, Miriam and Christine, stopped by and I was able to get a photo of them before I had to put my camera away. But there were at least a dozen other women who came to sit, talk, and spend time together in the typical African way.

A leisurely walk home was the perfect end to a few hours that lifted the small cloud of homesickness that I was feeling when I woke up this morning and replaced it with the warmth and companionship of an unscripted African afternoon.