Midterms Week

On Sunday I totally rocked.

I woke up, chatted with The Man for a nice while, practiced some yoga, baked some bread, read some, and wrote some of my plans.

The Man and I have been talking about the future. Who knows what's going to happen in the future?! I know, I know...it's silly to think we can plan it all. But regardless, we are planning. I am excited with the glorious future I could have with him. It could be very difficult, but we're talking about ideas, plans, travels, and all kinds of wonderful thoughts.

Umuganda Day

So yesterday I woke up with my phone not working and my modem turned off completely.

Imagine my panic when, at 6:45am on a Saturday, I find myself completely incapable of contacting the outside world. No Skype chat with The Man to jumpstart my day. No phone calls just in case I need to. No nothing. My roommates were still asleep (OF COURSE! Because who else would be dense enough to get up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday?!), and none of them heard my desperate mewing at their closed doors, hoping to find a functioning phone and/or working modem stick.

I wept quietly in my room for a while, until I finally resolved to nap for a few more hours, and then head to the Tigo store in a few hours when it opened.

When I went to the Tigo store, everything worked perfectly fine. Was I crazy?! How did these things work now? I SWEAR they weren't working a few hours ago!!

A Week of Mini-Urban Adventures

This week I've been preparing for midterms, so I have been running pretty ragged to make sure I get everything done and squared away in order to have a smooth next week. Let's recap, though, since last Sunday!

Sunday started off gloriously with napping and snuggling with Edgar. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Edgar, he is my wonderful, kind, and very soft stuffed bunny rabbit. I bought him for myself for Christmas, and I am so glad I did. He feels just like a chinchilla (oh, how I love my soft things), and he keeps me company at night. I might feel like a child a little bit, sleeping with a stuffed animal and all, but the comforts of having something to hold while in bed in a foreign country has really been comforting. Say what you will - I am not ashamed!

Rains Down in Africa

Durban, South Africa - a place to dream about?

I so am enjoying these relaxing weekends where I lay around, read a bit, write a bit, and chat with The Man and my family and friends. There really is nothing like a weekend where you can sleep in, lounge about, nap a bit, watch a little bit of the BBC, and nap some more, to make you feel more charged to the upcoming week.

Sadly, we were supposed to go to Musanze this weekend with a hotel near school, however last minute they had to postpone the trip until next week, if at all. I was so looking forward to getting out and seeing what there is to see in this tropical area. But alas, the Universe has other plans for me in that regard, I guess. I was going to try to book a quick day trip to Akagera National Park (which is essentially Rwanda's side of the Serengeti), but it was just too jumbled up and last minute. So I will begin my plans today, methinks. It's time to go out and see this brave new world.

But for now, I will write, and read, and write some more. And maybe nap later.

Valentine Soba

So I've a new laptop! Well, sort of. One of the newer friends I made here in Kigali (she's the one from Singapore) is moving on Saturday, and she had an old laptop lying around. She let me pay about $100 for the laptop, and I am so grateful for it. Sure, it's slow, but with The Man on email and Skype, he's helping me pare out some programs and defrag the thing so I have more space and speed. I'm hopeful. Oh, and did I mention that on the keys are Thai characters? Wonderful!

Why is it that as soon as I make friends I like here, they are all halfway out the door from Rwanda? It seems common right now that I meet expats I like and they all say "Oh, but I've only a month left here." It's saddening, and a bit frustrating, I'll admit.

Bits and Bobs from the Weekend

So let's see...another few days without writing. And a few things happening. I think bullets are easiest, but I'll try to aim for brief paragraphs. Don't consider it a "flowing" blog - it's really more of a splatter of thoughts here and there and everywhere.

We fired the maid. Already. Two weeks in and she's gone. But we have a new one, methinks, coming here tomorrow. Long story short, but the cleaning lady (aka maid) didn't actually clean. We don't know what she was doing, really. Well, she did wash our clothes. But everything else was for the dogs. And then she burned Denise's brand new dress with an iron, and that was that.

On Liking My Students

I, for the most part, love my students. They may have a hard time sometime, and sometimes they are completely ridiculous and disobedient and I want to scream at the top of my lungs...but for the most part, I really like them.

Yesterday I had a meeting at a big higher institute here with the Vice Rector of Academics, so I could talk about IT (partly for me and my class, partly for The Man). I had to go just after classes ended, so I was leaving around the time the students were scattering out. As I was walking out to the road, I hear my name being shouted behind me. One of my students, Queen, was running up behind me. "I want to walk with you, Ms. Kim!" So we walked and talked. Small talk, mostly, but it was nice.

As we were walking, we were coming to a treacherous area on the road - the dirt road slopes dramatically and is all sandy and slippery. Normally I'm in my hiking boots, so I don't mind, but today I was looking nice in my work slippers. I had a feeling of dread as we walked towards the slope, and I start to whimper.

Cute Things & Travel

Well, after a few days of ready to blow my cork and swearing under my breath, I want to, again, approach my blog in a positive manner. It can be extremely difficult to feel positive when I feel like I'm running through tar uphill. Sometimes right now I just feel like the forces that be are more or less out against me. Should I even be here?? There are some days lately I just want to quit it all and get into a bed and not be bothered for a week or so, then get on a plane to see The Man. And that's that.

Anyways! So I am going to make a great effort to bring myself back to things I enjoy. Like puppies, and baby pandas...

There are a few cute things here in Rwanda that I've been enjoying recently. I hope you enjoy it, too:

• The goats! There are little goats that graze near the school on the way home. And their tails stick up! UP! Like little antennae. Just happily eating goats with tails all straight and narrow.
• Babies. The babies here are absolutely adorable. Not only because they are wrapped up on their moms, as I have already discussed, but because they just are cute! There was this little baby boy with an adorable face a few days ago. He was learning how to talk, I think. I found him on a couch in a hotel just wobbling around with his legs splayed out. And I started to play with him. "Da da da da!" we would say to each other. I'd stomp my feet and he'd kick his legs on the couch, laughing. We clapped and had the simplest, most fun ever.
• The cars here. I know, I know...how on Earth? Well, the only thing I can describe for the imagery is a little 12-passenger van hobbling up one of the many hills here, with a tilt. It's just cute! Little vans with a bit of a tilted manner is just like watching a little car tutting around with a little song in the background.
• I've already said it, but...the birds.

I really need to get out of the city for a weekend, or a day, or a week, or whatever. I want to revive my humanity and see the beauty that is Africa. The stuff that people go gaga about and take millions of pictures about to show their families in frames at home. The red-dipped sunsets and the electric green jungles. Those things, I want to see. I need to see. I crave seeing.

Places I'm considering to see include:

• Bujembura, Burundi
• The Serengeti in Tanzania
• Uganda
• The Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya
• Goma (in a country I won't currently name) & Gisenyi (and Lake Kivu)
• Butare
• Bugesere
• Musanze
• Gorilla Trekking and Volcano-ville in the North of Rwanda - Virunga?

Of course, this isn't an exclusive list. If there are other places that I end up going outside of Kigali, I am extremely open to seeing them. I want to share a lot of these with The Man, but it's a matter of time and logistics. I have to make sure that I want to be here more than a year or so before I bring The Man to be involved in anything. If I don't want to be here more than that, then I'll happily go home in a while after I'm done here.

About Mayonnaise

I feel that this deserves a special recognition on my blog. I know I've mentioned it before, but I don't really feel like I touched on just how prevalent this subject is to the very core of what seems to be the nutritional values of this culture.

In the US, I feel that the staple food for people depends on where you from. For my family, it was butter. For me, it's olive oil. For a lot of people, maybe it's ketchup.

Here in Rwanda, it's mayonnaise. Mayonnaise everything.

Mayonnaise here is the key ingredient in what seems like a very large amount of meals provided here. You put mayonnaise on your french fries (aka chips). You put mayonnaise on your sandwiches. In your salads. On pasta. You name the dish, I'm sure people here have managed to put mayonnaise on it somehow.

And the sad thing is....it's so tasty! Sandwiches are juicy with mayonnaise. Salads have the fattening desire that satisfies your palate.

Mayonnaise comes here in large containers. And low fat mayonnaise seems like a downgrade to the real thing.

I don't know if I'm grateful or mournful for this new add-on to my diet...

House Cleaning Bits

So, it's been a while since I last blogged.

What have I been doing??

Meh, stuff.

I know, I know. What?! No fascinating details? Really?

Well, I could give you a list of what I did the last few days. And I shall.

Moving Into Home

A few things have gone on in the last couple of days. I have not had an internet modem to connect me at all, so I've been unable to report on my life.

I was house hopping for a few days. Three days here, three days there. Basically, just looking for a place and trying not to make too much of a burden for anyone. And after about 4 weeks of living out of a suitcase, I can officially tell you that I am looking forward to unpacking somewhere, for once. No more wrinkled clothing. No more lost items in the large caverns of the suitcases. No more wheeling around my crap just for a good night's rest.

Before I get to it, I have to just note how absolutely twitterpated I am by the birds here. I know I've mentioned it before, but the birds here are really truly wonderful. Their songs are so bright and lovely, and I love waking up to their music in the morning. I am also always amazed at the new birds I've seen! A few days ago I saw electric blue birds with yellow chests. And today while walking to the street, I saw a little tiny bird probably no more than 2.5" tall and with a brick red coloring. Teeny tiny!

Ceci N'est Pas Une Pipe

Today during work, my two Ugandan colleagues were upset about a flyer. Irene was upset, specifically, because she just put up these fun flyers about some random event, and someone had just vandalized them.

Who had done it?! No one knew.

The writing said something completely disgraceful for a women's institute: "This is a condom."

How dare they!

Well, Irene and Faith discussed it at length, and finally looked to me for some insight. I looked at the flyer.

And lo! the picture Irene had pasted onto the document, sure enough, was a big, happy, waving condom.



"Well, ladies... that is indeed a condom."


Their faces dropped with a fast wash of horror.


"Oh my god! Is it really?!"


"Absolutely. A big, friendly condom."


Irene groans and runs off to tear down all of the newly-printed flyers. I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Quite a bit. Apparently, they just had no idea!