Send Me To Rwanda!

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!

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.

So Sonia and I went to eat at a pizza place tonight that hosts a Trivia game by Embassy workers. It was fun. I ate an entire pizza. I was sooo hungry! I realized how lucky I am to live in Kigali, as opposed to some of the poorer parts of Africa, like the villages.

I'm exhausted so I'm going to bed. Full day of work tomorrow. Man those Rwandans work hard! Most of them were here until 8 PM tonight!! 12 hour work days!

So today marked a big day in Rwandan news... everyone at my work was listening to this as it was being projected across the radio. Please see the article below

http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE60A19H20100111

I had a great first day of work. I love my co-workers. Can't wait to continue to work with NAR.

So it was a pretty boring day. I still wasn't feeling well, so I decided not to go to church, like I said. So I lounged around a lot of the day and made hemp bracelets. Then my roommate returned around 5 PM and we headed out to the market to get me some groceries. I hadn't done so yet and it was getting to the point that I had nothing to eat. Because we do not have a refrigerator in the house (or it's not in use because of the amount of power it uses), we have to buy groceries often...and monitor what we buy since they are not refrigerated. Plus most things that people buy here are organic foods and go bad easily, like most fruit and vegetables. So we took a bus to the market and it was the most intense thing I've ever seen. There were so many vendors selling food that they grew themselves it looked like. All the food looked like it had just been picked from the ground (with the dirt still on it) and brought to the market to be sold. Didn't make me want to eat it at all. But Sonia went into the market and negotiated for us.I spent a total of They always tried to charge us a lot....and all the Rwandan teenagers were following us around calling us "muzungus" and asking us for work. Most of the vendors tried to chase them away. There was a little girl that came up to me and held out her hand for me to shake it. They are so intrigued by Americans. It was cute. We bought some food (mostly vegetables, fruit, and starch) and went over to look at the fabric. I want to get a dress made here from fabric I buy. My roommate has already done so. It's pretty cheap to do.

After the market, we went home. When we got home, we made a good meal of stir fry. We had rice, carrots, and green beans. It was good but pretty plain. I was just hungry! Then she went to talk to her mom on the phone and I went to chat with Andrew on Skype. Then we played some cards together and I made her a hemp bracelet. Then we both went to our rooms and I played Hearts online with Andrew. It was fun! I beat him most every time. I went to bed and then just woke up. Now I'm off to start my first day of work with Never Again Rwanda. I am really excited to see what they have in store for me :) Later!

So my third day in Rwanda left off of my last entry, when I was going to the Genocide Memorial. Unfortunately I felt REALLY sick and didn't stay long. I had this sharp pain in my right side and had felt clammy and really hot and sick. I think it was a combination of altitude sickness, dehydration, getting used to the time zone and difference, and possibly kidney stones. I really don't know. After that I came home and took it easy. It's weird because being where we were we had to take 2 buses just to get back....as I was walking down the hill to find a bus, people kept saying hello to me or calling me "muzungu" (white person) and I just wanted to get out of there! I wish I could've got some pictures because the place was something that Americans need to see... but I just was too sick. Then we got a bus (there's no 911 or emergency number here unfortunately) and took those buses back to the center of town. Then we had to get a taxi. After negotiating a little, we got a taxi for about $6.00. That's pretty expensive here, but I didn't care. I just wanted to get home. So I got home and the NAR staff was here to help me. They tried to push me to go to the hospital, but I thought it was better for me to just lie down for awhile and see how I felt. I drank a huge jug of water and just relaxed. Then the program director, Anne, came over to see how I was doing. She said she had experienced the same symptoms before the first time she went to the memorial because of the lack of oxygen that is there (because of the altitude). So she took me to her house to have dinner with her and her fiance. We had pizza that he made and it was really good. Then they dropped me off back at the house, I skyped with Andrew, and I went to bed. I was not feeling well at the time.

Then this morning, I woke up and had a sore throat and congested ears and head. I took some Tylenol Cold Medicine...and it seems to have helped a little bit. I think getting used to the 84 degree weather and altitude here will just take some adjusting. I also have a 7 hour time zone difference, and I'm still getting used to that as well. I decided not to go to church today and just took it easy instead. I'm waiting for my roommate to get back and we're going to go to the market and get some groceries for me. Right now I'm just sitting in our living area eating some potato crisps and drinking water. It's thundering, so it might start raining over here soon. We're in the rainy season and it's rained 3/4 days that I've been here...but it will only last for about 20 minutes at a time, which is nice.

This morning I wanted to take a shower but knew that my shower has been flooding the house, so we decided it would be best for me to get a small bucket, fill it up with water, and clean myself that way. So I got in the bathroom, filled my bucket up, got myself wet, cleaned myself, and cleaned myself off with the buckets of water...all with using a bucket and sink water. No shower water needed. Man what I would do for a hot shower right about now! There are so many things we take for granted and that is def. one of them!! 4 months to go!

I also forgot to mention that I had my first experience yesterday with local Rwandans. Most of the people here that I have met thus far are from either Uganda or the Congo, but their families were originally from Rwanda. They moved away as refugees in the 50's or later, and didn't return until after the 1994 genocide. However, the locals I met yesterday might have been here in 94. My roommate went to go buy some bread, so I went with her. There are big shops downtown, but there is a local shop right across the street. It is in a really poor area. We went over there and all the kids knew her by name. They were asking about me, and I met most of them. They all gathered around so interested in me and what I was doing there. They spoke to me by saying "hi" in English, and then proceeding to say "how are you?" Some of them asked me if I spoke Kinyarwanda, and I explained to them that I had only been there for a day and was still learning, but that I knew "muraho" "yego" and "oya." They were appreciative. They were very gentle and sweet and I look forward to getting to spend more time with the locals here. I want to make some hemp bracelets for them since I have all the materials. I think they would appreciate that.

Also, I forgot to mention, when we were in town yesterday I saw some guy with an Eminem shirt. Also, there were a lot of other Rwandans wearing different rappers on their shirts. One of the buses down here says "Kanye West" on it. They love American rap apparently. Pretty interesting. There are a lot of signs that are in English here and even more people wearing English sayings on their shirts. You'd be surprised. I also saw two Rwandans without legs, walking around the streets with their hands. That made me really sad. And there are a lot of people carrying big baskets and items on their head. One teenager I saw had a huge bag of bottles.

Well I should probably get off the computer now, after writing this novel of an entry. Hope you all enjoy it. I'll keep you posted on my adventures over the next few days. I am going to start work tomorrow so I might not have too too much to say.

Love you all!