Here are some questions I’m frequently asked by Rwandans:
-You’re from America? But, how did you learn French?
-Do you know how to ride a bike? Drive a motorcycle? Drive a car?
-Do you have your mother? And father? (I think this is frequently asked because it's so, so common here to have only one living parent or neither parent.)
-Do you have sisters and brothers? (My response of, “No,” is often met with cries of, “Oh! I’m sorry!")
-Why did your parents only have one child?
-Why do Americans have so few children, when they have the means to have more?
-Are there roads like this (meaning unpaved, rocky, narrow ones) in America?
-What do you use for dowries in America? Cows? Money?
-Do you have cows/beans/bananas in America?
-Do you have farms/farmers in America? Do they use machines?
-Do you have machines in America that wash dishes and clothes?
-How much does school/a car/a house cost in America?
-How much does a plane ticket to America cost?
-How are black Americans different from Africans?
-How is Rwanda different from America?
-Is there poverty in America? (Yes.) But, is it poverty like this?
-Are there prostitutes in America? (Yes.) But, are they white?
-When people get married in America, do they sign a contract saying their marriage will last a certain length of time, like five years? (This is evidently a very common misconception.)
-What are political campaigns like in America?
-Are there political rallies in America?
-Did you vote in the election? (referring to Rwanda’s Presidential election)
-When people see an African in the U.S., do they scream, "Black person! Black person!"? (I am not kidding, I get asked this all the time.)
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