What does Agasaro mean?

People have been asking me what Agasaro means.. it is the Rwandan name I was given soon after my arrival, which literally means 'pearl'. It's stuck, and some people only call me Agasaro.

An interesting note on names here. Family names are not passed on to women and children as in Canada. Instead, people choose two names for their children, a Christian name and a Rwandan name of some meaning.

I'm pretty much settled in Butare now. I'm living in a beautiful house on a hill at the edge of town with an American woman, her 10-year-old daughter, and the daughter's tutor. The house has a veranda that leads out to a well-kept garden with an unrestricted view of the valley below. It's nice to be in a family setting for a change, and Stella is great at keeping watch for the chauffeur in the mornings by looking through her cardboard tube telescope.

You can also see the WFP office from the house, and once I find a shortcut down the hill I should be able to get there in just a few minutes on foot, or faster after it's rained and the mud causes me to slip the whole way down.

Butare is much different than Kibungo, being the second largest town in Rwanda. The National University of Rwanda is here, so the town has a more liberal and progressive atmosphere. It is also more advanced in terms of infrastructure, and there is a pool, bookstores, grocery stores, and the market is open every day as opposed to just twice per week. This weekend I will be exploring the town, and am excited to go swimming if the rains hold out!