"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness…” starts one of my favorite Mark Twain quotes. And nothing rang more true for me than this quote when I took my trip to Algeria. But if I am to tell this story right, I need to start with why I was heading to Algeria in the first place.

As a pharmacy student, I got the opportunity to participate in a Student Exchange Program with two of my colleagues from University of Rwanda’s College of Medicine and Health Sciences to intern in Algiers and stay there for four weeks. It was very exciting and eye-opening, not just my discoveries in Algiers but what I found out about myself in this new setting.

In Algeria I’m black…

I know it’s a weird thing to say but I had never felt the need to recognize my blackness per se before, until I found myself on a plane being the only black passenger traveling to an Arab country. For an introvert, this was hard to grasp, I go through life trying to fly under the radar and to fall through the seams yet here I was sticking out like a sore thumb expecting at every turn that someone might stop me and ask if I was getting on the right flight. I had never been so relieved to touch down and find myself in open space.

But seriously, after my ‘black card’ was unwittingly handed to me as I Ianded in Algiers with ten hours of flying under my belt, I was engulfed in the warm humid weather very similar to the hugs I try to avoid from some relatives. Algiers was sunny and I was not acquainted with Air conditioning being practically everywhere; in cars, houses and shops. 

There was an incessant checking of the météo (weather forecasting) to predict how hot it would be the next day!

In Rwanda, Now I am grateful for Kigali weather because it’s as simple as this: if it is the Rainy season carry an umbrella or hoodie, and if it is the Dry season avoid taking long walks in the afternoon.

Algers la Blanche…

Algiers got its moniker because of its stark white buildings. A clear relic of the French colonization, Algiers was left with buildings that stood the test of time although Algeria also fought a bloody war to gain its independence from French rule. And this is quite literally engraved on walls around Algiers city with drawings of the martyrs who died during that time. 

The ancient part of the city called Casbah pays homage to an Islamic city, or fortress, which resembles a maze when walking through it due to the myriad interconnecting small passages.

Algeria is a land of contradictions, often vacillating between both extremes…

The transport system is quite developed with beautiful broad high ways though when it comes to the quartier, the roads quickly become narrow which is why most people own small cars. Apart from the high ways, Algiers also has the metro and a tram way but their bus system is as bad as Kigali Bus Services traveling to some parts of Kigali like Kanombe; just plain uncomfortable.

Algerian drivers wear seat belts consistently and are very nice to pedestrians crossing the road which is rather weird compared to, for example, Kampala where you cross at your own peril; but their respect for pedestrians does not stop them from being reckless drivers. 

On some nights, driving home from a tiresome day was nerve wrecking for my host, Nesrine, who would have a few choice words which I can’t use in a newspaper for those who tried to cross her path without thinking; it was like that videogame where you are supposed to swerve your car constantly to avoid crashing.

Algerians can be peculiarly polite and unnervingly rude…

Like I said, Algerians vacillate between two extremes. Where I was interning, everyone was so nice and polite in a very genuine way. I felt like I was trapped in one of those black and white movies where even upset people don’t look frazzled and everything is unhurried. 

I was offered tea and asked constantly if everything was alright. And then there were the rude ones, like the constant cat calling from guys on the street that quickly went from odd to uncomfortable. I quickly learned to avert my eyes so they don’t mistake my eye contact for an invitation to give a passing commentary on my looks; well apparently sexual harassment is pretty universal.

Are Algerians guys cute…?

That was the first question I got from my crazy friends back home; and my reply was "I guess they are cute, it’s just the hairy legs that are a turn off; you know? So much potential but just don’t look past the knees but rather focus on that Mohawk he is pulling off pretty well”. 

And I never believed I would say this but the +250 guys are better gentlemen, in my opinion. When some Rwandan guys are not being sexist and condescending, they can actually be super nice. There is a certain deference I’ve come to expect from guys like offering to walk me home even though in their heart of hearts they are praying that you turn them down but they still feel obliged to offer.

I wasn’t planning on learning Algerian Arabic…

Getting ready to head to Algeria, I was planning to brush up my French and actually use it in that French speaking nation but I wasn’t quite counting on having to pick up Arabic. 

And it turns out that of all the versions of Arabic, the Algerian one is the hardest. Just seeing them speak I wondered how they didn’t feel winded; there is even a ‘k’ sound that is pronounced in a way that sounds like you are choking. Regardless of the hard pronunciation (that taught me a lot of patience), Arabic is quite beautifully intertwined with the religion of Islam, and I constantly met people who said: "We’ll meet soon Incha’Allah (God willing)”.

The beautiful touristic sites…

Algeria has many beautiful touristic sites because of its rich history and architecture, and obviously the Mediterranean Sea; of which I swallowed a couple gulps of salty water. 

But despite this, Algeria hasn’t invested much in the tourism industry and I don’t blame them, if Rwanda had oil we probably wouldn’t have such things as Kwita Izina (Baby gorilla naming ceremony to promote tourism). Naming a baby gorilla "Zirakamwa” (which is loosely translated as "cows are milked”) wouldn’t be just odd but laughable, but I digress.

Sharing a room with an Iranian and interning with a Serbian…

In Algeria, I didn’t just make Algerian friends but also got to meet other students like me from other parts of the world in the same Student Exchange Program. 

I met Nela from Serbia first; this sweet down to earth girl who took pauses before stringing her words. She picked up Algerian Arabic like a native and taught me to count in Serbian. She opened me to a different part of Europe which I had vowed to myself, for a reason I can’t remember, to never visit; countries that end in –IA like Russia, Romania, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Croatia. Who knew there were so many?!

Then for my last two weeks in Algeria I shared a room with an Iranian, Houra. This girl shattered every stereotype I had of Iran. She was the kind of extrovert I look at and feel drained because I wonder how I am going to match her enthusiasm. 

She was the kind of confident person who never doubts her place in the world. She was funny and casually cursed like a child who has just learnt a bad word and keeps saying it for shock value. She was anything but conservative, and she was the kind of person who questioned everything; and she read a lot of Freud’s work. I’m welcome to Iran as long as wear long sleeved everything and wear a scarf (I’ll think about it, Houra).

Algeria being in Africa is a technicality not a reality…

Many times I was reminded that Algeria is actually the largest country in Africa but there seemed to be a disconnect at times; some Algerians would acknowledge that fact but also randomly say to me: "so back home in Africa…” And I think: Uumm, you mean the same continent on which both our countries coexist?! 

Seriously, maybe I shouldn’t blame them entirely on this myopic view after all the media has brainwashed people into thinking that Africa only implies countries populated with black people often afflicted with poverty, war and diseases. Well good news, people! We have buildings, running water and electricity but that’s beside the point. Travel some more into other parts of Africa and not just for the Safaris, for crying out loud!

The top six odd things in Algiers…

Weddings can happen any day of the week followed by fireworks like its New Year’s Eve.

People smoke A LOT; you can’t walk ten steps without coming across a cigarette butt (I counted because I’m neurotic that way) and smoking Hookah on the beach is completely normal.

Algerians play Nigerian music but they don’t know its Nigerian music (sorry Aniekan).

Some cafés are reserved only for men (I can only imagine it’s their version of seedy bars since they don’t serve alcohol).

They are allowed to marry cousins (this was just plain weird for me; partly because I believed this practice had been relegated to Spanish telenovelas alone).

There are cats and flags everywhere, you can’t seem to cross a corner without seeing a cat or pass under the bridge without seeing the Algerian flag (very patriotic).

The Author is a pharmacy student at University of Rwanda’s College of Medicine and Health Sciences