Well, I am in my third day in Rwanda, pinching myself to make sure this is real life. As internet access is very limited, my posts will be delayed, and pictures will have to wait until I am back in the states. Nevertheless I'll fill you in on my journey out here, and my initial arrival. Leaving work on Tuesday was a weird feeling, leaving the security of the job but incredibly excited to embrace the unknown. I went out for a great dinner with family in San Francisco before heading to the airport..a toast to whatever lay ahead.
Later that night I boarded the plane at SFO heading to DC. My 30 hour, 10,000 mile journey had begun. After the red eye, a nice 5 hour layover at Dulles and a 13 hour flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia followed. While the flight was just like any other long plane trip, the Addis Ababa airport was an experience. What looked like a modern terminal from the outside was anything but on the inside. Temporary walls separated everything into what looked like a "duty free" flea market. Random boxes were everywhere, with empty shelves except for piles of booze in the corner. The gate area was also separated by random security checks and a glass partition. However, my favorite part was the leaky roof. What could have been an overwhelming layover was made easy by friendly staff, and a chatty Austrian guy at the cafe. After about 3 hours of chatting it up at the cafe and browsing the "shops", I boarded the nice short flight to Kigali, Rwanda. I may have been exhausted but excitement overwhelmed me as we flew over the beautiful Rwandan country side. Disembarking on the tarmac, I felt like a giddy little kid at disneyland. Immigration was a breeze, and in five minutes I had my bag in hand and was out the door. My friend Charlie picked me up from the airport, and immediately headed to lunch to meet up with some of his expat friends. The Chinese lunch was surprisingly good, and offered a relaxing setting to get introduced. While obviously an incredibly poor country, I was immediately struck by the modernity of this area of the city. The road to Charlie's house from the restaurant was a modern grand boulevard, lined with government buildings, offices and restaurants. The neighborhood the house is in is considered wealthy for the city, and all the houses are fully walled in with a large metal gate. While considered a safe city, this is normal practice with all the nicer houses. The house itself is simple but very comfortable, and quite modern. After throwing down my stuff, taking a "drip" shower, and setting up a misquoto net over a foam mattress, I was ready to explore. We immediately hailed two moto's (motorcycle taxis) and whipped through the city streets to the city centre (currency exchange, and a SIM card were first on my to do list). Running on three hours of sleep in over 48 hours, I felt as if I was in a dream. The moto ride was exciting as it whisked through busy roads up and down big hills to the somewhat modern city centre. Despite this relatively new development, the surrounding poverty is still pretty evident. Women walking long distances with baskets on their heads, sheet metal shacks, and old cars with absolutely no emissions standards were just some of the things that stood out. It's amazing how this scene bumped up against banks, embassies, and modern businesses. Hopefully the latter is a sign of things to come for this city and helps to change the typical notion of African cities. Well this post is running long, and I am running out of internet time. My next update will be of my weekend on beautiful lake kivu! There is lots more to come over the next 2 weeks!
PS- it only took a couple hours until I was called an umuzungu (tall white man) by some school children. I am officially in Africa!
Later that night I boarded the plane at SFO heading to DC. My 30 hour, 10,000 mile journey had begun. After the red eye, a nice 5 hour layover at Dulles and a 13 hour flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia followed. While the flight was just like any other long plane trip, the Addis Ababa airport was an experience. What looked like a modern terminal from the outside was anything but on the inside. Temporary walls separated everything into what looked like a "duty free" flea market. Random boxes were everywhere, with empty shelves except for piles of booze in the corner. The gate area was also separated by random security checks and a glass partition. However, my favorite part was the leaky roof. What could have been an overwhelming layover was made easy by friendly staff, and a chatty Austrian guy at the cafe. After about 3 hours of chatting it up at the cafe and browsing the "shops", I boarded the nice short flight to Kigali, Rwanda. I may have been exhausted but excitement overwhelmed me as we flew over the beautiful Rwandan country side. Disembarking on the tarmac, I felt like a giddy little kid at disneyland. Immigration was a breeze, and in five minutes I had my bag in hand and was out the door. My friend Charlie picked me up from the airport, and immediately headed to lunch to meet up with some of his expat friends. The Chinese lunch was surprisingly good, and offered a relaxing setting to get introduced. While obviously an incredibly poor country, I was immediately struck by the modernity of this area of the city. The road to Charlie's house from the restaurant was a modern grand boulevard, lined with government buildings, offices and restaurants. The neighborhood the house is in is considered wealthy for the city, and all the houses are fully walled in with a large metal gate. While considered a safe city, this is normal practice with all the nicer houses. The house itself is simple but very comfortable, and quite modern. After throwing down my stuff, taking a "drip" shower, and setting up a misquoto net over a foam mattress, I was ready to explore. We immediately hailed two moto's (motorcycle taxis) and whipped through the city streets to the city centre (currency exchange, and a SIM card were first on my to do list). Running on three hours of sleep in over 48 hours, I felt as if I was in a dream. The moto ride was exciting as it whisked through busy roads up and down big hills to the somewhat modern city centre. Despite this relatively new development, the surrounding poverty is still pretty evident. Women walking long distances with baskets on their heads, sheet metal shacks, and old cars with absolutely no emissions standards were just some of the things that stood out. It's amazing how this scene bumped up against banks, embassies, and modern businesses. Hopefully the latter is a sign of things to come for this city and helps to change the typical notion of African cities. Well this post is running long, and I am running out of internet time. My next update will be of my weekend on beautiful lake kivu! There is lots more to come over the next 2 weeks!
PS- it only took a couple hours until I was called an umuzungu (tall white man) by some school children. I am officially in Africa!
 |
| Finally in Kigali! |
 |
| The expat house in Kimihurura, Kigali |
 |
| My fine mosquito net draping skills |
Comments
Post a Comment