Wow. It has been a week since I posted last which means I have now been in Kigali for two weeks. Time is flying! Or running, as they say here.

I had a bit of a frustrating week. On one hand I officially got my ethics approval from my school so I am now allowed to start my research for real. On the other hand things are moving very slowly on that front. A few of my contacts have fallen through although I made a few new ones this week that will hopefully make up for that. Everything is just slow and it's frustrating. But I knew this coming into it. Part of it is cultural - nothing happens here in a hurry. Part of it is just the nature of doing research in a new context. It is all about who you know and it takes time to form the needed networks.

It also rained A LOT this week. It is rainy season so I expect it to rain. But not all day. And not when I planned to go somewhere/do something. I am not used to the weather dictating what I can and cannot do. I live in Halifax where it rains a lot. We had a particularily rainy spring and early summer this year so I am used to rain. But in Halifax I can do things even if it rains. I can take a bus, I can walk in the rain, I can get a ride from a friend. Slightly inconvenient but no big deal. Here it is a different story. I think I have mentioned before that I live pretty far from downtown, and from basically everywhere I need to go. So I have to take a motto or a taxi everywhere. Mottos don't really run in the rain because a) the drivers don't like to get wet and b) it isn't really safe in the rain. So twice this week it started to storm just as I was about to leave the house. On thursday the power went out and my computer battery died so I just had a nap all afternoon.

Today has been an improvement. It didn't rain today which meant I got a lot done. Not on my research, but I ran errands with Maddy my housemate (read her blog at the side of the page) and we bought ingredients for dinner tonight. Neither Dora nor Maddy really know how to cook so tonight is the first "cooking class with Laura". We are going to make faijtas and chocolate no bake cookies. Next weekend we're doing lasagne I think. Our morning started at African Bagel Coop where I had a doughnut and coffee and hung out with Jen and her kids and met two new people who might be able to help me with my research. Nicky is doing her dissertation research and knows a really great translator and Kelly works with a women's organization here that would be perfect to talk to for my research. I am hoping this will help me kick start my research. Time to get moving!

From there we went downtown to wander and run errands. I met up with Shemsa, the niece of my old landlord from last time I lived here. She lived below us and would come hang out with Pip and I on a regular basis. She speaks really good english and was a huge help to us and is a lot of fun. It was good to see her and to hear that she is finishing highschool this year.

To top off the day, I had another interesting motto driver today. While we were driving, weaving in and out of traffic, he was singing. Loudly. It made me smile all the way into town.