Adventures and Magnesium

Well, all I have to say is, adventures abound!

So Denise and I have set on to find a nice, safe place for us to live. The requirements include: a GUARD, tiled floors, hot water, a kitchen with a fridge, a  and affordability. And we went to a place yesterday in a new development (that seems predominantly for Mzungus) called Kagugu. Which, every time I hear it, I think of The Police..."Ka gu gu gu..." But the house. Was. Awesome! And for a decent price. Everything was new, and clean, and beautiful! And SAFE! Key word! Denise is determined to get the place, which means we'll surely get it. It's a little far away from the town, but it's close to the school and a few stores I enjoy to visit. SO! Hopefully that means I'll have a new place to stay by the first of February.

So I've been pretty ill for a few days. I think the stress of being robbed, and all of the things that came before the robbery in the past month, has been a bit too much for my body. I think now my body is finally retaliating with nausea and a sour stomach. And stuff. For me, if I get nauseous at the smell of food, something is definitely wrong. So yesterday in a state of fear (do I have malaria?! or some kind of other terrifying, dangerous parasites?!), I resolved to go to the Belgian Embassy in town after work to seek the advice of their doctor on staff. It was interesting - I tried expressing my ails and pains in the best French I could muster at the moment, and he seemed to automatically dismiss the malaria account. But he did test me for pregnancy. Luckily, that's not an issue at the moment. So he decided that (just as I had thought!) my magnesium levels were depleted. He gave me some magnesium pills. And last night I am happy to report I slept like an absolute rock star.

Robbed Blind

The last few days have been haywire. I'll start with the positive things:

• I am enjoying networking.
• My English student forgot our lessons two days in a row. To be fair, he is leaving on Friday to return to Korea, so he is a bit busy in his head. But the plus! He brought me out to the most amazing Korean BBQ. In Rwanda. It was a beautiful open villa-type restaurant hall with a bunch of bright colors and really tasty food!
• I am finding some great expat friends - Denise and Jane, to name a few. They've been amazing to me while I get myself settled and familiar with the place.
• The hustling for The Man continues, and keeps getting more interesting.
• My students are starting to grow on me. I'm beginning to like them more, and they're beginning to listen more. They may not understand things, but we're getting them. I figure out facilitation would be so much better than teaching - so I am making them create their own math problems and do IT exercises that let them have fun and be creative. It's really fun for me, too! And less stress.

And now onto the negative...

So last night I was robbed while I slept.

My roommates and I went to bed around 10/10:30pm last night. I woke up at 4:45/5am this morning, like usual, to call The Man. I walked into our living room, and my laptop wasn't there. The camera for the laptop was there, but no laptop. I thought, "That's odd, I could have sworn it was there last night............where's my bag?!" So I started hunting around for my stuff. I look at the back door of the house to find it slightly ajar, and it seemed a bit broken. In the dark kitchen is our solar-powered flashlight from the living room, sitting on the kitchen counter....turned on.

I turn to a frantic hunt throughout the house. Where is my wallet? Where is my camera? My Nook? MY STUFF!!!

I slam on Prosper's door and wake him up. My laptop isn't in his room. This is when I start freaking out.

"JESUS CHRIST I WAS ROBBED! SOMEONE CAME IN AND TOOK EVERYTHING!! EVERYTHING!!!! OH MY GOD WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!?!!?"

Both roommates are up now, and confused and worried. They start looking around. I'm screaming. And throwing things. I can't remember if Scovea locked the back door or not last night, and I yell at her. She starts to cry.

I order Prosper to let me use his laptop so I can call my family. They need to freeze my accounts! And I am panicked even more, and slightly hysterical (okay, a lot). I call Denise and beg her to call my family in the US to let them know. Call my Mom! Call my boyfriend! The computer takes a long time to turn on, and while it turns on, my roommates had gone outside to scope out the backyard. The thieves had thrown my pilfered backpack and purse into the dog's area, with all of the zippered pockets searched. They had also thrown my credit cards out into the shed for my housemates to find. I am so glad I have at least those. I might be alright.

The Man and I worked on changing all of my passwords to my accounts, and informing my mom about my bank account and how/when I'd take out money. It was lightning speed, all of this.

So my colleagues run over to my house to figure out what's going on. Denise is trying to understand why someone would go through so meticulously through my stuff, but no one else's.

What did they steal?: Cash in three currencies, insurance cards, license, wallet, laptop, camera, harddrive, eReader, and a fake diamond ring I've been wearing as a fake wedding ring to deter sleezeballs. Oh, and cooking oil from our kitchen pan. But the rest of the stuff that was in my bag were still there. In our backyard.

It seemed too well calculated...they knew exactly what they were going for, it seems, and they didn't just grab and run. And no one woke up! The dog didn't even bark.

So after I sob into my hands for about 45 minutes or so, a colleague came over with his car and drove us to the police station to file a report. Apparently, this normally doesn't work. But the guy has a friend at the top of the Criminal Investigation Unit here in Rwanda, who was able to expedite an investigation.

We found they had crawled over the fence and used a ladder in our backyard to climb back over. I have no idea what him and my roommates discussed, because it was all in Kinyarwandan. But now the police are investigating and considering it a potential "inside job". Now, without a guard or a cleaner, that means they suspect my housemates....which makes me uncomfortable.

So I moved out of the house. I took everything I owned that I still had and packed it up in my bags. And the founder of the school offered to let me stay with them at their mansion while I sort things out and find another place to stay. I've decided to not go back, and to find a place with a guard and lots of security all around. A nicer area, perhaps. That means I'll have to muster the money together somehow, because it's expensive, but I have to. I can't afford to lose my valuables again.

Prosper just texted me: "just talked to our neighbor who is also related to the landlord. she said that even the people who lived here before us had their furniture stolen when they were sleeping. she also said that her house got broken into several times. apparently this area has a long history of theft.  i don't know how this can help the situation but i thought you might want to hear this. it is so sad that your first experiences here are bad and for a person who is new in the area this is so frustrating. we are looking for a new house and will move as soon as possible. we'll keep asking places where second-hand computers are sold maybe from that we can know who stole your stuff. i'm so sorry" I find it interesting, but The Man advises me to not trust many people right now. Because I can't afford to.

I'm borrowing a computer from school and Denise's modem to go online. My family has been calling my phone, and other than that I'm on my own. I'm glad I had bought a few hard copy books the day before, so I have books to read, and I'm blessed my passport is still at immigration. I black listed my Nook, so it's unreadable now. And I plan on going to the Embassy tomorrow.

But I'm exhausted, and today has been trying.

Some Like It Hot

The Man told me that for missionaries, the reason many/most missionaries leave the field is not because of the local population or the country they are in while abroad. No, he told me that the main reason so many missionaries quit helping others is because of other missionaries.

Well, Man, you seem to be right.

Some fellow expatriates (or rather, white folks) are some of the most ostracizing, unwelcoming people I have encountered. I went to Sole Luna last night for Trivia Night - an expat favorite - and I managed to be sitting alone for about 1.5 hours while swarms of expats mingled around me, acting as if I was completely invisible. It wasn't until Denise and a friendly woman from work came in that I ended up feeling warm and accepted by anyone there. The place was packed before they got there! I got there early to nab a table, but it seemed to backfire, as I became the leper in the room.  Well, everyone else in the room suffered; our team won second place for trivia and received free drinks as a result. I helped out a lot. Who would have thought that it would be helpful to know about plate tectonics in Africa? By the way, the only two countries in Africa with active volcanoes and volcanic lakes are the DRC and Ethiopia. And Beyonce has a horse fly named after her. Poor lady.

A Quiet Birthday

Today has been my 26th Birthday. Normally, my birthdays have included lots of loving calls on my phone, a ton of emails, a bundle of Facebook messages, a great dinner with friends, and a few nice presents. I still got my tons of emails and a number of Facebook messages, but other than that, it was nothing like my other birthdays. It was very quiet.

It's hard to be in a foreign country where your family doesn't want to call the complicated phone number and you can't leave on your Skype all the time for fear of getting charged a lot of money by the internet provider. And you don't know many people, and those you know can't make it out probably because of church or some other obligation, so setting up some fun thing (on a Sunday) isn't very feasible.

I woke up late on my birthday with my housemates already at church. So, I decided to do some calisthenics to keep my body's circulation going. And then I did my weekly laundry in the bucket task. And I showered. And I read and wrote emails from abroad. I waited to Denise to call me, and after she was done with some things she told me to join her in town. I went to get lunch with her at a little place that isn't frequented that much by expats called Camillia Cafe, or something. I had a fantastic juice/smoothie and a very good burger for super duper cheep - something like $10 total. In NYC, that would cost closer to $30, I gather. I always have a good time with Denise. She's a nice companion to have in a foreign country. And she can be laid back yet entertaining. Afterwards, we went to Nakumatt and I bought myself a pillow for my birthday and a jar of honey. And some rice cakes and shampoo. The buses are a huge mistake on Sundays - much like the NYC MTA, they are unreliable and change routes on a whim. And so I had an extra 2 hours tacked onto my bus route to town and back.

I had resolved to call The Man when I got home, as my big birthday present, but I had gotten home too late. He had waited for me for a while online, but because of the longer-than-expected errands in town, he had to get offline and do his own errands. I will be going to bed soon so I can wake up for work. It's really sad because I had planned with anticipation that I'd get to talk to him today on Skype, and that'd be my big treat for the day. But I blew it big time, and so now I can't talk to him on Skype at all on my birthday. I'm pretty upset with myself for this.

So, for tonight, I'll read my book and check emails and whatnot before I go to bed. I might make my birthday dinner peanut butter and jelly with an apple right now.

I've resolved to pretend I'm still on NYC time for my birthday, since I was born in NY. That way, when I wake up at 5am tomorrow morning to Skype with The Man, it will still technically be my birthday (at least in the US). I won't feel so bad about ruining my own birthday plans, then. Anything to make it great.

Kindness of Strangers

I am constantly impressed here by the kindness of strangers, or rather, everyone here. While in the US I feel that there's a precious few who are happy to help others even if it means going a bit out of their way...here in Rwanda, the vast majority will do whatever they can to help and please you. I've been told it's a cultural thing - Rwandans are determined to please and always say, "Yes!", even if they are completely clueless...out of respect.

There's always a smile on their face when you ask for help!

Simple Thoughts Before BDay

I had a really, really frustrating (alright, it was bad) day all around today.

So! Let's try for more positiveness! Yeah!

I like that we can walk so much here, partly because everyone takes their time, but also because it's sometimes easier. And nicer. I am a bit concerned about my health and weight here with all the fried foods, but with all the walking I've been doing lately, I think I might just be alright and perhaps even slim down a tiny bit (as long as I supplement it with a few jogs and the jump rope). Today, Denise and I walked throughout a lot of the city on some errands, and it was nice to walk around so much. Dinner was so much more rewarding.

Making it Positive

Today I have opted to not be a downer.

Clearly, I've been a bit of a Negative Nancy lately, and I feel like I've had the right to be. A lot of things have been less than ideal here. I'm still working on complications and issues that stress me out and make me wonder why I'm bothering.

But today I'm working hard at bringing back my positivity, so that perhaps I can not only turn my frown upside down, but I can also make my reality brighten a bit. So, I'm going to put out a list of things that have made me smile.

1) I have 3 more Korean students to help out in English here. I didn't realize that I'd find myself in the midst of Koreans while in Rwanda, but all of my students are currently Korean, and I think it's fascinating. Denise and I met these prospective students (probably our age, if not a tad older) at Bourbon Coffee, and we chatted for a while. We had a fun time talking and learning about each other, and one of the guys offered to sometime have us all over and he'd grill up a huge tilapia for dinner. How awesome is that? Huge success.

Visa Troubles

Well, yesterday I had a nice all-day internal rampage.

I think every immigration office on the entire planet is created and bred to make me question my willingness to go elsewhere. Today on my class break I went to the immigration office to begin my workin visa

application. The nice francophone driver I used yesterday came to the school and drove me to the immigration office, over in Kacyiru. I was thinking I would get through in no time; I had every single piece

of paper that their website stated. Why wouldn't it be a breeze?

Every Day I'm Hustling

MTN Center

Well, I learned a hard lesson last night - never lend out your harddrive to people unless they swear to protect your harddrive to the death. Because, apparently, most people don't understand the fragility of harddrives.

I leant my perfectly working harddrive out to my housemate so that he could download the wonderful amount of movies I had on it. I had actually received most of the movies from my friend Felicity, who wonderfully let me use her harddrive. And I cared for it as you would a religious relic. It was a baby in my hands.

Well, last night, after he returned it to me, it was no longer working. I mean, it turns on, and my computer knows it's there...but the data doesn't show anywhere. I'm pretty devastated about it; there goes all of my entertainment! My music, movies, and books are all gone. Gone! What happened? Well, apparently the harddrive took a tumble from the chair seat to the concrete floor...

Assorted Things

While I went through today, I had a number of thoughts that didn't necessarily go in any particular direction, but I had them and so I will write them down.

1) Buses are the public transporation methods here in Kigali. I'm not used to this - while living in NYC for so long, I am very much a Brooklyn animal used to the convenience and ease of transportation through subway and grids. Here's it's very much windy roads and cars that get you around. So, I try to use buses because they're there and the cheapest method of getting around. But they seem to have some organized chaos to them that everyone else seems to understand but me! They don't necessarily have assigned stopping areas. They don't have reliable times, for reasons I'm not quite sure. And some buses go in different directions than others. But I think everyone here understands the bus system pretty well. I'm hoping that I get the hang of it soon enough, even if it's not conventional logic.

Clubbing in Africa

I forgot to mention last night that yesterday's lunch was brought to you by my financing co-worker, Robert. He invited Denise and me to his house for lunch with his wife and child. Well, alright, Denise invited us, and Robert couldn't say no.

We walked through the quiet streets of Kibagabaga and arrived to a nice little simple house on a bit of a hill. Robert's wife is beautiful and very kind and sweet. Her English wasn't great, so we spoke French occasionally so she could be part of the conversation. The little girl was absolutely adorable. I think she was about one years old, and she really enjoyed jumping around.

The meal was extreme! I thought we'd really just have some rice and beans, a simple lunch. But Robert's wife pulled out all the stops for us - Rice, chips, plantains, boiled meat in a spicy sauce, and cassava leaves. The cassava leaves were kind of stewed like the Indian dish, saag. It was very much like spinach, with a creamier taste to it. The meat was...well, the meat here seems to be mainly liver, which I personally find unappealing. But the sauce was nice! Oh, and Fanta. I didn't realize we'd be eating like kings, and I ate a hearty amount, in part to be polite and in part because I was hungry. But oh man, in hindsight, I stuffed myself silly.

Friday Stress

Today started out very strangely - moreso than usual.

I woke up talking with The Man after some disturbing dream about planes. We chatted about life for a while, and he told me about some things that came up for him recently in his neighborhood. I worry about his neighborhood...

Anyways. I got on a moto to meet up with Denise so we could go to immigration for our visas. The moto was happy to drive me, so I got on. And then he missed the street we needed, and he kept going. Apparently, it's standard custom for motos to bring their passengers to gas stations (called "petrol stations") while they're in transit. And then he stopped for a while to chat with some of his moto friends in Kinyarwandan. I mean, there wasn't much I could do, right? I wasn't near where I needed to be, and he had my life on his moto to run over if I crossed him. Not like that'd really happen. But I like being safe rather than not.

Dream Interpretations

Last night my school had an Advisory Council meeting at one of the nicer hotels in town. Actually, it might be the nicest hotel in town - it has a 5-star rating. It's called Serena Hotel. It's the kind of place where wearing tennis shoes are poo-pooed and everything looks like a nice little resort.

They apparently had just freshly made their potato chips and plaintain chips there, because they tasted freshly made. The hor d'oeuvres were awesome. And the poolside was very, very nice. It was full of white people. which of course is not surprising in the least.

I met a woman there who is Rwandan but lived in LA for a few decades. She only recently moved back to Rwanda, and she had quite a story to tell about it all. I thought she was awesome, and she gave me her card. I mentioned The Man, and she got excited for me and said, "Let's get him something good!" I LIKED her! Yeah, let's!

Talking with Housemates

I really enjoy living with Rwandan folk. Part of me feels like it gives me a better window into the world of Rwandan people. I almost get to be something like an ethnographer, because I'm deeply embedded into the culture. The housing is not something that most expats would probably want to live in because it's not perfect or well lit or anything. We don't have mirrors, for example.

It's also nice because they get good prices on our food at the market. I get Mzungu prices - they get local prices. I went with them both to the market a night ago, and one seemed to have the responsibility of distracting me and keeping me busy while the other one did the bargaining and food shopping. We got out with 2 big bags of fresh produce for about $10. So we eat cheaply, and simply.

About Water

Something really quick about water. Of course I have to write about water.

My students had an in-class assignment where they were supposed to register email accounts and email me one message. Just to let you know, this assignment has yet to go well - it seems that most of my students are completely computer illiterate and many of their English is less than stellar. But for those who have been able to email me, the assignment asked them to write 5 sentences about them, and 2 questions for me. I had a lot of questions that were similar, such as my marital status, how many children/parents I have, what do I feel about Rwanda so far, and (my favorite surprise question), why am I big? Clearly there are some cultural differences here.

Another Food Thought...

I feel totally justified in writing another blog post about food, especially so soon after my run-in with the super duper hot sauce du jour. Why? Because, I feel like I need to redeem the food industry here in Rwanda. And also, some of the food really is good. That should be read, the produce. So, let's ccall this my current ode to the fresh food of Rwanda.

About Food

Just to let you know, for the record, they don't put sauce on their meatballs. Don't worry - I figured that out the hard way for you to know.

Denise and I went to the restaurant next to our school for a snack after work yesterday. I ordered a boiled tomato and meatballs. She ordered chips (aka fries) and a half-cooked sandwich (she didn't want it half-cooked, it just came that way).

The service in Rwanda is to be found wanting quite a bit. It makes French service often feel more like fast food. On average, whenever I've been out to eat anything - no matter how small - it takes about an hour or so to actually get the food. And sometimes that doesn't mean you'll get what you ordered.

Sunburns

So for anyone who is interested, yes the sun is definitely more intense here. It has something to do, I'm sure, with the altitude and the geographic location in reference to the equator.

The sunburn that I received in Nairobi about a week ago is about done peeling. Or at least, I think? I don't have a mirror at the moment, so I think it's peeling. Based on the coarse feeling and the flakey bits coming off, I assume it's better.

My housemate informed me it was, in fact, a 2nd-degree burn.

Note to Kim: Where sunblock!

Something's Missing for Me

I miss The Man a lot today. I miss him every day, really. But today it's heartbreaking.

I miss him more and more every day, actually. I have to tuck it into my pants so it is not part of my classroom mood when I teach. But everything I do happens with the intention of him in my heart. I thought it'd subside a bit. I'm finding it's the exact opposite.

I love that we Skype in the mornings, even if it's just that I get to hear his voice. Though I much prefer video, I will do whatever I can to make due and feel connected with him.

It's spurring me to think even more actively of how to get him to be with me. I mean it. I really feel like this is what I want - The Man. Africa has been a goal - a dream that I've been chasing for a long time. It seems that my life is opening up a new chapter of goals for me, and he's one of them.

Perhaps I'm feeling the beginnings of coming to age. Perhaps these are emotions that I feel because I am merely a human being with the same kinds of mechanisms as all others. Perhaps I am just wanting a family more, now. I do want a family. This trip is proving that to me even more than I had originally thought. Seeing babies and toddlers bring out my genuine smile with no effort. Thinking of cleaning a house and movie night Fridays with other families and him by my side are my new porn. I mean, there are other things I want with him, of course, but I like to keep this blog Rated G/PG...

And more and more do I feel that he is the one with whom I want to share that. He's my man man. I love him, and I love that he's my man.

So on my end, I'll keep up the hustle to see if there are better opportunities over here for him. I think it could be so perfect if it works out. I pray every day that it does.

I know this is all pretty sappy. Like, Nicholas Sparks sappy. But I had to put it out there somewhere. It feels better to write it down like this.

Trivia Night

Sole Luna Restaurant

Today's classes were busy. The computers for the students all need some major repair, which is kind of stressful for me, being the IT teacher. But it must be done! I thought my laptop had bit the dust, and I panicked! Fortunately, it's been working alright since I started to coax it into functionality.

I had my first rain in Kigali. The school rooftops clambered with the rain, and the thunder in the distance echoed throughout the campus.

Just a note about males here: many of them are aggressive. My phone basically blew up today with random strangers that I met or talked to very briefly wanting to bring me out. I am pretty much feeling a big fat "NO!" to any of these invitations, since I'm not wanting anyone else but The Man. But they sure are persistant. I've been given advice to just let them buy me food, but don't give them anything in return - that way we all feel used. I don't know about that... I guess many men here think of Mzungus as temporary mistresses. Well, clearly they've never met me. No, thanks. I'm going to be wearing a "wedding" ring from now on while I'm here.

Washing Day

Today I got to wash my clothing. Something us "first world citizens" take for granted are washing machines - elsewhere, it's your own blood and sweat that get you to look all squeaky clean. I had two buckets - one with some soap mixed in water, and the other with just water. I only had a week's worth of clothing, but it still took an hour or two to rub my clothing together furiously to get them relatively clean. I am still trying to figure out how exactly to maximize the cleanliness of my clothing. Dust is in the air here pretty instensely, especially in the more local Rwandan areas, it seems. Some areas are maintained very well, but other parts are just dirt roads and lots of people. I live in the latter. So my clothing has a lot of dirt in it. Figuring out how to get that stuff out of my clothes while I scrub the pieces of fabric with my fists is going to be a new, exciting challenge for me.

My clothing are now dripping on the clotheslines in the back of the house; I feel like I just passed a rite here, for some quirky reason. Perhaps because I'm showing that living simply and basically can work. Or at least, I'm trying to do that.

People here are extremely resourceful, based on my observations. My US housemate noted to me how the clotheslines in the back were from random things that normally us Americans would take for granted and toss, like twine that was used to wrap large pieces of fabric. Interestingly, while Rwandans are good at re-using, recycling here doesn't really exist at all. And reducing seems to be something you could debate about if it's an issue or not- to me, they either don't have the resources to reduce anymore, or if they do, they don't seem to use a lot of things anyways.

And there are no plastic bags here. If you go to the shop, you either buy a fabric bag to take away your stuff, or they pack it in a paper bag. Often times, you end up paying for any bags you use. I am so glad I thought about that before I left and that I have my handy fabric bag that I haul around with me.

Getting Around Town

African Bagel Company joy

Today I woke up and got on Skype with The Man, and we had a good time. I jump roped while he told me about his evening with some of our friends. I am so happy he was able to enjoy himself! I still miss him a lot.

Today was a good day in general.

One of my housemate's friends drove us to a place called African Bagel Company (ABC). We drove through Kigali to the Kicukiro ward and walked through a gated area a bit off of the main road into what seemed like a little idyllic respite from the busy city life. The open-air house is very cute and clean, with some very pretty bamboo add-ons that serve as awnings. The land was very well manicured and had pretty plants speckled around the area. The store in the house was very sweet and simple, but kind of fun and rather colorful. All white girls smiled back at me while I looked at the freshly-baked doughnuts and bagels. I asked them how long they'd been in Rwanda, and the oldest grinned and said, "Our whole lives!" The owners are originally from two towns over from where I grew up, too! Apparently on Saturdays, this is THE expat hangout in the entire city. So within a few whiles, the garden was full of white folk with cutely-dressed babies and toddlers. And the bagels were, dare I say, better than even perhaps those in NYC! So we had a great time for a few hours enjoying the company of others and relaxing under a bamboo roof with our tasty bagels. The owner invited me to hang out with them more on the weekends. We'll see.

A Thought on Names

I don't know how my students are able to remember their names! They are so incredibly long and complicated. One's surname is Nyirahagenimana. How do you even pronounce that?! And that's not even an exception! Some of them keep going, and I end up saying something ridiculous like, "Manah Manah" OR "Uga-chaka?"! I don't think names will be something I will master here. They are just so strange to me.

Just letting you know for now - I'm on fire with getting next week's classes ready! Well, at least for now. I have 67% of my classes ready to go. The only class not ready yet is Math. And since we just took an exam yesterday, as you know, I had to go through everyone's test and make sure I knew what level people were at. It truly is a mixed bag. Enough students don't understand most math problems that I will be teaching pretty basic stuff, methinks. I just feel bad for the students who aced the test.

If anyone has good ideas or helpful thoughts about that kind of conundrum, I'm all ears.

Muzungu

Today was the first day of classes, and I am out of my head exhausted. Again? Again.

I never really fully grasped the fact that teaching, as The Man says, is truly a performance art. I danced, leapt, and sang through 4 hours of math class, just so that my students would feel excited and interested in what I had to say. That is a long, long time to be energetic and engaging.

The first class was terrified, and you could tell. They were pretty silent. So I went around to see if they'd talk to me about things about themselves for a while. It was difficult - they barely spoke above a whisper, even when standing up. I just kept trying to encourage them, and little by little they came out a little bit. But not a lot. The second class I taught was a lot more excited and open. They still spoke softly, but many of them had some courage. Apparently, a large amount of the second class had an initial year at the school before, so they are more confident and used to the school. I told them who I was and they cheered. That was a boost. Both classes I had to speak super slowely. Suuuppppeeerrrr slooooooooooowllyyyyyyy....with con-so-nan-ts.

Glow Bug

What a difference a 10-hour sleep fest can make! Granted, I am not 100% yet, but I'm a lot closer than yesterday!

I slept pretty well last night. That is to say, I slept pretty well once I put in the ear plugs. The house I am staying in right now is between a few bars, more or less, and those places don't have noise control regulations at night. So, post-plugs, and aside from waking up to use the toilet, I slept well.

Today I went to work for a full day. And oh boy, did I work. From 9am to about 6:30pm, I was running around getting stuff done. Did I mention I have to start class in the morning? We got to move around a lot of furniture. A lot of heavy furniture. Basically, we redesigned and refurnished the entire school. With the summer heat in Rwanda, it was pretty miserable lifting wooden desks and hauling them around the hallways to get the classrooms set up. I got sunburned more. I also had to work last minute on my classes for tomorrow. I had to wait for a while to get to talk with someone about what kind of way I should design the class. They've taught some of the subjects before, and I didn't want to get too obscure in my teaching of math and IT and whatever. So, I was running around frantic at 6pm trying to print out 80 copies of my syllabi and placement exams (all made by yours truly); stapling and collating papers and fixing printers were my chaotic half hour before getting home. I don't like doing things so last minute.

Kigali Day 1: Dazed and Confused

I arrived in Kigali around 2:30am, and my three new housemates came to pick me and my tons of luggage up. It was so nice to have people waiting for me and welcoming me into the new place. I was pretty wiped out, though, so I'm unsure if I said anything that could have been rambling or incriminating.

Just in case you were wondering, at the moment Rwanda smells like fresh dust, newly-picked potatoes, and grass.

I got settled into the house - it's nice. The puppy is really cute and a bit scrawny, which of course means he was even cuter. I have a large learning curve, I discovered, and I didn't get to bed until about 4am, after unpacking a bit and winding down.

Nairobi: AKA, the Longest Layover Ever

I woke up on my 3-chair streched airline bed as we landed in Nairobi. I peered out the window as we taxied and...wait a minute...Africa doesn't have horses, does it? Stripes...is...is that a zebra?!

Yes, zebras apparently speckle the landscape of Nairobi Airport.

I took my time getting through the airport. This leg of the trip has a layover of about 15 hours. !!!. Fortunately, I had contacted the brother of one of my best friends from high school for this long layover. His wife (Aki) and him (Jon) are staying here for a year. And they have been wonderful in agreeing to take me in for the laover and save me the pain of an arduous day sitting in a little airpot.

Days of Travel

So, first thing's first: Newark Airport sucks.

The Man and I left around 3am (without real sleep) to get to the airport for my flight. And we encountered every single drunk/stoned New Jersey resident. That's what I get for leaving New Year's Day in NYC, I guess. But when we got to the AirTrain for EWR, we had to wait roughly 40 minutes for the train to take us to the terminals. I really, really don't like cutting it that close, and it was pretty infuriating. When we finally got to the airport, it seemed as though my flight was the only one leaving. So the massive line of passengers we got behind were all waiting for one of the two check-in stewards to let them/us in. And I think were were a handful of people moving overseas, because they had so many carts of luggage it seemed like a joke. It was not. I was checked-in when the plane began boarding.

That was NOT how I wanted my last few, precious hours with my man to go. I wanted time to hold him, cry a bit, talk to him. But instead, I was annoyed and stressed. When we ran to the check point, I burst into tears. I love him so much, and the thought of not having him near for a while makes me dread this trip a bit. I clung onto him for a moment before being pulled towards the queue. What pain I never understood with someone you want to be with forever! I still pray it won't be as long without him near...I'm determined.

Almost Gone

So. I have about 12 hours before I have to be at the airport. For a long, long trip on to Kigali.

Rwandair has changed the time of my flight from Nairobi to Kigali twice. I now have about an 18-hour layover in Nairobi, and I will arrive in Kigali essentially the same day I have to be at work. There are no other flights to Kigali that day that I can make in a transfer. That's some nice added stress to my life right there. My housemate-to-be in Kigali wrote to me to say, "Wow, you really are experiencing trial by fire!" Indeed.

Thank goodness one of my closest high school friend's oldest brother lives in Nairobi. He has been wonderfully accommodating to my super-duper long layover in Nairobi, and he's offered to let me sleep on their couch for a few hours. And we might go see the elephant orphanage! Which is so incredibly exciting I don't even know what to do with myself. And the napping sounds essential, now that I will basically be visiting Nairobi due to force.