Two Climates

One Day Left

2010-02-14T13:02:00.000-08:00

It's been over two weeks since I left home and I remember feeling like it was going to be quite a long time before I returned. Now with my return staring me in the face one short day from today, I'm starting to take account of my trip here.

I can say it really is bittersweet leaving the country. On one side, I really miss my family and am very excited to see them when I return. On the other, Kigali has made quite an impression on me. The country is truly beautiful. Everywhere you look, breathtaking views abound. Seriously. They are everywhere. Each place we go, you just have to stop for a moment to look out that window or over this hill and attempt to take it all in. Pictures just can't do the rolling green hills justice. To accent the beauty there are blooming flowers everywhere and even though this is a developing country, I'm not the only one who has been impressed by the cleanliness of Kigali.

The people of Rwanda are quite proud of their country. And they should be. I can't tell you how many times I have been asked, "How have you found our country?" From what I have learned, Rwanda is almost idolized for its upward momentum in East Africa. They don't just exude pride here. They are so outwardly kind that it has made it difficult to accept that they aren't trying to get something from us -- almost certainly a built-in American prejudice.

I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to travel here with Nic. Not only has he been here before, he speaks one of the common languages (French) which has helped out on numerous occasions. I'm really thankful he introduced me to this country and the opportunity to meet a great many people in such a short time.

I haven't left yet, but already find myself looking forward to coming back.

ULK Lectures

2010-02-13T22:20:00.003-08:00

One of the most rewarding parts of my last trip was a series of lectures at ULK, Universite Libre de Kigali, a private college on the outskirts of Kigali. Emile is a professor there, and when he heard Eric and I were going to be in town, he arranged for us to give another series of lectures. This time, Emile thought it would be useful for the students to get some hands on time with Java, as they had taken a Java course the year before.

One of the big problems at ULK, and at other institutions here in Kigali, is that there aren't enough professors with practical experience. This leads them to teach from a book, on a blackboard, instead of on a computer. Since they themselves haven't spent considerable amounts of time coding, they don't require the students to do so either. Sadly, programming is a skill that can't be taught in such a manner. It needs to be hands on, you need to make mistakes, to cement your knowledge and learn how to debug them. So it was this kind of hands on practice, as well as a general overview that we set out to provide.

We wanted to base the lectures around something fun, so we picked a simple game to program with the students, Connect Four. Of course, one problem immediately came up in the lecture: none of the students had ever seen the game before. But after playing a few games with the students they started to get the hang of it. Sadly that wasn't the last of our challenges. We wanted to introduce the students to some of the tools used in Java development, so we based the course around Eclipse and even threw in a little git. Git especially, turned into a lot of wasted time, as it was too new a concept to cover in just a few minutes, and in the end was a distraction. Introducing the students to Eclipse went more smoothly, but again, a full IDE is a hard thing to bring people up to speed on in 30 minutes. Both Eric and I were feeling a bit deflated after the first three hour lecture. We'd done a lot to prepare, but spent most of the class working through technical issues on the computers or explaining the tools. We barely got the students to write a 'hello world' program, a disappointment for us both.

The second day started with us both pretty apprehensive, but it turns out that the work from the day before payed off, the students were getting comfortable with the tools and we could now start teaching them a few things. It became clear that they were all still very new to Java, many of the core concepts seemed foreign to them. But thankfully getting some graphics on the screen is a fairly simple affair, so before long we had them drawing text and squares, a turning point for the class. Once the students could see the results on the screen, they started experimenting. One of the big things we wanted to drive home was that trying new things is how you learn, and really is a requirement to being a good coder. That is still a cultural challenge here I think, that there isn't as much willingness to be wrong, to try things out. But as they grew more comfortable we started seeing new things appear on the screen. We didn't cover a ton of material on that day, but we still felt like it was a success, the students were having fun coding.

On our last day we decided it might be fun to get some basic animations working. By this time we had decided that the Connect4 game probably wasn't the best project, it would be too hard to get everyone up to speed. So instead, we decided to set the students up with a framework for doing animations, just having a square move across the screen, or bounce off the bottom, basic things that we found fun when we first started programming. Although we had our challenges here as well, explaining how animations work can be hard, people were definitely starting to get it by the time the class was over. A few times we tried some teaching techniques we had heard about, namely making one of the students who 'got it' to come up and explain it to the rest, in Kinyarwanda if he wanted to. That helped a few times and it was impressive to see how determined the students were to get their knowledge across to their peers.

We ended the lecture series on perhaps the most important note. We told the students to lobby the school, their dean, their professors, to allow them access to the lab computers at any time, for any reason, and to have the courses taught on them. There are some really smart students at ULK, but without more computer time they will never learn. So we encouraged them to act as customers, demand what they needed, to raise a ruckus if you will. That is something that clashes with the culture a bit here, so we'll see if they follow through, but we sure hope so. Regardless, as it was last time, this was a rewarding, if challenging, few days for Eric and I both. Teaching is a lot of work but the feeling you get when a student 'gets it' makes it all well worth it.

Hello Moto

2010-02-11T02:05:00.000-08:00

Kigali is filled with low-powered motorcycles zipping from here to there. They are easy to spot. Almost every motorcycle you encounter is a taxi. To make things easier, they all where the same color green helmets and vests to help you identify them. After much trepidation, not long after my arrival I had the pleasure of taking a trip on a moto taxi. Not only was it my first time as a motorcycle passenger, I had my worries about their aggressive driving and the unpredictable nature of the traffic here. Looking at all the helmets with cracked face shields and broken chin straps certainly don't help the anxiety level. It only took about two rides to have that nervousness turn into appreciation. I've now come full circle and fully enjoy the trips and find them a great way to enjoy our consistent 80 degree afternoons.

There are a few things I love about the motos. For one, they are everywhere. There's only been a couple cases where we have gone somewhere where it was difficult to find a moto for the ride back. Usually it never takes more than a minute or two to track one down. The other is that it is about as efficient as point-to-point travel can be. Flag moto, discuss destination, haggle price, climb on. They are even impervious to traffic. A line of busses in front of you? No problem. They will use any part of the road, including the shoulder to keep you moving toward your destination. It's really a load of fun zipping by almost everybody in the street all the while having your driver constantly announce your approach with bursts of honking. Motos are also a reasonably cheap way to travel. Most trips, after a little haggling are around 500RWF which comes about to around a dollar -- for our longer trips they are only twice that. Being giant mizungus means we are forever a target for motos. If we are walking on a sidewalk, its not uncommon to have the motos honk at us as they drive by just in case there could be a fare. If we do hail one, it only takes a moment for the "swarm effect" to kick in and we have more bikes than we need for the two of us.

Today, we had to go to a meeting at the Ministry of Health to discuss the RapidSMS project. After a noticeable language barrier one of the drivers said he knew just where to go. He took us on our first off-road moto ride dodging pot-holes and dirt piles. I definitely had my doubts along the way that there would be a building where the Ministry would be operating along this dirt road. I was almost certain it had to be a shortcut the driver knew. They dropped us off in front of a one-story building which had the MoH's name on it. Not long after the motos were gone, we discovered this was a public health facility with a few dozen people sitting in chairs outside awaiting their turn. We turned around and started the long walk up the dirt road. Now only a few minutes from the start of our meeting, we realized we were going to be quite late. Moments later, a man pulled up in a car and invited us to get in. We asked him if he knew where the MoH is and he said while he is a veterinarian, there are only a few things they share in common with the health system. I watched the head of the shy 3 year old girl in the back seat bob has she held on to the head rest in front of her, her body not restrained in any way. The man kindly took us back to the start of the dirt road all the while sharing his disappointment that the road had not been paved after many promises to do so over the past 15 years. This stranger's kindness was a reminder of just how friendly and safe Kigali is. Now back on pavement there were a number of motos mulling about looking for fares. In a couple minutes down a paved road in the opposite direction we were at the correct building.

At first blush, the whole concept of moto-taxis seem a bit chaotic, but they have quickly become one of my favorite things about being in Rwanda. Sure they aren't particularly safe, but few things in life truly are. What they are though is a convenient, cheap, and fun way to get around.

Nyaruka

2010-02-10T03:20:00.000-08:00

Sorry about being all quiet on the blogging front. As some of you know, we've been investigating business opportunities here in Rwanda. Instead of blogging, we've been busy meeting with many individuals across various roles in the private and public sector. We've had on the order of three meetings a day -- and yes, it makes for quite the tedious vacation.

While there is a push to try and make foreign aid a smaller part of the government's budget here, it still remains a significant chunk. Problem is, after coming into the country in the form of aid, most of that money turns around and goes to other countries with the skilled labor to perform the work. So, while Rwanda benefits by pushing IT projects forward, this approach doesn't do a whole lot toward building the knowledge-based economy the country desires. Our goal is to create a Rwandan software company, powered by local Rwandans fulfilling work that needs to be done here in Rwanda. We've chosen a Kinyarwanda name for our company -- Nyaruka, which means to "hurry up."

We've recently come across an opportunity to help out on a project for Unicef Rwanda utilizing their RapidSMS project. The project will collect information from community health workers all over the country regarding pregnancies in its 15,000 villages. It should make it easier to get women to seek antenatal care and also to alert health care professionals of pregnancy complications. We are still looking into details here, but these are exactly the kinds of projects we are looking to work on here in Rwanda and possibly all of East Africa.

We've met with a lot of smart people here in the country and are encouraged enough that we feel the prospects of a new business are reasonably good. It looks like the smarts are here, a lot of work needs to be done, and big things could happen if only the proper mentoring was in place. Of course this endeavor is not without it's risks or sacrifices. We can touch more on that later as things become clearer, but one thing seems pretty clear -- Nyaruka is happening.

Bean Counters

2010-02-03T12:08:00.000-08:00

So, this entry is going to be a challenge for me to put into words. First, a little background on who the Twa are. I will defer to Wikipedia for a quick overview:

Traditionally, the Twa have been a semi-nomadic "hunter-gatherer" people group of the mountain forests. Due to clearing of the forests for agriculture, logging, development projects, or creation of conservation areas, the Twa have been forced to leave these areas and establish new homes. As they seek to develop new means of sustaining their communities (such as agriculture and livestock development) most are currently landless and live in poverty. more on wikipedia

The village we visited sits on a steep hillside accessible only by foot. Our van got us most of the way there though at times it felt as if it was going to tip over numerous times. Along the way we happened by a diminutive man who appeared to be 90+ years old hobbling about with a wooden crutch. It turned out to be the chief of the tribe we were there to visit so we stopped to give him a lift. The shocking thing is, in reality, the chief was probably half as old as he appeared.

Dr. Karl, a private philanthropist from Seattle, has been working with this particular tribe for about three years. He operates on a small budget but he has been getting big results. Last year, his project was to help the Twa terrace the steep grade they lived on so that they could plant crops for their own consumption and possibly to sell back in town. They used the new terraces to plant a crop of beans a few months ago and have since harvested them. Dr. Karl invited us to come up with him to the village to help try and determine what the yield of the crop was. By doing so, it would allow him to extrapolate the value of expanding the project or to help weigh the value of beans versus other crops. We brought with us a couple translators and a couple guys from an Atlanta based church who were there to see if they could help improve their water situation. We also had very limited tools for the job. Armed with a measuring tape and some notebook paper we set out to count some beans.

"Mwiriweh", we said as a number of folks hugged us without hesitation upon our arrival. This was a good application of the handful of Kinyarwandan words we learned the night before from the wait staff in the hotel restaurant. While we are a bit of a sight in Kigali given our significant stature and pale skin, we were that much more of an oddity among the Twa. Due to malnutrition, most everybody in the village is undersized.

We set out in search of what we expected to be large burlap sacks of beans. After a couple of huts we found one such bag, though the beans still had a good deal of chaff interspersed. We did our best to first determine the ratio of beans to chaff and then determined the volume of the entire sack itself. The biggest problem we encountered is that many of the sacks of beans in the village had already been eaten. To complicate things further, we got conflicting reports from the Twa as to how many terraces were represented in each sack we found. We did our best with the information we found and ultimately should come up with a reasonable ballpark figure for the yield.

After that we hiked around the village some and spent some time with their cow. Recently someone donated a cow to the tribe. The cow is remarkably well cared for and is quite pregnant. According to Dr. Karl, the cow does as much to lift the spirits of the community as it does to provide nourishment in the form of milk for the children. Understandably, having a cow in your village is a sign of prosperity and the villagers are so proud to have her they pamper her to no end.

As we made our way back to the van, we realized we had accumulated quite an entourage. Each hut we visited seemed to add a handful of people and before we knew it we had amassed a significant following. Back at the van, Dr. Karl showed them parts they could use to build a trailer for their bicycle (which they use as an ambulance of sorts). With a trailer, he hopes it will allow them to take women who are having problems in their pregnancies who are further along. There is also the hope that having a trailer will make it easier for them to hock their goods at market since they will be more portable. The trailer is made from simple parts and relies on materials they can collect from the region -- like bamboo. Unfortunately, they told us through the translator that they cannot find bamboo of the size necessary to build the bike and that it would have to be purchased from a neighboring farmer.

Another goal of the trip was to take a young boy who is suffering from a bone infection to a hospital to be evaluated. He had already had one operation on his leg (funded by the Atlanta church), but the infection has since spread to his wrist. We loaded the young boy, his mother, and his infant sibling into the van and headed back into town.

It looks like we will get the chance to go back and assist Dr. Karl and we are certainly eager to see if there is anything at all we can do. Just being around the Twa gives you a high that is really indescribable. These are a people that have been stripped of their dignity and pushed into the hills where the living is hard. Yet, somehow, here they are, as life goes on. They make it work, but the quality of life could be so very much better. I'm looking forward to going back and hope I can do more this time than just count beans and take pictures.

Holding Hands

2010-02-03T09:34:00.000-08:00

There are always interesting culture differences when you visit other countries, and those become ever wider the farther you go off the beaten path. One fascinating one in Rwanda is the physical affection that males will give each other in public. It is quite common to see two grown men walking down the street, holding hands, or even just tickling each others palms nonchalantly. When sitting down you'll often see them with an arm around each other, sitting close. This is doubly interesting considering that homosexuality here and in neighboring countries is greatly discouraged, even illegal in some cases. Reportedly Rwanda has even at times flirted with the idea of following Uganda in making homosexuality illegal. So at once, you have a culture that fears homosexuality, but on the other allows men to be affectionate in ways that just aren't accepted in the States.

But it is that behavior that highlights the latent homophobia in the culture of the States. Why isn't it acceptable to hold hands with a friend, or put your arm around them? We seem to relegate that behavior only to our young children and our significant others, but why not show physical affection towards all your loved ones? I am not arguing that I don't feel that same awkwardness in doing so, but it is strange how it comes to be, how artificial it all is. As a counter example, it seems very infrequent that you see the same amount of public affection between genders in Rwanda as in the States. Whether that is because of a more sexually repressed society, or just different rules, I do not know.

Of course, when traveling, we experience these culture differences first hand. *badum chink* One of the hotel managers is a terribly friendly guy, always making jokes and greeting with a big smile. While walking out to breakfast today, he just grabbed my hand, and held it for the 60 second walk to the restaurant while we chatted. And it most certainly felt awkward to me, while seemingly perfectly natural for him. Later in the day, he did a similar thing to Eric, grabbing his hand, and holding it near Eric's shoulder as they talked.

We of course played along, we WANT for it to feel natural, why shouldn't it? But it is hard to reprogram your inborn culture, your inborn sense of what is appropriate and what isn't. Undoubtedly it would come in time, but until then, we are the awkward hand holding Muzungus.

First Impressions

2010-02-01T00:31:00.000-08:00

While Nic spent a good amount of time in Rwanda last year, this is my first time in Africa. Upon my first visit with a Rwandan, Dr. Joseph informed me that by coming to Kigali, I am starting off with the best Africa has to offer. Getting here as is not as direct as one would like. After the long haul from Amsterdam to Nairobi, we had to circle through Burundi which is south of Rwanda. It really wasn't that big of a deal, but it would have been far more comfortable if the plane wasn't having electrical problems forcing us to sit in a cramped 737 with no air conditioning for the better part of an hour. Now that I've been here for a couple days I've had the opportunity to come out of the fog I've been in since leaving Seattle. I slept maybe 10 hours the four days we were in Amsterdam, and not for the reasons one would likely assume. I've never traveled much without my family and I've never left the country without my wife -- I can certainly attest that absence, and in my case distance, makes the heart grow fonder.

From the plane the rolling green hills speckled with occasional homes seemed to repeat themselves for the short flight from Burundi. Stepping out onto the tarmac I was reminded that I was entering a country with quite a different climate than the one we just left. The sun shone so bright I could hardly open my eyes and even though the temperature was in the upper 80's I was surprisingly comfortable in my jeans with the occasional breeze. I would certainly prefer to wear shorts in this weather, however I quickly realized I would be the only one doing so. Not only do most people wear slacks, they are usually accompanied by an untucked button-down shirt and seriously smart shoes.

We hopped in a taxi en route to our hotel. Heading out from the airport I was surprised to see a road devoid of cars and so many people on foot. Nic assured me that the empty roads were not normal. At an intersection not far from the airport we came to a police roadblock. The cab driver presented some paper work and we were allowed to continue on. Later on we came to the realization that we had arrived on a national work day which occurs on the last Saturday of the month whereby every citizen over 18 years of age must participate in communal work. All of the business are closed and as such our cab driver must have had special permission to be allowed to provide us transport.

Since it was my first time here, upon checking into the hotel my attention was immediately drawn to the bed nets hanging over each bed. After pondering how such a contraption would affect my sleep I realized the accommodations were quite a bit better than I had expected. Evidently we are staying at a reasonably nice hotel in Chez Lando, but there still seems to be a concept of "good enough" that is prevalent everywhere we go. I don't want to disparage our hotel, but there is certainly a different scale here than in the states as to what is acceptable. It's proven to be a good location that with its attached bar and restaurant we are able to not only sleep here, but meet people as well. Dr. Joseph mentioned it is also popular spot for the locals to watch football. Last night the bar was packed out to watch Egypt beat Ghana in the final game of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Overall, my initial impressions of Rwanda are positive. The countryside is beautiful and I hope to get out further from the city to appreciate it more. The people we've talked to are friendly and eager to help in whatever way they can. And while things operate very differently here than what I am accustomed to, in the end they seem to work. I'm very interested to see how the next couple weeks play out.

Kigali

2010-01-31T12:03:00.000-08:00

After what felt like an especially grueling flight from Amsterdam, we find ourselves once more in Kigali. It was a tough trip for us, mostly because we were already a bit worn out from all the traveling and walking about Amsterdam. The flight to Nairobi, then to Burundi and finally to Kigali was cramped for us tree giants, but in the end we made it. We arrived on Saturday, checking into the rather fancy Chez Lando hotel, not far from where I stayed last time. The choice of hotel this time around had more to do with the ease of online booking, navigation, and who was staying here (Dr Karl) than other factors, but it has worked out ok. There are of course the usual caveats of staying in African hotels, namely very little water pressure and questionable finish work, but the beds are comfortable and the breakfast wasn't bad. A ceiling fan would be nice though.

We arrived in the morning, but were so tired that we immediately took a nap to recover a bit. Upon waking, we ran into Dr Karl, a Seattle doctor working with a local Twa village, and Dr Joseph, a local doctor running a local clinic in the lobby. This was quite the serendipity as these were both people we wanted to chat with.

And chat we have. We've met with three different people discussion our idea of starting a little software company here and come away with some interesting information. One is that there definitely seems to be a need, there are very few, if any real software firms doing business in Rwanda, and much work to do. As it stands, most contracts from the government are going elsewhere, and certainly no work from neighboring countries is taking place here. Beyond a lack of companies, there seems to be a real desire to have these types of businesses here, to try to start planting a seed to build an economy based on IT, to learn the ways of the west in business. But of course, the caveat we have heard time and time again is that the talent, although here, is in a raw form, that education and training is not an optional step but a mandatory one. This evening we met with Rowan, who is working with Partners in Health and the Rwandan Development Board, training recent graduates to run and develop on an open source Medical Records System. Our takeaway from the talk was that the raw talent is here, there are obviously people with the drive and intelligence, but the educational system isn't robust enough yet to make them productive straight out of school. So to be successful, a company would have to be very selective in who they bring on, and then invest significantly in those people. This is something we've expected, and to some extent Rowan has been doing something even more ambitious than we planned, the system he is teaching is far more complicated than what we planned to tackle initially. But there is no doubt that if we try this, and if we are to make it work, we will have to budget that many months will be spent entirely on training and teaching, both of fundamentals and specific technologies.

I personally view this as a double edged sword. On one hand it will be a significant effort in capital and time, but on the other you get to establish best practices, without previous bad habits to break. And if you are effective, at the end of it all, you'll find yourself with a team that thinks alike and works alike, so they should be efficient as well. There is no doubt that this would be a serious undertaking, and a stretch to a large extent, but teaching has been something I've enjoyed in the past, so perhaps it isn't that big a minus.

There are still other pieces of the puzzle for us to solve while here. We still need to find out what the laws around incorporating are, how taxes are structured, and although all signs point to yes, vet out whether there is enough work available to be successful. So the rest of our stay will be based around those goals, with a few tangents along the way: to help Dr Karl with the Twas, visiting Uganda to speak to UNICEF, and doing a little teaching at ULK. I was a bit worried upon first arriving that we might get bored over the next few weeks, but it looks like that is unlikely to be the case. Either way, it is bound to be an interesting time.

Saying goodbye to Amsterdam

2010-01-29T09:07:00.000-08:00

We are finally leaving Amsterdam, and it has been a strange experience. On one hand the city is amazing in how it works, the combination of ubiquitous transit and bicycles as first class citizens makes it utopia of sorts for me. It is beautiful, the tall colorful buildings are filled with character, and the canals criss-crossing downtown are breathtaking, even in the winter. It feels like other big European capitals I've been to, Rome, Paris, or London, in that everybody seems sophisticated in a way only they can pull off, and the life here seems both simple and satisfying. To me, it probably feels like the most livable city I've ever spent time in, the cost of living may be a bit higher than some, but I think the benefits are worth it.

Amsterdam has its share of museums and landmarks like other big cities, but on nowhere near the same scale. We went to the Van Gogh museum, and although it was interesting and I saw some of my favorite art, I'm not sure the number of Van Gogh pieces I really cared for amounted to any more than are in Paris, perhaps even less. The other big attraction here, the Anne Frank house, was equally interesting, but again, a fairly small exhibit.

So although Amsterdam would be an amazing place to live, I'm not so sure it is that fantastic a place to visit, especially for the amount of time we were here. Four million tourists a year seem to disagree, but it is all too clear why they are here, the sex, and the drugs. And to some extent that makes me sad for Amsterdam. Because the people who live here have an incredible city life that I feel probably only occasionally intersects with those things. Just as I'm giddy about the bikes, other tourists are giddy about the sex and drugs and the locals are likely tired of it.

This is the challenge for Amsterdam. On one hand it has a hugely profitable tourism industry, but that industry is largely composed of tourists that make their city obnoxious. The trend seems to be towards reigning it in a bit, even if it means losing some tourists. That would make the city that much more livable, perhaps making it an attraction for their quality of life rather than their laissez faire attitude. It will be interesting to see what happens here in the next decade, how their experiment in decriminalization of both drugs and prostitution turns out. To some extent the experiment is flawed though, as their uniqueness in Europe makes them a destination for these things. We aren't seeing the true balance of an enclosed society with these morals, but rather the result of the influx of outsiders due to them. Again, that makes me sad for Amsterdam, they are the responsible ones who know their boundaries but the rest of the world comes in and ruins it.

But now we are off to Kigali, a place about as opposite to Amsterdam, with our purpose equally different. It will be a bit hard to change from tourists back to business men overnight, but I suppose that's what the 10 hour flight is for.

Anything Goes?

2010-01-29T01:47:00.001-08:00

Things aren't always what they seem. First time visitors to The Netherlands may decide to relax with a cup of coffee at one of the local coffeeshops. However they would quickly learn what many already know -- there is very little selling of coffee in these shops. In fact, the shops themselves are intentionally mislabeled so as to skirt a law presently on the books. One thing I was unaware of was that marijuana in Amsterdam is illegal. I know, right? In 1961, The Netherlands signed the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. This required them to make the selling of cannabis illegal. However, many of the Dutch view marijuana as a "soft" drug, no more dangerous than alcohol. In fact, even tobacco use in some ways is restricted more than cannabis. In an effort to curtail "hard" drug usage in the 70's, the government decided to institute a policy of gedogen, or "blind-eye" toward cannabis in 1976.

Gedogen means that the sale and use of the drug, while illegal, is tolerated under certain conditions. For example, a coffeeshop, the only proprietors which the government tolerates to sell the drug, can sell patrons no more than 5 grams. Those purchasing it, must be 18 years of age, and they must consume it at one of these shops or in their homes. While technically the government could prosecute you for possession, it won't. Even if they did the courts wouldn't levy punishment due to the prevailing policy of non-enforcement. This allows The Netherlands (somehow), to adhere to the treaties it has signed regarding the drug trade, but all the while let those in the country who so choose, to smoke weed. So it's not technically legal, but it's not really illegal either. One such coffeeshop (purportedly to be where Snoop Dogg does his business in A'dam), calls itself "Grey Area" for just this reason. Hypothetically speaking, if one were to traipse into one such coffeeshop, they would visit the bartender and ask to see the menu. Therein they would see the weed and hashish options available for purchase in varying strengths and prices. The bartender may also be willing to make suggestions or guide infrequent users toward responsible consumption.

Of course drugs aren't the only things given special treatment in Amsterdam. A quick visit through the world famous red light district will make that evident. Prostitution doesn't share the same ambiguity as pot though -- it is full-on legal. So are brothels. And it has been recognized in Amsterdam for a long time. Here is a statement from the city in 1412:

"Because whores are necessary in big cities and especially in cities of commerce such as ours - indeed it is far better to have these women than not to have them - and also because the holy church tolerates whores on good grounds, for these reasons the court and sheriff of Amsterdam shall not entirely forbid the keeping of brothels."

That doesn't mean the practice is without its legal troubles. There are many cases of human trafficking due to the officially recognized trade. According to our tour guide, many of the young girls are there by choice to capitalize on considerable wages. She says, thanks to quick turnarounds (visits lasting no longer than 20 minutes), it's not unusual for them to earn upwards of €1000 in a single eight hour shift. Given the current exchange rate, that's around $1400 (or $175/hr if you are keeping track at home). This makes it easier to understand why some girls do it, but it also makes it easier to understand why human traffickers are in the business that they are in. According to our tour guide, the "base package" typically starts at €50 which various forms of up-sell on top of that. Doing the math here makes it quite alarming to determine just how many patrons they service in a typical shift.

Recently there have been some changes due to more conservative leadership throughout the country. Many of the red light windows were acquired by the government (presumably from folks suspected of engaging in illegal trafficking). Now, instead of girls, the windows hold art installations hoping to appeal to "sex tourists" of a more refined nature. This has shrunk the district considerably and there are concerns as to what the future holds for the women working in the sex trade here. There seems to be a strong feeling that the practice which began in the middle ages, will continue whether there are windows to hold it or not. Only without them, there will be considerably more risks for all parties involved and higher crime rates to go along with it. The Coffeeshops are part of the cleanup as well. In 2008, the government closed coffeeshops that were within 250 meters of secondary schools. This eliminated 43 such shops in Amsterdam alone. That there were that many so close to the schools shows just how tolerant Amsterdam has been over the years. There are still well over 200 coffeeshops in the city but they have to deal with proposals for tighter restrictions on the sale of cannabis to tourists. Many are unhappy with the behavior of so called "drug tourists" who don't know how to consume it responsibly. They are also concerned with the wake of vomit and urine some rowdy tourists frequently leave behind.

Dealing with drug tourism however seems to have its merits. There appears to be very real benefits to the soft drug policy in The Netherlands. According to various studies, drug use here is no higher per capita than in other countries throughout the world. In fact, their drug use rates are lower in every category than in the United States. With prostitution however, I would be hard pressed acknowledge any societal benefits that may exist. I'm pretty sure there isn't a single one worth the increase in human trafficking in encourages.

Bike Culture

2010-01-27T07:35:00.001-08:00

It would be hard to describe Amsterdam in any way without waxing poetic about the biking culture here. It is so integral to the city, present in every view you have of it, that it almost defines it. Yet despite that, I think the Dutch view bikes in a very different way than we do. Bikes are transportation, no more, no less, and it is perhaps that very simplicity that makes them so successful here. In a way there is no 'bike culture' here, certainly nothing like in the States. Because everybody rides bikes, it is not a defining attribute like it is in the states. Bikes to them are like cars to us, some of us take our cars seriously, but most consider them a tool to get from a to b. As it is for bikes in Amsterdam. The vast majority are plain affairs from the mid-80s, with rusty, squeaky chains and out of tune brakes. It is completely flat here, so the bikes are all single speeds, with simple pedals and full fenders. This makes them low maintenance and durable, and the Dutch treat them so, locking them outside in the cold rain night after night. This isn't the relationship of love that American enthusiasts have with their bikes, but rather one of necessity, purely utilitarian.

This carries over to their attire. It is cold here now, in the teens yesterday, and in the low thirties with flurries today, but everybody still rides. The bikes are all cruisers of a fashion, with upright, if not laid back ergonomics. This makes it easy for people to wear warm jackets over their work clothes when they ride, often a quarter length wool coat. Not a soul wears a helmet, most wearing a hat instead and women are often seen riding in their tall heeled boots. Again there is no compromise for the bike, not even a nod to safety with a helmet, the bikes are built to suit the attire, not vice versa.

So in the end the bike culture isn't. There is no culture of biking, only one of transportation. Eric and I were talking, and we pondered whether that kind of casualness towards biking could ever happen in the states. The most bike friendly cities in the States, like Portland, are that way because of a large population of enthusiasts rather than biking becoming a transparent mode of travel for everyone.

Of course Amsterdam has many things working in its favor to make this possible. The city revolves around bikes. There is quite literally more road space devoted to cyclists than any other user. Bicyclists 'own' the road, with the street trolleys coming in second, leaving pedestrians and cars to weave their way through as they may. There is no street without bikes littered, in the grossest sense, across the sidewalks, chained in stacks awaiting their owners. The train station has an adjacent parking garage filled with thousands upon thousands of bikes, some obviously left there for a good bit. It is impossible to imagine trying to navigate this city in a car, it would be maddening, but on a bike it is natural.

I wonder how others might view all these bikes, chained to every fence, every rail across the city. To a biker like me, it is art, the rusted bike light representing the tension between man and nature. But I can imagine how it could be tiring to some, litter rotting away in the street. Yet in the final analysis, the same is true for every car parked on the street and on every driveway in the States, a footprint ten times the size, but one our eyes are accustomed to.

So Amsterdam is a strange place for someone like me. I want to stop and shake people, yell at them at how lucky they are to have this, a city of bikes, for bikes. But I'm not sure they would understand. To them biking is just another trip, nothing special. And that is something we should learn from, because in the end, we can't all be enthusiasts, biking should be transparent.. just like in Amsterdam.

From Here to There

2010-01-26T14:15:00.000-08:00

Flying to Rwanda takes some time. To break things up a bit we decided to spend a few days in Amsterdam. Situated in Northwestern Europe between Germany and Belgium, Amsterdam is a short 10 hour flight from Seattle. We are traveling off-season, as evidenced by below freezing temperatures. However, in return for the numb faces our airfare was only around $900 roundtrip.

It is always a pleasure landing in a European city. For starters, you know exactly what your first destination is -- a train station found in or around the airport. Schipol, the airport in Amsterdam, is no different. However, after arriving in the heart of Amsterdam, it quickly became apparent to us that it is a city like no other.

Stepping out of the train station we were greeted by a sight of whizzing bicycles and street cars. Though we originally planned to rent bicycles to experience the city as it was meant to be, we fear our leisurely demeanor would be off-putting for the aggressively paced locals. Perhaps another day when we are more comfortable with the city we will give it a try.

For our first day, we settled for hoofing around town, all the while awestruck by the ordered chaos before us. One of the biggest problems faced by US cities seems to have been sidestepped by Amsterdam. Gone are the wide congestion-friendly streets. In their place, a mishmash of bike paths, street rails, and pedestrian-only thoroughfares carve up the unusually shaped city. Sure cars are still here, but as our gruffy cabbie can attest, they are not held in the same esteem as they are stateside.

At night, the bustling streets gave way to the dimly-lit canals crusted with plates of ice. They are quite a sight in the daytime and stunning at night. Perhaps it's because it's midweek, or just that our jet-lagged bodies turned in pretty early but Amsterdam's famously seedy underbelly didn't present itself on our first night in town.