Magnolia syrup

Magnolia syrup does not exist. But this girl, with the tropical magnolia tucked behind her ear, has an idea for a new treat. Now, to channel the inner chemist within her. How can she turn this flower, which smells like biting into peaches and honey, into something bottled?

How can I bottle Rwanda?

Ha! What a ridiculous and slightly horrific idea. Ah, but I've already reached the halfway point, and I don't feel as though I've been able to tell you about Rwanda. I don't feel as though I've been able to tell myself. So, I've just been trying to catch senses -- literal senses like sight, taste, smell, touch and the cars and crows and shouts and songs and sizzles that I hear. 

Yesterday, I heard a man say this after someone pointed to a baby on a mother's back: "She carries her baby like that because we were all carried that way. I was carried like that when I was a baby. I'm sure Emmanuel was carried that way. We are all carried the same way."

Common ground. The human condition.

We all began the same way.

And we can connect through these realities. 

Connection.

Every day we eat together; we are hungry together. The colors of the food match their tastes. The colors are Earthy oranges, browns and greens, and I fill my entire plate with grains and meats and legumes that are creamy and complimentary. The cassava leaves are sweet, the texture melty and comfortable. The potatoes and bananas are thick with freshness. The avocados are velvet spoonfuls and can match the length of my hand. I mix this all with the rice, and I realize that what I'm eating came from dirt not too far away from where I am sitting.

I keep thinking about what the man said about the tradition of babies on mothers' backs and about the simplicity of salivary glands and digestion. We are all more similar than we think, yet we obsess with differences. We must all be better than one another, for what -- for self-actualization? For class success? For economic success? For power? Within every niche of life, there is someone who is striving to be better, and therefore is striving to be the best. Competition. Competitive nature. This helps us build cities and computer programs...as we grow further and further away from each other.

Just some magnolia syrup musings for tonight.

Tomorrow, we are going to the closing ceremony of the Gacaca Courts, the traditional court system used to bring justice to genocide survivors and jail perpetrators. The courts are closing. There will be no more testimonials. There will be no more sentences. So, it's over? Justice is fini?

Yet again, it's those in power who are making this decision. 

(Insert: Motives.)

Ay. I'll post more magnolia syrup musings tomorrow. 

Bonsoir.

Yanna