I had planned on updating my blog a few days ago, but each day kept passing by very quickly, and before I knew it, I was exhausted and ready to go to bed. So here I am on this mild Saturday afternoon updating my blog.
This week has (like I said) passed by rather quickly. I have had many tasks at the school to keep me occupied. I have met several more people my age, and I am really looking forward to the start of school so that I can get to know more of the students.
On Monday night, I saw my first gecko inside our house. (Hence the title…I told you I was trying to come up with a more creative title) I get the feeling that geckos are about as common as ants. They’re not really bothering anything and they do keep the other bugs away. Better geckos then snakes…
Yesterday we (the KICS staff) left the city of Kigali and went out into the country. We drove about 25 kilometers to Lake Muhazi. (It took us about an hour to get there.) It was a lot more like what I pictured Africa to be like…dirt roads, lots of people on bikes, and animals walking around. It was pretty cool. Anytime we would pass by a field, the people would stop - machetes in mid air- and stare and us as we drove by. We probably looked pretty funny…35 mzungus (white people) in 4 vehicles. We ate lunch at Lake Muhazi, but we were not able to swim because apparently the lake is infested with snail larva. Anyways, I really enjoyed getting away from the city for a day, and seeing more of The Land of A Thousand Hills. (Rwanda’s nickname- it is a rather mountainous country.)
Today I rode my first motto! It was awesome! It’s surprisingly a pretty smooth ride, especially if I swayed with the motto, rather than remaining very still. After we left the ABC (African Bagel Co-op) this morning, my dad and I went into town, and my mom and brothers went back to the house. This was about my 5th or 6th time going into town, so I’m really starting to find my way around…and I’m even recognizing some of the people on the streets that try to sell me everything from plastic sunglasses to mangoes. My dad and I purchased a large fan, a full length mirror, a small lamp, a cheese grater, and a loaf of bread…and we took a motto home. (We each had our own.) It was pretty funny trying to balance the mirror and keep in from blowing away in the wind. But no one gave us a second look because you see all kinds of things strapped to bikes and mottos on a daily basis.
More things that you might enjoy knowing....
*We only have hot water in the upstairs bathroom
*We don’t have a dishwasher- we have to hand wash all of our dishes
*We do have a washing machine, but it’s not like a washing machine that you would find in an appliance store
in the states. We hang our clothes, sheets and towels on a clothes line in the backyard.
*There are a wide variety of birds in Kigali (and probably all throughout Rwanda.) They each have some very unique (and somewhat obnoxious) calls. One bird sounds like a car alarm is going off…another bird sounds almost like we’re getting a skype call.
*On Tuesday night we had our first Rwandan dinner. It was delicious! There was nothing strange about it. Rwandan Nationals eat lots of beans and rice or potatoes. They maybe eat meat once or twice a week.
*Lemons are green and sweet potatoes are white
*The bananas are about half the size of what they are in the states…and they taste better too. Usually, we would want to eat a banana when it is completely yellow, and after it gets too many brown spots on it, we consider it to not be good anymore, but over here, the more brown spots a banana has, the better it tastes. It is a little tricky to try to tell my mind that it’s okay to eat a brown banana.
We have a Meet and Greet at the school in about an hour. Instead of meeting the teachers, (I already know all of them) I’ll be using this time as an opportunity to meet the kids in my class. School will start in a few days, and things will slow down a little bit. I’ll probably make a few more trips to town this next week, and I’ll continue to enjoy life in Kigali.
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