The First Hours In My New Home

I have made it! I am in Rwanda! My flights went well, I watched 3 ½ movies and slept a little. I was lucky to have two empty seats beside me so I could sprawl out on the seats from Amsterdam to Kigali! I definitely felt a bit overwhelmed first arriving here – it had been 4 years since I have been out of my North American bubble. Sitting on the opposite side of a North American car on the way to the house was one way of starting the culture change, then seeing the town and having people stare and point at you DEFINITELY was a culture change! It was hard not being able to connect with anyone when I got to my new home but luckily it was late and I was able to fall asleep on Kigali time.

I slept quite well but was woken by the sounds of our “pet” goat crying at 6am. It felt way too early for me to get up so I grabbed my earplugs (thanks to the person who gave me that tip!) and my eye cover and fell back asleep for the next 4 hours. I am now officially on Kigali time! It still boggles my mind that currently it is 12:00pm at home but 7:00pm here.

For my first day I had my housemate Nicole take me around town. Nicole is also 22 and is from the UK. She is here as part of International teams but is also getting credit for her school back at home. We took the bus in and visited some stores where I could buy some stuff for my room. We grabbed a coffee at this beautiful coffee shop called Bourbon. This is a beautiful coffee shop in their shopping center where you can find the most Muzungus and delicious coffee drinks. Although you think spending 5 dollars on a drink is steap – try 8 dollars! It is definitely a nice little taste of home that will be a treat every now and then.

Nicole and I got to know each other more and she taught me a few Kinyarawanda phrases. It is definitely very nerve racking to be in a country when you don’t know the language.

We then went to visit our other roommate Dora. Dora is Rwandan and she is the one renting out the house to us.

Arriving back home (not mentioning the way of transit for my mother’s sake…) I started organizing my very messy room! It took me a while but I now feel a lot more settled in. I got my very own cell phone and modem so I can connect to the Internet! It feels great to be able to connect to people at home.

On the agenda tonight Dora and I are going to watch one of the movies I brought and then I will edit some photos and read. I am excited for the following days of seeing the memorials and learning my way around town. Thanks for reading – I will post more soon and add some photos as well.