6. KIGALI SHOPPING & SHAMPOO

Every day we went out and about in Kigali taking either taxis (2,000-3,000 francs), buses (around 100 francs) or motorcycles (I don't know the fare, as only Kevin rode those).

There are different areas in Kigali for shopping - depending on which hill a person is on - and depending on what a person wants to buy. On the hill in the Muslim section of town there were many stores for finding traditional Rwanda clothes, and we shopped along there one day.

Mom & Baby Baby Store

I couldn't resist taking a photo of a woman selling apples, curious always as to how head loads are balanced and babies on back are wrapped.

In between attending the Investment Conference I was thrilled to find a woman's most sought-after treasure - a GOOD hairdresser. It happened one morning after I walked from the Serena Hotel where the Conference was being held (shown with Kevin in foreground) to the new Union Trade Centre building. I was actually looking for a book store.

Kevin Serena

But lo and behold - just when I needed it most - a hairdressing salon loomed ahead down the hall:

Hair Salon Hairdresser Distant

I went inside and asked the lady sitting at the front counter if it would be possible to have my hair done right then and there because I had an event to attend that afternoon. She said "of course" and seated me at the shampoo station where a young woman eased my tension with a wonderfully relaxing head massage as she lathered and rinsed, lathered and rinsed.

Then, after I was seated in a chair in front of a mirror, I was approached by a man with tools of the trade slung over his shoulder. After introducing himself as the hairdresser, we proceeded to get into a discussion about the problems with my hair. He assured me he could solve them by cutting a better angle in the back, and sure enough, he did!

I told him I was impressed with his confidence and expertise and he replied that he is often complimented on his work by westerners who find the shop. He told me that not that long ago he had done the hair of Cherie Blair - the wife of the Prime Minister of England - when she was in Rwanda for an event. That totally amazed me because I had read a story about that on-line in the Rwanda New Times newspaper and now here I was having my hair done by that very same infamous hairdresser. It was fate that brought me here.

Closer Closer

After our first meeting, I went back and got my hair done again, and while I waited I took a photo of hairdresser Meddie in action.

Kevin and his friend Oliver - who he had met on his first day in Rwanda while shopping in a souvenir shop - rendezvoused with me in the food court next to the hair salon.

Kevin

Kevin Oliver

go next to 7. RWANDA BEDSIDE READING or back to INDEX

Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~

email: orwelltoday@gmail.com
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