Arrivals

I woke up early this morning to the sounds of Rwanda gradually filtering into my bedroom window. It started with the roosters and the sounds of the neighbours talking. I live at the top of a hill so there is not much traffic going infront of the house but the sound of the traffic below creates a background humming with the occasional beep of a horn or rattling of a larger truck. All of this got loud enough that I couldn't fall back asleep without the help of my ipod and then of course I over slept and missed church. When I woke for the second time it was quiet again; people are out at church so there is less talking and the roosters have mostly gone quiet. The traffic is still in the background but I can also hear the singing of a local church somewhere down the hill and the birds. It is mostly sunny this morning, a nice break since it has been cloudy since I got here and has rained each night. I have seen a couple weaver birds in the yard, where I'm sitting to write this, but I haven't found their nest yet. Weaver birds build their nests upside down so that the opening points towards the ground and they are fasinating to watch. Unfortunately the silly birds have a habit of picking the weakest branches to hold their heavy nests so they often have to build at least 2 before they build one that can hold their eggs.

I am living with my friend Dora, who I met last time I lived here in Kigali. She and our other housemate Maddy met me at the airport and it was like I saw her last month instead of three years ago. She has hardly changed at all! My plane landed in the pouring rain which makes things interesting since Kigali airport does not have typical gates - you get out onto the tarmac and walk over to the main building. I could tell from the air, even in the dark and in the rain that Kigali had grown since I was last here. There were a lot more houses lite up with electricity and many of the main roads were outlined by street lamps. I've only been here less than 48 hrs but it has been interesting to see all the ways the city has changed. A few new roundabouts, newly paved roads, new modern buildings built with glass and steel instead of bricks. But it is still Kigali with people selling airtime on all the busy corners, motos buzzing between traffic and bikes being pushed up hills ladden with jerry cans or bananas.

Yesterday morning Maddy and I went into town. First we went to the Africa Bagel Coop which is new since I was here last. It is in a house off the main road that leads out of the city towards Nyamata, where I worked with World Vision. Some things on the road haven't changed like the house with disny characters painted on it and the market there, but other have like a new clinic and several new buildings. Anyway, ABC as it is called, is a really cute sort of cafe bakery that sells bagels and on saturdays they have donuts. They also have tortilla chips but since I slept in they were all sold out of those by the time we got there. This will probably become a saturday tradition, one I will be looking forward too.

We got a ride to ABC with Serge and the kids, and it was so great to see them. Serge is one of my favourite people in Rwanda and I had fun playing red light, green light with Isabella and chasing Bennie around to keep him out of mischief. When I was here last Prince had just turned 10, Isabella had her first birthday and Bennie wasn't born yet. After donuts and coffee Serge dropped Maddy and I at kisementi (I can never spell these things correctly) near where they live and we got a motto into town.

Some of you may not realize what a big deal this is. My last time on a motorcycle was here in Kigali, two weeks before I left. It did not end well. You can read about it if you like and if I could remember how to link past posts I would do that here. For now you'll just have to look it up on the side, 'they say you life flashes before your eyes'. So needless to say, I was not planning on getting on a motto right away, if ever on this trip. But it was going to rain and Maddy needed to get to town before her bank closed (fail. banks here close when they feel like it.)so I got on a motto. And prayed the whole way. I asked my driver to go slowly and he did, arriving a full five minutes after Maddy's bike did. But I didn't die and we took mottos home as well, again in order to beat the rain. It is nice to be back!