Muraho! Amakuru? Ni Meza!

Greetings from the Kiyovu District of Kigali! It seems hard to believe that we've only been here a little over a week. We've been keeping busy, mostly with Kinyarwanda lessons, but I've been loving my time here in Rwanda so far.

We're staying at the Presbyterian Guest House in Kigali for the time being. It's a beautiful, gated oasis just a short walk from downtown. There's a beautiful lawn area and we're lucky to have a great view of the sprawling expanse of Kigali from the grounds. The food has been plentiful and delicious, a nice mix of traditional Rwandan food with some Western influences here and there. For example, at nearly every meal, we've been served hand-cut fries!

Our courtyard at the guesthouse

The view from our guesthouse

Outside of Kinyarwanda lessons and other orientation sessions, we've had some time to explore Kigali a bit. Some of the youth (which in Rwanda means anyone 18-35) from the Kigali Parish of the Lutheran Church in Rwanda showed us the bus system one afternoon and we had the chance to see more of Kigali. We've also spent some of our afternoon Kinyarwanda classes going into the city to markets and shops. It's been cool to see more of Kigali than just our neighborhood.

Our country coordinator, Kate, has also been very welcoming in hosting some sessions at her house. I've especially enjoyed playing with her dog, Jimmy. Yesterday, we all made lunch together and had a feast of pesto with fresh basil, roasted vegetables and chicken. Jimmy enjoyed snacking on the chicken bones and cheese rinds.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend: James "Jimmy" Imbwa

A view of Kigali from Kate's house

The wall below Kate's house using recycled glass bottles as a sort of Rwandan barbed wire

Life has started to feel normal in Rwanda. I know that when we are uprooted again to travel to our site placements, there will be another period of adjustment, but so far I'm feeling as though I'm at home.

Sleeping in my mosquito net: I always did want a princess canopy bed

p.s. The title of this post means "Hello! What's the news? It's good!"