Site visit!

Week 6
I went to my site this week and met my counterparts and saw where I will be working and where I will be living. There are tea fields everywhere and it is beautiful. My house is on top of a hill with a super steep, slippery, muddy path, but it is amazing! It’s a beautiful brick home with 5 rooms!!! I have a large sitting room, a large guest room with two beds, our two bedrooms and another room which we might turn into an office, or we might have a Rwandan nurse who works at our clinic live with us. Then when you walk outside we have a kitchen a large storage room, two latrines and a shower room with running water! There also is a sink in our kitchen and a spicket outside the kitchen door. It has an amazing view of the hills and a glimpse of Kivu. Our neighbors are nuns who are amazing. They were so helpful and kind to us while we were there and they are super funny. I made one of them cry at dinner because we were laughing so hard. She had to leave the table because she couldn’t stop laughing. I had tears rolling down my cheeks too and was trying to stop but couldn’t. It reminded me of times with mom and aunt terri when we get into giggle fits and cannot stop. So, that makes me happy having such amazing neighbors. To get to work, we have to trek down our slippery hill to get to the clinic everyday and I will let you know when I fall (because I will). The only downfall to our site is that we are 8 hours from Kigali and are 14 kilometers down a dirt path from the paved road that leads to Cyangugu, Butare and Kigali (aka civilization). In the rainy season, we will be stuck in our town. I am one of the few PCVs that get to ride on a motorcycle though (because it is impossible to get to my house any other way, it’s a 3 hour walk). So in short, I am happy with my site. I have electricity and running water and a beautiful view, I am just super isolated and wont be able to access internet very often, so call my phone!
Getting back to Butare was not a problem. We took the hour motorbike ride into the small town at the road and the bus from Cyangugu stopped there and picked us up and drove us to Butare. In total, I think the trip was 4 ½ hours (not including waiting time). But its such a beautiful drive that I don’t mind it, except for when I feel like I am going to pee my pants and start crying when we fly around corners going through the forest.