something for you to read.

I have decided to post even though I don't have anything of note to write. Now you will have something to read. I am going to be totally and utterly insane by the time friday roles around so pity Mike Pam and Jen who are going camping with me next weekend. I'm going camping!! I know I have already posted about this (at least I think I did, but I may have dreamt it.) but I am really looking forward to it. I am working at least 10 hours every day until then, but at least I will have some money to spend when I go to Kenya for Christmas.

Here is a story for you. Today at Zehrs a cute little old lady came through my till. You know the type - less than four feet tall, very delicate frame, curly cute old lady hair and very thick glasses. She was all smiley and called me dear. When I had finished ringing in her items she paid with debt. She must have pressed the wrong button because the next thing out of her mouth was "oh Shit! I've made a mistake. Dammit!"

It was all I could do not to let my mouth drop open in shock or to burst out laughing. It made my day.

Seriously, what day IS it?!

Honestly I am having trouble with this. Today I really thought it was friday, but it didn't really matter that it was only wednesday because it isn't like I have a real weekend anyway! Somehow in the midst of all this craziness I have still found time to read the last installment of Harry Potter - which I had to buy since I can't borrow it from Amp - see Transformers (fun!) and read a really good book called The White Man's Burden by William Easterly, which is about Development stuff so I don't expect anyone except me to enjoy reading it. It is his second book, and now I have to find his other one.

I really should go to bed since I haven't been sleeping well lately. I work between 9 and 13 hours most days and wake up every morning really tired, but by the time night comes around I am wide awake, so not much sleeping really occurs, which starts the horrible cycle all over again.

The cycle will be broken next weekend because I am going camping! I am very excited to spend a couple days in the woods and I am smugly satisfied that I snagged the very last site. Yahoo!

So now, I will go to sleep so I can start it all again tomorrow.

Malaria Free!!

I took my last malaria pill yesterday!! Yahoo! So, I guess I am not so much malaria free as malaria pill free, but whatever. I am sad though, since this means I have been home from Africa for four weeks. Weird. No worries though since the little blue pills will be back with me soon enough!!

Good thing I have Rwanda to look forward to. If I didn't I might go a little crazy with my work schedule. I'm back to working crazy hours so I'm looking forward to sunday, my first day off in almost two weeks. I'll have to enjoy it though since it'll be another two weeks before I get another one!

Still excited

Sorry for the lull in posting here. I will get around to telling more about my trip and putting up my pictures, I promise. For now I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I only have to work at Zehrs for another month and a half!! I leave for Rwanda in two and a half months!! I am still not sure what all this means but it got a little clearer yesterday when I got the orientation package from World Vision. Still don't know where I'll be living in Rwanda but more info about expectations and logistics makes this all seem real. It is very exciting!!!!

Aside from freaking out about this - I am moving back to Africa hourah!! I have been working in my veggie garden which is sadly lacking in veggies as of yet despite the abundence of leafy greenery. I have also been picking, washing and pitting cherries until my hands are semi-permanently died purple. So now you are mostly caught up with the happenings of my life. Sadly no camping adventures yet, but I must go before the end of the summer - anyone who lives in Ontario who wants to go, let me know!!

Yahoo!!

I can hardly sit still enough to type this! I got a call about ten minutes ago from World Vision. I GOT THE INTERNSHIP!!!! I don't even know if I have posted about this yet. So here's the background. Before I left for Rwanda I had applied for an internship with World Vision. It is a research and capacity building position working with national staff in Rwanda. Since I was going there anyway, I thought it would be a great thing to apply for. Then while I was in Rwanda we stayed right across the street from the World Vision offices in Kigali. The week after I got home I had an interview in Mississauga and now today I got a call saying I GOT THE INTERNSHIP! So I get to go back to Rwanda in October for at least six months. Now I have to go get ready for work at Zehrs but who cares since I only have to work there another couple of months!!!!

Finally - My Rwanda Trip - Part I

So, I have been putting this off because I don't really know where to start. Now I have been home for two weeks and it is silly that I haven't posted this yet. So here it goes.

My adventures started with an impossibly long trip - three planes and two days. We managed to have fun on this trip despite the lack of sleep, the rude awakenings at 1am for "supper", and spending several hours sleeping on the floor at the Frankfurt international airport. So after all this, we arrived in Rwanda.
I have never seen anything as beautiful as this country. South Africa is a stunning place and Canada is full of beautiful places but there is something about Rwanda that just made me fall in love. Kigali, the capital, is a crazy bustling city. So many people everywhere, and you can't dive straight. You are either going up or down at all times.



A view of Kigali from our guest house

The moon rising over Kigali


The church where we spent most of our time when we were in the city.




After a couple days of getting settled and planning we took off for Kibuye, which is a small city on the shores of Lake Kivu. Again, this place is the most beautiful place ever. We spent three days working in a refugee camp outside of the city, on the top of a mountain. While we were there we did leadership training with the Youth Workers in the camp.
Youth Ministry is a pretty new thing there so we talked alot about our experiences in Youth Ministry, what works, what doesn't, and the importance of having relationships with the youthe you work with. It was a really challenging but rewarding time. Three days was not long enough!

Somewhere around 18 000 people live in the camp. They are Congolese-Rwandan refugees who found themselves in the Congo when the Belgians drew the borders. Now they can see their home on a clear day, but they can't go there.

Lake Kivu is a volcanic lake so there are tons of inlets and islands making it great for scenic photos, but also for fish! We ate lots of fish and except for the times when the head was still attached, it was very yummy:)

Rwanda is known as the land of 1000 hills and it is not hard to guess why. Green lush mountains as far as the eye can see. We drove half an hour through the mountains everyday to get to the camp and

were treated to this magnificent scenary on the way.

I have to stop here for now, but the rest will follow soon.