Storm Reading

Thanks to Storm Sandy I had some extra time for reading this past week.  I was off work Monday and Tuesday and spent that time in PA, with the electricity out part of that time.  The book I had been reading, Running the Rift by Naomi Benaron, had been taking me a while because it is about Rwanda and I was dreading getting to the part about the genocide.  So when it hit April 1994 in the novel I stopped reading it at night (my main reading time) and waited to finish it until I could do it all in one sitting during daylight hours.  

The novel was well written, especially describing the landscape of Rwanda and the small details.  The main character's escape from the genocide rang true to the stories I have heard survivor's tell- of confusion, hiding, help from unexpected people and darkness.  A few days after starting the book a friend from Rwanda, who was visiting the States, called to say hello and I asked him if he had heard of the book.  He said no but he was interested to read it, so I will keep you posted if I get his review!  The book is written by a Westerner but from the perspective of a Rwandan- overall I think she did a good job but would be interested to hear what Rwandans think.  I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in Africa, Rwanda or just a good story but be warned there are difficult parts.

Other reading material during the storm was the magazine Afar.  I had picked up the magazine a few times when visiting the States and subscribed to it after moving back.  The most recent edition looked like this:

It took me a few minutes to realize that of course the cover is Uganda!  The matoke is a giveaway.  There is a long article about a trip to Uganda to visit a friend and do some touring of the country.  A lot of the focus was on the gorillas but there were other good descriptions of Kampala, the countryside, etc.  I especially like the pictures on this page, the mongoose looks just like the ones that were in my yard:

I would recommend this magazine, the articles and photos are usually great.  It is interesting to see how many small things remind me of Uganda (or Rwanda) in the midst of daily life in the States.