We've arrived.....

We just finished our first full week in Rwanda – and the transition could not have gone smoother.  Part of it is that I am so excited to finally be here (and I think Nathan feels the same way)… it seems like this move has been a long time coming and that we have more or less been in transition since the end of January.  We have had an eventful and wonderful few months since January, but it’s not been settled.  Our first real activity here was to go grocery shopping and cook dinner – not terribly exciting, unless you hadn’t cooked dinner in months.

The fact that we got here as smooth as we did is a miracle in itself… we had a lot of bags.  A LOT.  I keep going back and forth between being embarrassed by the amount of stuff that we had and being thankful every time I pull out an unexpectedly highly useful gadget.  The guy helping us at the airport was super patient, and helped us figure out the cheapest option for getting our stuff here, and 24 hours later, we showed up in Rwanda, and all of our bags showed up with us.  That rarely happens with one bag, much less seven. 

Our life this past week…. We are subletting a really comfortable house until August.  Nathan is already getting a real African welcome to the house… the first few days we were without water just getting a low drip from the sink from our gravity water tank in the back.  The third day, when the water came back, the electricity went out.  We had a few days where we had one, or the other, but not both.  We were excited when we finally had both, allowing hot showers, but turning on the water heater causes one of the faucets to nearly explode shooting water from all seams. Oh well, he has already shown infinite flexibility and ingenuity, and patience…. probably the three most important skills needed to be happy here.

Other events – we got a small moto(rcycle).  I think its more like a put-put, apparently the engine is about 1/10^th of the size as Nathan’s last motorcycle, but apparently it gets 200 miles/gallon.  I started work – it’s a slow start (not unexpected) and I have PLENTY that I am still closing out, so not too worried.  I have already been to one of our more rural sites, and Nathan is joining me there next week.  We have cooked at home about every night, and are enjoying discovering what is and isn’t available, and of the things that are, what aren’t CRAZY prices.

There have been a few lowlights, on the list - The heavy pollution especially around dinner time when there is both traffic and cooking.  Apparently this will decrease in the rainy season.  Not always understanding everything or everyone, or worse, not always being understood. And the commute to our rural site has gotten more complicated as one of the bridges washed out a few months ago.  On the way to the site last week, I got out at one side, walked across and there was someone waiting at the other side.  On the way back, we went around the bridge – a 45 very bumpy, very narrow, very uncomfortable detour.

But for every lowlight, there have been plenty of highlights…  Being here with Nathan makes it seem like I am coming here for the first time.  Everyone (friends, colleagues, neighbors, strangers on the streets) has been super friendly.  And for me, my excitement for the work ahead seems equally matched by my colleagues.

We will be posting periodically on the blog (aiming for at least every two weeks), so keep an eye out here if you want more of a narrative of our time in Rwanda.  I will nudge Nathan to put a few posts on as well.  And please stay in touch… the world has gotten much smaller, and we should have regular internet and cell phone access.

And in case your curious, here is our current sublet (thanks, Justin M!): https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=-1.958776,30.103065&daddr=Boulevard+de+I+Umuganda,+Kigali,+Rwanda&hl=en&ll=-1.958686,30.103413&spn=0.002303,0.002739&sll=-1.958686,30.103413&sspn=0.002303,0.002739&geocode=%3BCWEqoiGj-JHFFcoZ4v8dyYLLASnLhYP7qqfcGTENcEzsRrpD1g&t=w&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=19&z=19