First Days in Rwanda

Hi everyone! I have finally arrived in Rwanda. I already feel behind on posting here- so this will have to be a long one.

I left Washington D.C. on Thursday on a 15 hour flight to Johannesburg. I really liked South African Airlines and would highly recommend them. I was lucky- they did not weigh my suitcases (I wished I could have run home and stuffed more in!) I think this was because the plane was not even half full. I had my own row which was great for sleeping. I was able to choose a movie on the TV in my seat, eat some good meals, and sleep intermittently during the flight. The airline had many nice perks including multiple options for movies, a video camera on the tail of the plane so we could see outside on one of the TV channels, and a boarding gift which included an eye-sleep mask, socks, toothbrush and toothpaste. There was a large group on my plane of 200 people from a church in Cincinnati (Crossroads) who were on a mission trip to work at a hospice they built in Pretoria. They were all ages, mostly on their first trip to Africa and separated into work teams "medical, gardening, construction, etc". They all wore bright orange and green t-shirts advertising their mission. I also met a couple of families traveling together on a two week safari around Africa. They had all of their children with them (ages six and up) and a grandmother in first class. I went with them to visit her and see the perks up there- wow! A massaging chair, 7 course meals from menus, personal gadgets galore, etc.

Once I arrived in Johannesburg I checked in for my flight to Kigali and waited 2 hours. The airport was nice and people were friendly. Luckily I stopped at the South African airlines desk because my luggage had only been checked to S. Africa- so they sent someone down to get it off the carousel and put it on my plane. It is winter in Johannesburg; people were in cold weather attire and talked about the snow outside. I then flew 3.5 hours to Burundi for a quick stop and 30 minutes to Kigali. I arrived in Kigali at 10:30pm (4:30pm EST). I met a nice person on the plane who works for the Rwandan government, and was very familiar with the HIV/AIDS programs and spoke highly of our work here. He was also very informative about life in Kigali. There was an embassy "expediter" waiting at the airport for me- he helped me through immigration (took 5 minutes), got my bags, and drove me to the hotel. He mentioned that most bags don't make it on my itinerary because they get stuck in Jo'burg. How lucky I was! It is a very comfortable 70-80 degrees in Kigali during the night and day at this time of year (dry season), with no humidity. The elevation is similar to Denver, and the size of Rwanda is similar to the state of Maryland. The first striking thing is the many hills- some are very very steep- and the traffic circles. There are very nice roads, and everyone drives on the right side of the road- although sometimes with the steering wheel on the right as well. There are palm trees and lush mountains in the distance. I am staying at one of the best hotels in Kigali for my first three nights. It is amazing- better than most hotels I've been to. I've been using the wireless Internet by the pool if that tells you anything. On Friday I settled into my room and checked out the five channels on TV: CNN, BBC, a french movie channel, a local channel, and a channel that plays bad 80's movies- which is actually kind of a fun quiz to guess the movie. And then I slept for about 12 hours.

I woke up to my phone ringing- a call from my colleague to come have lunch by the pool. I met with him (ordered a club sandwich and diet coke- minus the lettuce, tomatoes, and ice.) He was very helpful and informative as he has been here working for the past three weeks in the office I'll be joining. We then met up with two others from our office and headed to a Fourth of July picnic at the Ambassador's house. It was a lot of fun. There were about 100-150 people there- there were hamburgers, hot dogs,salad, pie, beer, and soda. Many people joked with me that this is how it always is in Kigali. I know this was unique that my first day involved a very "American" event. There were relay races, balloon tosses, and face painting. I met the Ambassador and his wife- who were very friendly and gracious hosts. I played volleyball, and met many Americans doing many interesting things here in Rwanda- teachers, military personnel, economists, film makers, health care workers, etc.- from NGO's, USAID, CDC, etc. I am just beginning to learn the International web of people working here. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming and provided me endless helpful tips. I made many new friends and spoke with a number of people about hiking and exploring together. After the party- wewalked down the street and I was able to see the apartment building I will move into on Monday, and a nearby hotel which has a club I can join- with a gym, a pool, and tennis courts. I made my first purchases- some beautiful place mats and potholders. We took a taxi back to our hotel and rested before meeting up again to head to dinner. We went to an amazing Indian restaurant. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was entertaining. The Rwandan staff dressed in costumes of "traditional Indian attire" which was not really traditional- more of a Disney version. There was also a waterfall, elaborate Indian rugs, and chandeliers, etc.

Now I am back in the hotel and hopefully going to sleep soon. I am eagerly anticipating starting work on Monday and already feeling a little overwhelmed about learning all of the programs here and remembering names/faces of everyone I have met. I have met so many nice ex-pats and Rwandans already. I feel like 3 months is not going to be nearly long enough.

Other notes...
-Plastic bags are illegal in Rwanda (to help keep the streets clean), therefore the newspaper arrives in the afternoon in a cloth bag hanging on my hotel room door. Similarly, the bags for laundry and trash in my hotel room are cloth.
-Today, the first Saturday of the month, is a community work day for Rwandans; they all do some type of community service until noon on this day each month.
-Apparently 07-07-07 is a lucky and popular day to get married world-wide; we saw about 15 weddings around the city including two at our hotel today.
-The US dollar exchange rate is $1 per $530 Rwandan francs. A meal costs about $5-20. A taxi costs $3.
-There are three primary languages spoken here- Kinyarwandan (spoken by 98% of people), English (spoken by 2/3 people of the people I've met), and French (also spoken by 2/3 of the people I've met)
-I haven't noticed any bugs/mosquitoes yet.

I will try to post pictures next...although I haven't had any luck so far because uploading takes so long.