“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

It’s been too busy of a week to write a creative or concise blog post, but I’ll give it a go and add some more pictures next time. We’ve spent the week getting oriented about the city, our program, and some more Kinyarwanda language. As for the city, it’s going to take a while to get used to navigating the hills. Even if I think it’s the correct direction, the hilltops often obscure the view, and the neighborhoods haven’t become distinct for me yet. Thankfully, taking some walks has helped a bit. My brief moment of pride was when another Muzungu (a passenger on a moto) asked me for directions, and I actually had recently passed the place he was looking for, score!

It has been draining, but fun to learn all about our role with the embassy, study Kinyarwanda, discover some restaurants and clubs, and be woken up the next morning at 5am by the raucous noises of birds to start all over again. This weekend, we had the good fortune to meet some eclectic people, including a Rwandan friend of a current ETA (English teaching assistant) who works at one of the national parks around here, and a Belgian-Rwandan optometrist and his Kenyan coworkers who turned out to be fun.  I also found out people can seriously salsa (and other kinds of) dance around here! Note to self…learn the Kinyarwanda equivalent of “I have two left feet!”

Today is the first day of the academic year at Kicukiro College of Technology and official moving day into my first “house.” ( I forgot to bring my memory card to the café, so pictures to come)

t’s one of 15 subsidized houses on the campus for some teachers. I’m so excited about mine because it has mango and papaya trees in the yard. Housing is included with the grant, but the subsidized housing usually goes for $80 per month for three bedrooms and one bathroom. Compared with $600 for the off-campus equivalent, this is a great deal.

College life was good preparation for living cheaply here, since Kigali is turning out to be a pricey city. Six to ten dollars for a cab ride, you’ve got to be kidding me! Ni Menshi!!! (it’s expensive). Ok, so maybe that is pushing it, but in all honesty, a supermarket in City Center called Nakumatt wants more for a set of dishes than Walmart does. I can’t wait to shop in the outdoor market that’s a block from my house. My boss took me there today to show me around, and it’s a colorful assortment of beans, cassava and sorghum flour, almost every kind of vege or fruit you can get in the US (minus apples, but it’s an okay trade). The good news is the market produce is fresh and affordable; 4 tomates= less than 20 cents. Cooking is going to be fun! I’ll also only have to be criticized for what one of the teachers at Kicukiro called “eating like a chick” one meal a day at the campus staff cantine. How to explain that your food is absolutely delicious, but I just don’t have the appetite or metabolism to finish off a heaping plate.

Kicukiro College is actually a campus which has a technical secondary school (high school), some vocational education programs, the college, and soon to come an “incubation center” for new businesses. The short form is “IPRC” Integrated Regional Polytechnic Center.  I’ll find out tomorrow what sorts of tasks I’ll be doing in the English department here for the academic year. My head is already spinning with all the possibilities for side projects here in Kigali that complement the teaching. The Vice Principal for Academic Affairs cracked me up when I was introduced to him and he said, “You know, we’re a bunch of engineers, so we could use your help with communications.” Actually, I don’t know if the staff at Kicukiro knows what they’re in for, because I will likely be the one doing most of the learning. It will be great to meet the English teaching team tomorrow.  I have a feeling the scientists and I are going to get along.  You’d be able to spot me a mile away on this campus for being the blonde female with the difficult name. Even at the Bureau d’Immigration applying for my work permit, the officer was very puzzled. “Your name, where are you from, which land?” The beauty of coming from the US where any combination is possible.

Kinyarwanda works for the day:

Magana Tatu= 300, don’t ask me why, but this is my favorite number in Kinyarwanda because it is easy and fun to say. Plus, it’s a good price for a moto ride, a water, or a soda. I need to work more on my numbers, because counting in hundreds is a lot easier than the small numbers.