Ali in Africa!: Swearing in Ceremony and Good Food in Kigali

Week 11
This week has been a whirlwind! We left Butare on Tuesday early in the morning and got into Kigali in the afternoon in which we had a short talk by the IT guy about using the computers at the Kigali office and our director talked to us about our jobs and went through the community assessment packet we have to do our first 3 months at site. And I cannot remember what we did that night… so much has happened since then. Wednesday, we had our swearing in ceremony, so we were all dressed our best and went to the ambassadors house. It was pouring rain and the ceremony was outside, but thankfully, the ambassador had the sense to put up tents. The minister of education, health and the former ambassador to the US were there to congratulate us and say a few words. The TV crew was also there and I got to see myself that night on the national news in English, French, and Kinyarwanda! The ceremony was really nice and it made me feel very proud to be here and be a part of this. We are getting so much support from the Rwandan government its amazing. Most PC countries do not have this much support from the government, our very first day in Rwanda the Minister of Health met with us, not just a representative, the minister himself! They are excited to have PC back in Rwanda and I am so happy that I get to be a part of this. We are also getting a lot of support from the US side of things. Many former PCVs are now working in Rwanda and they all are completely supportive of us and want to help us and are totally open to having us visit them and ask them for things. After our ceremony, there was some food and it was delicious! Mini pizzas, quiche, cookies, I was so happy I ate too much and got a stomachache. Our picture was in the paper the next day with a quote from me, which got pretty skewed and it said that another volunteer had said it. Our picture is also up on the PC website, if you all want to see it. The TV crew got a lot of me in their filming because I was in the front row and at one point zoomed in on my face so all you could see on the screen was my head!! Not the most flattering. Wednesday after swearing in, our PCMO took us around Kigali to a few different shops so we knew where things were and could check some prices before buying. My favorite store she showed me was a little shop with food and electronics and a few other random items, but it is owned by this Indian family and they are amazing. They are so nice and gave me free bottles to put spices in, a free jar of peanut butter and their prices on lentils and spices were the best. The other Indian store is awesome too with a really nice owner who lives in Texas for a while and they have an amazing lunch buffet (which I went to on Friday), but the prices are a little higher and they don’t give me free things. I bought very few things on Wednesday, mostly food. I got gelato from a German bakery and it made me super happy! Wednesday night, I went to a tapas restaurant that is owned by one of the volunteer’s friend’s boyfriends. It was amazingly good, but as soon as I sat down I saw they had mojitos and got sooo excited, only to find out that they didn’t have them that night! I almost cried. The food was so good and it came so quickly that I thought they must have given us someone else’s food. The restaurants here are crazy slow. Most places Rwandans eat are buffet style and they just go out to drink, so when we order food it’s confusing and it takes on average 2 hours to get food. I waited four hours once and had to call our director and tell him we were going to miss curfew (we had a curfew during training because the center we stayed in closed the gates at 10pm). Mom and Ricky called me to congratulate me on graduating from training, so that made me happy!
Thursday, we went to lake Muhazi for a celebration of sorts at the embassy house. The US embassy has a house on the lake that they use for various occasions, so we got to use it. its not much of a house, but it’s a beautiful spot. Two embassy guards came with us and we were all so jealous of their living situation. They have a pool, a pool table, a bar, hot water, clean water you can drink from the tap, movies sent to them monthly from the US, a refrigerator and freezer and a driver. I am planning on visiting them often! Buri gihe that I am in Kigali. I went on the little boat and had them drop me in the middle of the lake and swam back to the shore. I got a little scared after they left me cause I kept thinking a crocodile was going to eat me even though I knew there were no animals in the lake. I made it to the shore, but I might have gotten schisto. Our PCMO was not happy we were all swimming, but I can’t help it. I see water and I have to get in it. I had forgotten my bathing suit in Butare, but I went swimming anyways, in my pajama shorts and a tank top. One of the volunteers was knee boarding behind the boat and fell off and split his eyebrow open, so he had to go to the hospital and get 2 stitches. It was a wonderful day and a perfect way to celebrate and I finally got vegetarian sambusas!! I had been watching everyone eat sambusas the past 3 months dying to have one. Friday was our big shopping day and I went to the Chinese store, simba, nakumatt, the Indian store for more spices and brown rice, and to the bank to get my checkbook. I was able to get money out the day before, but wasn’t able to get my checkbook because I was at a different branch. The lines at the bank are ridiculous and I don’t understand why they are so crazy, but you have to wait for HOURS to get money out. It takes a few months for a checkcard to come and then you can use the ATM, but until then, I have to prepare for a good 2-3 hours in line at the bank before I can get money out. The Indian buffet we had for lunch was really good, but super expensive and they only had one vegetarian dish!
Saturday everyone started leaving. We had to say goodbye to most of the volunteers (only 10 of us were leaving on Sunday). After goodbyes, we went back to town to finish shopping. I had an iced coffee from Bourbon and it was amazing. I am so happy in Kigali because I get to have amazing food and drinks, but its expensive.

Playing in Lake Muhazi