So Satuday was Umuganda, but I didn't actually do anything for it. Instead, I went to a local hotel and swam in the pool. I ended up staying for about 3 hours and got REALLY burned... I wasn't anticipating it to be 90 degrees. It was by far the hottest day that I have experienced in Rwanda thus far. After that I came home to lie down and rest. Then my co-worker came over and we went to town to get a suit custom made for her graduation, and we picked out some African fabric to have a custom dress and shirt made for me. We are going to be picking up the final product on Feb. 9. We then headed  home, and my roommate and I had a few friends over for dinner. I didn't end up getting to bed until 12 at night... I knew that I had to wake up at 5:10 for the Akagera Safari the following day though.

So the following day I met up with my two friends at a local spot. While waiting for our safari car to arrive, I saw the Presidents motorcade pass by. Kagame drives himself everywhere, so I saw him driving his car as he passed by.
 
So I joined a gym yesterday. It is the Sports Club right up the street from my house....about a 15 minute walk. I went in there and got a month membership. It was very expensive to do more than just the gym-- like aerobics and swimming. Almost $65 a month! So I paid $25 and got a month. I can decide later if I want to continue onto next month and the month after that.. I only will be here for 3 more months so it will be about $75 if I decide to stick with all 3...that's not too bad. I went in the gym and there was a "coach" who was basically training me personally. He was counting the repetitions and telling me what to use. I got a really good workout. I'm actually sore today. But I def am glad that I decided to do it because it made me feel good afterwards. The walk home was not fun though... all these darn hills in Rwanda!!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the first song I heard playing as I entered the gym was Enrique Iglesias's "Hero." It was a remix (appropriate for a gym setting) but OMG I almost died. I love Enrique!! Haha. Thought that was awesome.
 
Today I am feeling proud to be an American...not that I normally don't feel that way but I especially feel that way today. Maybe its because I just spent the majority of my morning reading transcripts from Obama's State of the Union speech and McDonnell's GOP response transcript. Even though I don't always agree with the President's policies, I applaud his initiative and I really do believe that he is trying to do whats best. Obviously we all disagree on what would be best for the country. The Republicans agree that smaller government would be better, and the Democrats agree that expanding the government would benefit America the most. I don't bash him for his beliefs. You can't do that. You have to support the President...he is your President. I will not do to Obama what people did to George W. Bush. That is just wrong. But at the same time, the benefits of living in a democratic nation are that everyone has the right to express his/her opinion and provide input. I truly believe that going about voicing one's praise or discontent with a policy could only make our country better. I am just very unhappy with the rhetoric that some people have in my field of study and work. I am very committed to one party and one set of ideas, but that does not mean that I don't understand other peoples reasoning for their values or beliefs. It upsets me to think that people are so committed to their beliefs that they are willing to express them at the expense of other people's feelings. That is just not right. I am a strong believer, but I do not seek to destroy other people and belittle them or their ideas. I will have an educated conversation with you about politics, but my goal is not to be right...it is to express my ideas and beliefs. It is especially hard sometimes because people may say things about me for getting involved in international development. It is a very liberal stance. The Republicans can oftentimes be less concerned about the field of international development. But who is to say that because the majority of my beliefs tend to lie with the Republican party that I have to maintain all of their viewpoints on every issue, including international development? We do not live in a dictatorship. We, as Americans, are free to have our own opinions on any subject matter. We do not have to claim to be a part of a set system of beliefs. I love that about America. It is one of the reasons that I would never want to live anywhere else for an extended period of time. I love the country and the ideals that our country was founded on. But I do love international development, and I do believe that the best way to help out our country is to help third world and developing countries. What could be a better example for them than to meet helpful and generous people from the US, a democracy? It helps them to see what they could have. It helps them realize how important their lives are and how valuable freedoms are in this world. It allows them the chance to stand up to oppression and tyranny. I for some reason today am just so blessed to have had the opportunity to come over to Rwanda. I really feel like I'm doing something that will benefit my character. I have been guilty, just like many Americans, of taking luxuries for granted. For instance, I do not have a car over here, hot water, a refrigerator or microwave, air conditioning, or stable electricity. These are all things that most Rwandans go without on a daily basis, and sometimes for their whole lives. It saddens me to see some people in the US be so  ungrateful, because they don't realize what they have. Having food and clean tap water would be a luxury to people in Rwanda. And yet everyone I have met has been willing to give you everything they have. Their kindness and generosity has impressed me. It just stuns me beyond belief. I feel so safe and welcome here and people don't judge you for who you are or what you have. They take you for who you are. If there is one thing I wish to convey from my trip thus far it is to not take things for granted. Make sure everyday you tell the ones you love that you love them no matter who they are, what they have accomplished, or what they provide for you. Be selfless for a day. Think about others. Give to the millions of Americans struggling to put food on their table. Help a neighbor that is sick or afflicted. Comfort someone in need. Do your part AS A HUMAN BEING. Be more friendly with people you meet. Remember that everyone has feelings. So do not belittle or degrade them. Watch the way you talk to others. I sound like I'm preaching to do all these things, but I really do believe every person has the potential to make a difference. It just takes acknowledging it. PLEASE do something for someone today.

On another note, similarly related, Saturday is a day in Rwanda called umuganda where every citizen is required, for one day, to participate in a community service activity. I don't think most things are open/busses dont run. So I have decided that I want to take part in this as well. I still have to figure out exactly what I can do, but I think it is a noble thing for Rwandans to do. I wish we had something similar. I am very proud of the people here and the great strides they have made after years of oppression and difficult lives. It can teach us all something. Stop complaining about the life you were born into and start making strides to improve yours, and others, lives for the better.
 
So it has been quite some time since I have wrote a blog entry. Sorry about that. I had a very fun-filled weekend and I did not really have the chance to write on here... so today is Tuesday, the 26th of January. Okay so let me back up to Friday. On Friday, I worked all day long and then my roommate and I headed to "mumugee" (town) to get some meat for dinner. Because we do not have a refrigerator or freezer we have to eat meat the same day we purchase it. We ended up going in a European specialty store while we were there as well and I purchased a can of Pringles. I started eating them immediately and I was SO happy to eat a name brand food! Even though it was still LOTS OF STARCH! They love starch in Rwanda. So then we went to the other grocery store to get the meat, and got some for dinner and some sausage for breakfast the next morning. Then we both purchased a "Mars Bar" (ice cream bar). It costs me close to $7.00...but my roommate and I decided that once in awhile you need some chocolate...and let me tell you, it was worth it. I was happy to have some comfort foods! Then we took the bus back home and made some dinner (meat, rice, mushrooms, and vegs). It was really good. We ended up getting ready and went over to her friend Alex's to meet up with him and a few friends. It was very interesting because we couldn't find our way for a long time. We weren't getting good directions from Alex and our cab driver was getting frustrated, so we just got out and walked. Finally Alex came and got us from whereever we were on his mo-ped bike. It was the first time that I heard a dog bark in Rwanda too. There were a lot of guard dogs over in this area. We hung out at his house for a few hours and met his friends and then they were leaving to go to KBC where the club is. So we decided to tag along. We all piled into a taxi, and 2 people took motor-taxis, and we headed out. There was a cover charge of about $4 (Kigali is expensive, I told you). The club was interesting. They played a lot of American music, like I heard that Black Eyed Peas song "I got a feeling, that tonights gonna be a good night" and "Who Let the Dogs Out" haha. But they also played a few African songs, which I thought was awesome. The club had a few different rooms, and one room had a live band. They played some Bob Marley and that song "Hotel California" and some other American songs. There was a guy with dreads who dragged my roommate on stage, and proceeded to drag me up there as well. It was INTERESTING to say the least. I had a lot of fun. We left shortly after 2 AM, walked home and went to bed. I was very sweaty by the end of the night.

The next morning we both missed hearing our alarm clocks, so we didn't wake up til 10ish. We then were running late, but made a quick breakfast and headed into town. We went to the "bus station" to purchase bus tickets to go to Nyanza. We took a 2 hour bus ride there. I snapped some amazing pictures on the way there. We got there and went to see the old tribal chief's hut/palace replica. It was really cool. Then we walked a little ways to see the old King's Palace. We got a guided tour of that. Then we walked over to the Art Museum, which was originally supposed to be used as the King's palace, but he died so it has been converted into an elegant art museum.  We had some trouble getting a ride from there to town because there were no motor-taxis along that road. But we talked to some people and had them call us one. We got back to town and waited around until we had to take the bus at 6PM. After a really long bus ride back, we arrived in Kigali and went home. I called it a night.

The following morning I got up and did some laundry and cleaning. My British friend then asked me if I wanted to go to dinner at this really nice restaurant that we kept hearing about, Shacolat. It was really great. It was kinda like how lounges in DC look, except it was outside. It had two firepits as well. I got a fish dish which came with, guess what, potatoes! I can never seem to escape rice and potatoes! After that I came home and got on the phone with Andrew. I found out that he had looked at the Bristow Manor reception venue I had wanted, and he loved it! He was waiting to sign a contract for our new wedding date of August 14. I was relieved and went to bed happy.

Yesterday I worked all day...then last night was "Quiz Night" run by a bunch of white people working over here in Rwanda. My friend Dan and I went to it. It was at this pizza place right down the road from my house called "Sol E Luna." We ordered a lasagna and pizza and it was so good! I was glad to have some more comfort food. So much for loosing weight in Rwanda, huh? After that, I came home around 10:30 to find out that Andrew had signed the contract for Bristow Manor and sent in the deposit. That made me so happy!

So now it is Tuesday, and I will write back in here when my whole day is through and I have more to say about this wonderful day. Sorry for the REALLY LONG entry!
 
So yesterday was a very rough day. Let me tell you what happened. I finally had been making headway on my wedding plans, when I went onto the LDS Temple website to check that my date was okay for the ceremony...That is when I found out that there is a maintenance cleaning scheduled for July 12-26...right during the time that we are supposed to be getting married. Because we want to get married there, and there are certain religious implications restricting us from getting married elsewhere, we had no other option but to move our date, to my dismay. I can't even begin to tell you the amount of panic that I felt knowing that everything I had worked so hard to prepare in advance had been pulled out from under me. I had already spent close to $80.00 on making SAVE THE DATE cards, which I sent out with our date on them (July 24, 2010). Oh well though, I guess. Not much that I can do about that. Andrew and I had been talking about moving our reception location anyways, so this just gave us another reason to look into other places. I found a place that is perfect that does not require a event venue flat fee for renting the place. It is specifically tailored to catering. It is about the same price, if not less, at what we were looking to spend at OLD TOWN HALL. But we haven't decided anything yet, so we will see. I just can't even imagine the amount of craziness that is about to go on just from having to rethink the whole wedding plans over. I don't even want to stress myself out today with those thoughts. Let me tell you though...planning a wedding all the way from central AFRICA is NOT EASY!
 
So I've been planning my wedding today. I created a website and started a gift registry at Target. I also researched some furniture stores to get a feel for some different types of furniture sets that we might consider. So far so good. There is so much to do and so little time to do it. It is now currently 5:30 PM. I just want to wait on this woman that works for this reception site called Merriweather Manor in Leesburg. Even though we have a deposit set for Old Town Hall in Fairfax, I really want to see the price of this other place. It would be ideal if we could have our reception at this other location. It is right near the Blue Ridge Mountains and out in nature. I really like it. But depending on the price, and if our date is available (since we sent SAVE THE DATE cards out already), we'll see. I just am sooo anxious. I hope that it isn't too pricey.
 
So this morning I went to church in Kigali. There were only about 3 white people there, and the rest were Rwandans. It was amazing. I showed up late, so I didn't get to experience the full service. Some of it was in Kinyarwanda, and some in English. After that, I called a guy who I had been talking with over Twitter (he found me because he is working with the Rwandan Development Board in Kigali for a month). I met up with him. He was already at Bourbon Cafe, the only chain coffee shop/restaurant in Kigali. We ate lunch. I had another burger (go figure, this is my third one in two weeks)...then we went exploring a little around the town. We stopped by the Hotel De Mille Collines, which is the hotel that Hotel Rwanda is based on. We figured since we were white, we could just walk inside and no one would really say anything to us since they thought we were probably staying there. And we were right. We walked right inside and immediately I was shocked at how NICE it was!! The pool looked to die for...all I wanted to do was go swimming :)...it was clear blue water, and it was hot out! But we sat on the patio for about 10 minutes and then left. Since we both were new to the whole bus system, we decided that we should try to figure out how to get back to where we live...he doesn't live too far away from me, so it was convenient. We figured it out, and it felt great to take the bus on my own without anyones help. I finally figured it out :). So here I am, back at the house writing on my blog. I am going to get some cleaning done, maybe study up a little on my Kinyarwanda and French, and who knows what else I'll do. It is just soooo hot out today. It says its 82 degrees, but it feels hotter...especially since no one wears shorts here (and as a result, I don't either). It's kind of inappropriate to show your knees I think... so therefore, I am restricted to pants and dresses...which can make a really hot day a nightmare. So therefore, I'm going to spend the rest of the day (well most of it) inside. Talk to you later guys!
 
So just as I predicted, it started to rain. Leaving me, and my two loads of wet laundry, inside to wait it out. Bummer because I had just finished getting all my laundry situated on the clothesline! But I guess it was good that I was proactive and pulled it all down before it started downpouring (which it is right now). So this kind of makes my day interesting. I have tons of things I can get done inside, like cleaning, organizing my room, putting away the dishes, and even some work. I might as well get started on it all!
 
So this morning started off great. I had the chance to talk to Andrew for a long time on Skype, which is always good. Then my roommate and I went to "Mumugee" or Town. We went to buy me some more coathangers, a bigger bin for my laundry, a water bottle, and another organizer for my room. In total, I spent a little less than $16.00. Not too bad, but not too great either. Then we went to eat at the same Cafe we ate before: Simba Cafe. I had a bottle of water, fries, and a  chicken, ham, egg, tomatoe, and cheese sandwich. It was soooo good. I was very pleased with the food. I spent about $8.00, which is expensive, but it's good to splurge once in awhile. Then we rode the bus back and I started my laundry. I had to hand wash everything. It was really tiring and I'm not sure how good of a job I did. It's not that sunny outside, and it looks like it's going to rain. I hope that it doesn't.

I hadn't mentioned what I did yesterday yet. I ended up going on a walk last night by myself, just to clear my mind. I walked all the way to the MTN Center (the phone company here) and ended up stopping by this restaurant and eating by myself. I saw a white guy in his mid/upper 40's so I approached him and asked him if I could sit with him. We began talking and I found out that he is from the UK doing work on building a hotel over here. We had a good  conversation, and he gave me some pointers on safaris. He said that his wife and kids were coming to Africa and they had set up a safari in Kenya. I was excited to hear about that! I want to do my safari in Kenya as well. After that, instead of walking home, I decided to take my first Motor Taxi. I bargained with the guy to get it for 200, which is really cheap here... it's about 25 cents or so. He took me home and I came home and passed out.

My last entry I talked about the class that my roommate taught at. I have the picture in this blog entry. Hope you enjoy!
Picture
 
So I wish what I am about to write wasn't true...so my day started off well...worked until 2:30 and then my roommate/co-worker asked me if I wanted to go with her to help her teach her class. My boss said that it was alright, so I went on her hour long journey with her. We got to the part of town where the class was, and decided to go shopping at the nearby market for a bit since we had some time to kill. We bought a huge pineapple, bananas, apples, and some citrus fruit. I had not really anticipated going shopping, so all I had was my hippie bag. I piled it in my bag, along with my camera, cell phone, wallet, and various other items. So we went to the class, and Sonia did a great job teaching. We left the class and started walking down the road, only to find out that my bananas had been smushed in the bottom of my bag! On top of that, my bag had some sand from the beach that I hadn't cleaned out and it was stuck to all the fruit. My bag was a mess. I quickly pulled the rest of the unsmushed bananas out and carried them. I didn't even bother trying to go through the rest of my house to see the damage. We walked to catch a bus, and took the first one heading to where we were going. We had a long way to go, and there were two buses we needed to take. So we got to the where we needed to catch our second bus, and the guy told us the wrong bus. However, we didn't realize it until AFTER we were on the bus and we noticed it was going towards the airport. So here I am, holding these bananas in my hand, with a sticky purse thats slimy all over my lap, and we have to get off at the airport. So we get off there and of course there are no buses going where we need to go. So we walk up to the airport to find a taxi... of course there will be taxis, it's the airport! But they were charging $7,000 rFR and thats very pricey...usually it's about $2,500. So we tried to bargain with some taxi drivers, but they weren't having it. So finally we found one who would take us for $3,000, so we accepted. We got in the taxi, bananas and all, and went to our house. We got to the house and I got out of the taxi, relieved to be home finally. Then I walk up to the gate (mind you there are always big piles of dirt in front of the slope driveway leading up to our gate), and I walk around the dirt, only to realize that my feet are 2 feet deep in mud. A perfect end to the absolute worst day.