We had our second session with Rwanda on May 16th!
This time we talked about the food culture of the two countries, Japan and Rwanda, and explored how food culture has evolved and altered over time.
It was a great opportunity for us to learn about how Japanese food culture has changed. Did you all know that Washoku (traditional Japanese food) was registered as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2013?
As for Rwandese food culture, we learned that people usually celebrate with not food, but with drinks (banana beer, etc.) and that many vegetables, such as avocados, are deeply connected to the history of colonization and therefore were introduced pretty recently.
In the breakout room discussions, we shared the situation of Covid-19 in the two countries, and it turned out that some schools have students take classes online, others still give students chances to take classes in person while asking them to wear masks and take social distance between them.
Also, it was quite interesting to see how both countries responded to the shortened opening hours of restaurants.
Especially because we are in such a difficult moment with the Covid-19 pandemic, we shall cherish the personal connections we have made through this project.