Long day back in the groove...

Well, I finished a 12-hour day catching up on everything at the CDC. Whew! I am replacing Daniel as Deputy Director of the CDC office for this month and we only overlap one day after which he will be gone the rest of the time I am here. I am so glad I got to see him and I can't imagine how I would have been able to help if we couldn't have spent such a long day going over everything that is going on. This is going to be HARD work. There is alot going on but it is so nice to be here and it will be an adventure. Here is a picture of Daniel at his desk- which will be my desk starting tommorrow!

The CDC, USAID, and Embassy staff have all moved into a huge new embassy over the last four months. Many things are wonderful about this- everything is new, the power source is more secure, supplies are consolidated and ordering is more efficient; all of the water in the faucets is filtered (which is so weird I have to say!); there is a pool, gym, and small commissary where Americans can buy cereal and diet coke among other things. It is really nice!! The downsides are there are alot of glitches from the move such as IT struggles, equipment issues, etc. All in all though the one USG (US government) philosophy driving this move is probably a good one. Now the three teams are just one floor away from each other, rather than in three separate buildings around Kigali. One of the initial critical tasks for me is to continue Daniel's decision-making about consolidating staff and services. This is a tough negotiating game and I'll have to jump right in and make some tough decisions. There is also a lot of budget spending tracking and program evaluation to be done. It makes me tired just thinking about it, or maybe I am just tired from the hours and hours of travel just yesterday!

I've noticed a lot of changes today. First, the missing aerobics classes in my hotel. I used to love doing kick boxing to the french instructions "un, deux, trois" every morning. I guess the instructors tried to negotiate a higher pay (especially since the foreigners were charged a really high price) but management wouldn't budge so they all quit last month. I will miss them- they were really nice. Although I know I will be getting my exercise from walking to the office everyday which is about a mile each way. I went to change money this morning and was given 2,000 franc notes. I thought something was wrong because I was so used to 5,000 notes, and the only small ones were 500, and 100. They introduced a new note since I've been gone! (500 francs= $1). A number of friends at work have since moved on to places like Iraq, India, and back to the states, which is a little sad but definitely the way it is in overseas offices. The embassy has a great cafeteria (although pricey) where I was able to have lunch today (rice and beef special- $6) with many of my friends who are still here- Marie Claire, Mahita, Kris, Josh, and Jenny. I am excited to get to know the new people here too. The group of five Marines has turned over and seem like another rowdy yet fun group of young men. I've learned there are 3 new restaurants which I need to try including a "fast food" chinese place (food usually takes 40 minutes to an hour to be served at typical restaurants here), as well as a restaurant which has begun making cheese and yogurt which is generally not available at stores here. Supposedly there is a new coffee shop that I must see as well. I was told my taxi driver from last time is awaiting my call, which I am sure I will need frequently to get around the city. I walked a ways to a small Rwandan store down the street this evening after work and bought some juice and small things to have in my hotel room. I knew three different people in the store!

My hotel is pretty comfortable. Here is a picture of the room-