Shopping!

“Shopping is actually very similar to farming a field. You can't keep buying the same thing, you have to have a bit of variety. Otherwise you get bored and stop enjoying yourself."
— Sophie Kinsella (Confessions of a Shopaholic)

I don’t know that I’d consider myself a shopaholic, but I certainly have a shopping “problem” so to speak. This is not a buying issue as I can enjoy just looking. But on this day I did both.

Our group of four (Gwenn, Elena, Sevdana, and me) planned to do some serious shopping by visiting two women’s sewing cooperatives. First, though we stopped at Frulep, a local grocery store with a fresh fruit and vegetable section, along with a bakery next door. We all picked up a bit of something, and then headed over to a nearby small craft store. (Note: When you don't have a car and someone says, "want to stop at a grocery" you always say yes!)  

Bingo! The room was small, but packed from top to bottom with wooden carved masks, baskets, fabrics, dolls, jewelry, clothing, and so on. We all made purchases, but far and away I ended up with the largest haul: several woven baskets, trivets, and a variety of fabric items.

The woman in the store spoke French so Gwenn did some bargaining on my behalf. She allowed me to take her picture on the condition I would bring her a copy.  (Which I will do.)

Next we stopped at the first cooperative, Amani ya Juu headquartered in Nairobi, with centers in Rwanda and Brundi. Amani ya Juu means “higher peace” in Swahili while at the Rwanda shop they say Amahoro ava Hejuru in Kinyarwanda.

As we approached the front of the converted house, we saw several women hard at work sewing on machines that looked circa 1950s or older. (Mom and Stef, remember that black Singer machine?) Walking around the back though a beautifully maintained garden we entered the show rooms.

These contained many, many types of purses and bags from very small to huge, clothing for women and children, quilts, wall hangings, stuffed toys (there was the cutest bag that held a stuffed zebra, elephant, giraffe and other animals, along with a palm tree), aprons, placemats, napkins, etc. The decision was difficult, but I finally managed to make a selection and here are a few samples.

 



Our second cooperative was Ineza. Unfortunately, they had very little for sale as they had sent off most of their stock to a local craft exposition. I did manage to make a couple of purchases and also got a picture of the group. Again, Gwenn helped us out as in exchange for pictures, the women wanted to talk to us a bit and French was the common language.



These cooperatives were formed to either help women widowed due to the genocide or who contracted HIV/AIDS from the rapes they endured.  I found these ladies amazing and inspiring, their faith in God sustains them and the work gives them a sense of worth not to mention a livelihood.  Every penny spent felt well worth it to me. And if you would like to see or purchase items, below are links to two sites to help you do a bit of shopping yourself.

http://www.amaniafrica.org/ashop/index.php

http://www.manosdemadres.org/index.php?cPath=29

Random Images

I haven't written up my shopping expedition yet, so I thought I'd post a few random images.  First off, people really do carry things on their head around here!  You can also see school children at recess in the background

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Look at any spot of open land and you'll find corn growing.   Maize is a huge part of a Rwandan's diet and it does my Midwestern heart good to see so much corn!  It is everywhere in the city (like this shot below, right outside our hotel).

Besides corn (and other crops as well) there are flowers, trees, shrubs, you name it.  So many plants and most I have no clue what they are; like this one on the left.  The one on the right reminds me of the plant in "Little Shop of Horrors."

 

There is a lot of construction going on in the city: houses, government offices, you name it.  But what floored us in this picture is that everything is being done by hand; no power tools whatsoever.  Also, most of the buildings are poured concrete like this one.  According to our security briefing, they don't use much re-bar so if there is an earthquake (which does occur around here) the buildings pancake. 

Of course, this house above is for the rich folks.  Coming back from Akagera we went through several small villages.  There was building going on there as well, but using self-made mud bricks, this like home.

Beth gets to be an Archivist!

Yes, my skills will not completely wilt while I’m in Rwanda. The Rotary Club has a collection of materials relating to the Kigali Public Library and Gwenn and I will be processing and moving these over to the Library for storage.

A local textile company, Utexrwa, provided a room for the Rotary to store their records. In the same room, are stored many of the company’s records. So, first I need a search and divide (not destroy!) mission to separate the two. Below are views of the room when I began.

As I assured Jenn, these are *not* the worst conditions I’ve faced. (Jill and Pam, two words: Carriage House! I could also add: unidentified, mummified, large rodent; droppings of various kinds; and the need for serious fumigation!) Basically, it was dusty and dirty; conditions not unknown to all archivists.

The materials were fairly easily sorted into series (for non-archivists: a grouping of records of similar origin or type of document) and only a portion needed serious arrangement. The big issue here in Rwanda is locating folders and boxes. We brought folders with us, but weren’t thinking globally – folks here use A4 paper which is a bit larger than the standard 8 ½ x 11 document. Instead of proper archival boxes, I’d be happy with a plastic tub with a sealable lid.

During the rooting phase I located several interesting items which I shared last night with the Rotary Club. First off, is the Kigali Public Library pin (see below). I’m not sure what level donor you must be to receive one, but if anyone is interested, let me know. Then there was an envelope containing money from various countries (picture of a few below). Folks at the club suspect that came from the donation box at the airport which makes sense.

All and all it is a nice project to take on to keep my hand in the business.

And now the answers to the quizzo questions from my last post:

The three words are: tremendous, stupendous, and horrendous. My kudos to Gail L. who responded almost immediately with the correct answer. She was also kind enough to say that two of the three words applied to my blog. (Now Gail I’m assuming you did *not* mean horrendous!)

A “google” is a number followed by 100 zeros.

Next: Beth goes shopping!

Our Social Life in Kigali

During our almost three weeks here we’ve been to a variety of events.  First off we attended a cookout at the home of Susan, who is an official at the U.S. Embassy.  We meet many different folks from the U.S., either attached to the Embassy or part of other government or aid agencies.  A usual opening question was how long have you been here, and it was fun to say “it’s our second day!" Several were students, here for summer internships, but also career government employees and dependants.  The reason for the get together was the arrival of a volleyball net which got plenty of use during the day.  This was our first introduction to eating in Rwanda and right off we noticed a few differences.  While we had hot dogs, no buns, we used hoagie rolls.  Plenty of beer, but any type of chip – potato, corn, etc. – was in short supply.  We had a great time and I think the party only broke up due to the start of another party at a different house!

The following Monday was quizzo night at a local pizza spot.  Here I noticed that while the restaurant had a roof, it was open on two sides.  We soon found out that most restaurants in Kigali are the same – very open to the outside and nobody uses screens.  I don’t know if during the rainy season they have shutters to close up the sides or not.  This was where we acquired the tip that in Rwanda, cheese=Gouda.  Also, the menu contained toppings unusual in the U.S. including: aubergines, courgettes, and bolognaise to name a few.  Again, it’s helpful to know some French around here!  The quiz began at 8:30 but we arrived around 7:00 in order to get a table and order the pizzas.  And a good thing we did, because by the time the quiz began, the place was packed to the rafters. 

By the way, can anyone list the three words in the English language that end in –dous?  Or what the word (not the search engine) google means?  (See the next blog entry for answers.)  Our team ended up in the middle of the pack by answering 14 of the 35 questions correctly.  (Another aside: since the participants were a mixed bag of nationalities, the questions focused less on the usual social history type questions and more on language, geography, math, and science.)

Wednesday we attended our first ever Rotary meeting beginning *promptly* at 7:00 pm (all late arriving Rotarians are fined).  In Rwanda, and probably most of Africa, prompt beginnings are extremely unusual.  As we always say when vacationing in the Caribbean, “we’re now on island time.”  Held at the Laico Hotel, afterwards we enjoyed a drink in on the patio and listened to a very nice Jazz trio.

Through our work with the Library, we’ve met a wonderful U.S. family in Kigali through December.  Reid is the Human Resources for Health (HRH) Senior Technical Advisor for Tulane University in Rwanda and Gwenn is a retired teacher and a newly inducted Rotarian working on the Library project.  Gwenn invited me to an Expats Network Meeting, a chance for people from all over the world living in Kigali to socialize and connect.  What a great time!  The people I met were so interesting; their country of origin included the Netherlands, Senegal, the UK, South Africa, the U.S. Belgium, Japan, and I’m sure many other countries.  For anyone living in Rwanda for an extended period of time, this group is a wonderful resource.  And to top it off, one woman was selling jewelry made by street boys from cow horns.  It’s a project that aims to help the kids get off the streets, learn about earning and saving money, and make something lovely out of an item usually tossed out at the abattoirs.

But so far, the highlight, or the piece de resistance, has been the Rotary Club of Kigali-Virunga’s induction ceremony and dinner.  Held at the Serena Hotel, probably *the* luxury hotel in Kigali, it was wonderful fun.  The only negative is that this did *not* begin promptly on time.  Granted it gave everyone plenty of time to have a few drinks, however, the buffet was right behind our table and I was overwhelmed by the good smells.  But eventually things started rolling and it just didn’t stop.  There were speeches (none long), the induction of new members, a farewell from the outgoing president, a welcome from the new, words from guest officials, and presentations for service given over the past year. 

In the middle of all this we had dinner: what a feast.  The buffet included a variety of cold dishes, plain and spiced rice, fried fish, grilled bananas, a couple of Indian dishes, boiled arrowroot (if you’ve ever had vegetable chips that included a white stick with purple running through it, you’ve eaten arrowroot), mini-steaks, grilled chicken, the local sweet potato, and a variety of steamed vegetables.  The desert table included tree tomato, passion fruit, pineapple, and other fruits, bread pudding, mini-cheese cakes, coconut cake, Black Forest cake, sponge cake and more.  Needless to say, the diet was out the window.

But the best part was the band.  A local group of non-professionals (everyone had a “day” job) they were fabulous and the most eclectic mixture of music I’ve ever heard.  And believe me, my iPod knows eclectic.  They combined country (which I learned is huge in Uganda), jazz, blues, rock (sort of), and reggae.  At one point the master of ceremonies (who I feel could double for Louis Armstrong, but sounded like Mel Torme according to Gwenn) performed several numbers with the band.  What a voice and stage presence – he was really, really good.  Later, when we complimented him on his performance, he confessed in his younger days he thought about a singing career, but his father convinced him to become a banker.  As he said, “you don’t make much money in Africa with music,” but if anyone could do it, it would have been this guy.

We left while the band played a country version of a Springsteen song.  I'm not positive it was Springsteen, but Reid was pretty sure it was.  Anyway, that sentence pretty much sums up the evening!

Next up: Beth gets to be an archivist!

FOOD

Folks have asked about African food and what I’ve eaten so far.  I consider all dishes here “African” even if it’s not the local cuisine as everything familiar is a bit different.  For instance, there are several pizza places around town and we've tried two.  The best tip we received is if the menu simply lists "cheese" (or fromage – a lot of French around here) it will be Gouda.  You have to look for a selection that says mozzarella or parmesan.  And hamburgers are beef, but the meat is spiced up a bit (or the beef is really different tasting than American beef). 

Sunday, on our way back from Akagera, we stopped at a restaurant for an African buffet.  They had several cold items: shredded cabbage - red and green, carrots, onions, etc., grilled chicken, beef in a mildly spiced tomato sauce, rice, white beans cooked with onions and carrots, a pea mixture, and bananas cooked with onions and I think eggplant in a mild curry.  The food is not spicy, but we discovered (thanks to the driver who requested it) an oil sauce called Akabanga.  This stuff is liquid fire (Wayne, we’ll bring you home a bottle).  Luckily we were eating lunch with someone local and I watched him put just a few drops on his food so I didn’t douse mine.  It was hotter than wasabi, to give you an idea.

Today we ate lunch at the African Bite in Kigali and below is my plate.  Beginning with the chapati bread on the left we have: shredded carrots/cabbage from the cold platter, carrots and sauce from a chicken dish, the green item is cassava leaves (similar to kale), on top of spiced rice, the first white “blob” is a boiled local sweet potato (as you can see NOT orange and tastes more like a white potato) in front of that is a hunk of ugali or bugali made from maize and water which tastes like hominy but blander.  The pinkish colored mound is peanut sauce over bananas steamed in banana leaves. 

Indian food is very popular here, hence the chapati above.  There are several Indian restaurants in Kigali and most places have an Indian dish or two on the menu.  Other popular items are grilled kabobs (or brochettes) of beef, chicken, pork, fish, and goat or a mix of all.  There is a bit of onion or pepper between the meat and these are usually served with rice. 

Fruit is popular in Rwanda and folks have it with every meal for dessert.  I have now eaten three new fruits, all local and pictured below are two: the tree tomato on the left (or tomacco as Marty called it – if you know your Simpsons episodes) and passion fruit.  (Also in the picture is the Akabanga sauce).  The third is the African banana which just looks like a mini-banana.  The first two are fairly bitter, but tasty, and contain many tiny seeds, but the banana – wow this is wonderful.  It is not quite as sweet as the bananas we know in the states, and has a bit of a tangy taste a little like an apple.  I am really hooked.  I also had the local mango.  Now I’ve never actually liked mangos when I ate them previously, but this one was delish.  Perhaps because it was so fresh.

Dining is a leisurely process in Rwanda.  Unless it’s a buffet, don’t expect dinner to last less than two hours as service is pretty slow.  The most important thing I’ve learned is don’t head out for dinner when you’re already hungry!

Akagera National Park

Hi everyone and thanks for the birthday wishes.  We had a great time at Akagera National Park on Sunday and saw lots of wildlife.  (Even if our day did begin with a 6 am pick-up!)  We were not able to get a guide, but our driver was great and *much* more lenient about letting us get out the car (which we were not supposed to do) and get very close to the animals.  I have not been able to ID all the antelope types yet, so I'll just put up the pictures for you all to see.  I also shot some *video* (geez, what do you call digital motion??), but I warn you, I'm just learning this camera, so don't fault my production values!

On the way back, we ate at a local resturant about half an hour out of Kigali so I think the next blog will focus on food!

Above: the north entrance to the Park and below my favorite animal, the giraffe.  Next door are the zebra and we saw several herds which are wonderful to watch run.

Below is the happy couple, along with a shot of Marty and our driver, Adabu (we are guessing on the spelling but that's how it sounds).

Below are a few of the antelopes I mentioned.  I have video, but having trouble uploading it here.  So, I'll end now and try to post the video via facebook.

Next up: FOOD!

Pictures

Ah, the joy of the Internet.  When it works it is wonderful, when you can’t connect – it’s horrible!  So I apologize for the lack of posts and emails lately.  The project started off with a bang, so we've been keeping pretty busy.  I haven't had either the time, or frankly, the connectivity to post.  Plus, uploading speed here is at the modem rate, so everything takes a bit of time.  While the staff at the Park View have been working long hours on the Internet connection, we decided to invest in data sticks for a stronger and more consistent connection.  Anyway, today I'll highlight a few pictures I thought you'd enjoy.

This bird this is the Grey Crowned Crane which we “met” at the Laico Umubano Hotel.  The Laico is one of the nicer hotels in Kigali and where the Rotary Club (which helped establish the library and funded Marty’s Fulbright) meets each Wednesday.  These cranes where just wandering around the grounds and they had no problem with me coming in close to take a picture.  In fact, I'd swear he was posing for me. We attended the club meeting on Wednesday night (the 8th) where Marty made a presentation about the library project.  The hotel also houses a *wonderful* French bakery which leads me to the local currency.

Like many other countries, Rwanda's francs are quite colorful with images of the local flora and faunda.  More people speak French here than I thought would (several guidebooks and web sites said English was more prevelant) and I'm pleased to report that I still remember my French numbers, though it does take me a bit of time to translate!  I'm so pleased I thought to bring my French/English dictionary.

To the left is Marty working hard at our temporary location earlier this week, the Burbon Cafe.  After a a few days, the staff knew us by sight.  It's a big meeting place, we've seen several groups there and have held meetings there ourselves.   

And finally here is the greatest find so far, at least according to Marty: Coke Zero.  Did I mention these came from Egypt - hence the Arabic on the can.  Plus, when was the last time you saw a pop top?  Those things are wicked sharp. 

More posts soon, about the library and a few other odds and ends including my attempt to cook in our apartment.  So you know, I did *not* blow anything up, but I think we'll be eating out more than I'll be cooking! 

Internet Outage!

Well, we experienced our first long-term Internet outage so have been without a connection since Sunday evening.  The hotel is switching ISPs and there are troubles (sometimes things are the same everywhere).  So, we temporarily relocated to the Bourbon Café.  No, we have not begun drinking heavily; the Café is Africa’s answer to Starbucks.  Except, it is loads nicer!  Your coffee (a grande this am for me) comes in a lovely pot, with a side container of hot milk, and a tasty little cookie to boot.  Plus the service is AWESOME.  I tell you, we love this country.

Most important bit of news: Marty’s guitar arrived and we picked it up on Sunday – YEAH.  Plus we hear that several other folks brought instruments over here: another guitar, keyboard, and drums.  I sense a future jam.

Previously I mentioned sticker shock.  Here’s the scoop: The local currency is the Rwandan franc with an exchange rate of 600 francs to $1 (one) dollar.  This means you carry around A LOT of money, particularly as this is almost entirely a cash economy.  It also is not a ratio to calculate easily (how well can YOU divide a number by 600?).  But Jenn provided a great tip, which should help avoid the purchase of a $9 (ahem, I think the price was closer to $12) box of cereal.  You take off the last three digits and double what is left.  That’s a bit more than is correct, but it gives you a ball park figure.  For example: if something costs 5,000 Rwandan francs it is roughly $10.

According to an Embassy staffer, this is culture where people stare.  What that means is a blank look, eyes open, no blinking.  But it I don’t find it bothersome, as, quite frankly, I’m constantly looking around at everything/everybody and doing a bit of staring myself.  Also, I’ve found a big smile goes a long way – people usually smile right back.  Mainly it depends on who you’re dealing with.  Those working in the service industry and used to foreigners don’t find us unusual.  It’s more the “man in the street” that stares.  And why not?  We look different and I’m certain pretty odd to them.

There are no street signs.  I don’t mean the signage is not good, I mean there aren’t any – nada, nope, non-existant.  People navigate by landmarks and I guess eventually learn the roads.  So directions include the section of town, a landmark, and the number of streets or houses to pass to get to the location.   

Yesterday we met with Ambassador Stuart (Stu) Symington.  He is very, very interested in the Kigali Public Library and we hope that with his influence and connections we’ll be able to move the project forward by getting the necessary government officials involved.  Security was much tighter for this Embassy visit as we were visiting the Ambassador himself.  Tomorrow is the security briefing where we’ll receive our own badges for limited access.

HUGE news flash: Rwanda has Coke Zero!  We have been at several places where it was listed on the menu, but never available.  Monday we were at the Bourbon Café and lo and behold, on the menu AND available.  Marty had at least two.  Plus, the grocery near the Bourbon Café must recently have received a shipment, as we found a slew on the shelves; we almost wiped out their stock with our purchase.

Next up: More Pictures!

Intro to Kigali

As mentioned previously, I couldn’t see much of Rwanda when we arrived as it was dark.  Not until the next day (Friday) did I have a chance to see where we would spend the next six weeks.  We woke up to a lovely, cool morning (Marty called it cold, as in “why do you have that fan on, it’s freezing in here”) with a wonderful breeze.  Our home away from home is on the top floor overlooking the city.  Rwanda is called the land of a thousand hills and you better believe it.  Kigali makes San Francisco look like Iowa.  And the humidity: low!!!

Here are a few pictures from our balcony:

In the second one, you can just barely see the next door health club with the pool (where I will be spending time!).

First thing in the morning, a car picked us up for a 9:00 am visit to the U.S. Embassy to meet several people and take care of paperwork.  I’ve never been in an embassy before, but it’s pretty much like you see in films.  Our car pulled up to a gate, a guard walked around the car testing it in various places for, I assume, explosives.  Next we drove into a gated enclosure where they used mirrors on poles to check under the car.  Then we were escorted into the guard enclosure where we showed our passport and received a visitor badge.  A guard escorted us to the embassy lobby where a U. S. Marine checked us off a list, and called up to the person we were scheduled to meet.  It was interesting that U.S. Marines guard the actual embassy building inside, where outside (but still on the compound) is guarded by all locals.   

Right across the street from the embassy is the Kigali Public Library.  Interior work continues, but during our walk though the building I took the following pictures:

My favorite is the last one taken from the second floor where you can see part of the city on the hillside. 

Later that afternoon we visited one of the markets in the area to pick up a few staples.  Talk about sticker shock!  For anyone who has lived overseas, you know how difficult it is to find American products and those you do find are quite expensive.  I’m not positive, but I think I paid $9 for a box of Special K.  You don’t find milk in the refrigerated section, but on the shelf – long life milk.  Cheese is a rarity here and is quite expensive ($10 for a slab of mozzarella anyone?).  Gouda is the exception, readily available and inexpensive.  Not a problem for us, we both love it. 

Good news: the coffee is WONDERFUL.  NARA folks you’re going to love this stuff.

Next up: Wait and see!

The Flight

What can one say about air travel?  (Now keep it clean folks).  For the most part, I don’t mind flying, but after living over 10 years on the east coast, I’ve become a huge fan of the train.  In this case, that wasn’t an option, so hello Philadelphia airport. 

In the beginning, all was well: security was a breeze and the International concourse is a lot less crowded than the domestic areas.  Plus, we were able to upgrade at the last minute with FF miles (and a healthy cash lubricant) for the flight to Brussels, which meant we could cross our legs without turning into a pretzel.

Oh how I love business class.  You board first and sit drinking champagne while they herd the rest of the passengers on the plane.  It seemed a short trip to me, as the seat reclined and I got a couple of good naps in during the eight hour flight.  Then we arrived in Brussels. 

We got off the plane but had to go through security before we could continue to the next terminal.  I expected no trouble, but alas, that was not the case.  Marty’s carry-on had *issues* and ended up going through the x-ray machine four times, the last try completely empty.  The culprit?  Metal collar stays.  Then we had to repack the entire bag and almost run to terminal T which required a tram ride to get there.  Before one can board the tram, security checks each person’s boarding card and passport.  After 20 minutes it became apparent we would never make our flight.  Luckily, it also became apparent to the airline which waved the entire line (at this point over 40 people) through.

Unable to upgrade this leg, we rode coach.  Now, I wouldn’t say Brussels Air was any worse or better than any other airline, but coach is coach and it sure isn’t business class.  We did have plenty to eat, but sleeping was just about impossible unless you’re comfortable tying yourself in a knot.  And this flight seemed *much* longer than eight hours. 

I saw two amazing things on this flight.  The first was my glimpse of African desert which was brown, empty, and VAST.  I’ve heard people use the phrase “as far as the eye can see” which is a perfect description.  I watched for a while and nothing changed, no people, houses, animals, nothing, just sand.  I gave me a very eerie feeling.  Then I watched the sunset: lovely shades of pink, hot orange, and red.  And it went fast, initially barely dim, then darkness. 

As our flight left Brussels late, we arrived at Kigali in the dark.  Going through immigration was a breeze and looking down from above we could see our suitcases circling on the baggage carousel.  It seemed the Philadelphia airport could learn a thing or two from the Rwandans about speedy baggage delivery.  Or so we thought until Marty’s guitar didn’t arrive.  Several other folks were missing items, so the lost and found line was quite long.  By this time, Jenn, her husband Alex, and Susan from the US Embassy had been waiting for us for well over three hours.  We finally completed the paperwork for the lost guitar, hooked up with our escorts, and got to the hotel.  It was a LONG day!

Next up:  Kigali

Getting Ready for the Trip

Guest voice:  It’s me Marty, butting in on Beth’s narrative to answer the very popular question, why are you doing this?  So, here’s my answer in a nutshell.  I am using a few metaphors that will make sense to some of you of a certain age.  Seems I never abandoned a certain “sixties” sensibility.  Now if you still feel a certain attachment to those values, and you can’t write checks with lots of zeros after the operative number, the only thing left to do is to take a chance, and show up.  What can I say?  Idealism ain’t so bad, for those of you who cotton to stoney-faced pragmatism.  Can we change the world?  Nah.  But maybe we can leave it just a tiny bit better than we found it.  If we fail, well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.  And hey, I won’t die a hypocrite. 

That’s it from me, and now back to your narrator and my wonderful wife, who volunteered for this duty enthusiastically.  I am so incredibly proud of her.    

Ah, thanks Marty, you are a sweetie!  Anyway, as we began planning for the trip, I learned many diseases I thought eradicated are still around in Africa.  (For more info, visit this section of the CDC.)  So, in order to safely travel and stay in Rwanda, we needed shots – LOTS of shots.  We are now vaccinated for yellow fever, typhoid, whooping cough, Hepatitis A and B, meningococcal meningitis, tetanus (that one really hurt) and received boosters for diphtheria and polio.  Plus we’ll be taking anti- malaria pills before, during, and after the trip.  I have never felt so healthy in my life!                                                     

While involved with the above shot regimen, we began to look for a place to stay.  Help immediately came in the form of Jenn, our local contact.  Jenn is an American living in Kigali and we could not have asked for anyone more helpful and patient with all our questions.  The end result: we’ll be staying at the Park View Courts in the Nyarutarama area of Kigali City.  Basically a one-bedroom apartment, it has a kitchenette, living area, with a bedroom and full bathroom upstairs.  It is not, however, air conditioned.  Now, I’m not opposed to fresh air, but as I’m currently undergoing my own global warming, I’ve become a huge fan of AC.  Nevertheless, I adhere to the “when in Rome” adage and do not intend to be a fussy American.

Travel to Rwanda turned out to be an interesting process.  You just can’t hop on Expedia and book a flight to Kigali like you’d book a flight to Kansas City.  So we turned to the professionals for help.  We leave from Philadelphia, have a stop in Brussels, and then fly to Kigali.  (Why Brussels?  Well before independence, Rwanda was a colony of Belgium.)  The entire trip takes 24 hours: each flight is roughly eight hours, plus the layover, and the time difference (six hours).  It will be a looooong trip.

As we leave June 1, our next thoughts focused on packing.  Temperatures in Rwanda are fairly steady (70s to low 80s for the highs, and lows in the upper 50s and middle 60s), the big changes come from the rainy and dry seasons.  Luck is with us as one of the dry seasons begins in June.  Also, Rwanda is a fairly mountainous region, with Kigali’s elevation at 5,069 feet.  I’m hoping that means humidity stays low, but this is equatorial Africa.  If not, pictures of me will include a halo of frizz around my head so be prepared!

Next up: The Flight