An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina Read Free Book Online Page B

Restaurant. Here you can get escargots or chateaubriand
     or crab soup of a quality—and at prices—that match what you’d find in Brussels, Paris, or New York. Every morning there is
     an extensive breakfast buffet with good strong Rwandan coffee and five kinds of juices and a staff of waiters lurking discreetly
     in the background, watching for an empty cup or a dropped fork. If you’re dining as a couple two servers will deliver the
     food to your table all at once so you will be disturbed for as brief a time as possible. The restaurant has no north wall—it
     opens up to a striking al fresco view of the Nyabugogo valley. You can see houses clinging to the far hillsides and the Boulevard
     of the Organization of African Unity, which runs to the north side of town and the airport. On the farthest hill in the distance
     is the black doughnut of the national soccer stadium, with banks of lights rising on poles from its outer walls.
    The air in Kigali is sometimes hazy from farm dust and heavy with truck exhaust, but the view is always gorgeous and the sun
     never hits the dining tables directly. The Belgian architects saw to that by orienting the restaurant on a diagonal of the
     compass, away from both the sunrise and sunset. And when it rains, they simply close the blinds.
    The most important place in the Hotel Mille Collines is on the lowest level. This is the rear courtyard, where there is a
     tidy lawn, a huge fig tree, and a small swimming pool without a diving board. There is also an open-air bar with about twenty
     tables and a few ceiling fans to push the air around. Ten more tables—the best ones—are set up in an L pattern around the
     pool.
    Around this small square of water is where the real business of the Mille Collines is conducted. What takes place here far
     surpasses the day-to-day management worries of the hotel. Some people have even called it the shadow capital of Rwanda. You
     can probably guess why. It is the spot where the local power brokers come to share beer and ham sandwiches with aid donors, arms dealers, World Bank staffers,
     and various other foreigners who have some kind of stake in our country’s future.
    Worlds intersect here. Whites and blacks mingle comfortably here inside a thin cloud of cigarette smoke and laughter. Rick’s
     American Café in Casablanca had nothing on the Mille Collines. I have seen cabinet ministers dispense appointments here, Army generals buying Russian
     rifles, ambassadors telling casual lies to presidential flunkies. The poolside is a place to advertise that you are a man
     with contacts and friendships. This is one of the best ways to climb the ladder in Kigali. These casual acquaintances are
     what can separate a wealthy man from a beggar.
    I first laid eyes on the Mille Collines when I was nineteen years old. As a typical bored young man on my hill I hitched rides
     to Kigali whenever I could to wander the streets, browse through the markets, gawk at girls, and drink in the bars, all the
     typical idle pastimes of youth. The hotel had just been constructed and everybody was coming by for a look. It was then the
     tallest building in Rwanda and the first with an elevator. Few people had seen such a thing before. The big coup was to sneak
     inside and see if you could ride the elevator to the roof, where you could get a truly marvelous view of the valley below.
     Much to the envy of my friends back at home, I was able to charm my way past the bellboy and take that elevator ride up to
     the forbidden roof, where I savored a few stolen minutes of beauty. I remember feeling impressed with the hotel and proud
     of my country, thinking this place represented progress, and that a better way of life was on the way for all of us.
    I had no idea just how large a role this strange new place was going to play in my life—or in the life of Rwanda.
    I am a hotel manager by accident. The idea of having a career in the luxury hospitality business is certainly a