Adam came to visit and we went to Abdoul’s for an Eid party. It was pouring rain and we got pretty wet on the way. He invited a LOT of people and didn’t think of where to fit them all if it was raining, so we all tried to squish into the house. It was kind of funny. We ate dinner and drank some fanta and chatted with people around us waiting for the rain to end so we could make a break for it. There was a lull in the rain, so we ran out and tried to get transport back into town. I got about half way there when the rain started again. We got soaked and sat at the bar freezing! Saturday, we didn’t do much. Went and had some food at the hotel and saw Adam’s housemate’s little brother. Sunday, it was just raining and raining all day. Didn’t leave the house and the power went out so I couldn’t cook anything (have an electric kettle and a hot plate only), so we ate a bag of goldfish crackers (thanks g-ma and auntie terri!), then around 3pm, we went and got some real food and adam got on the bus to go back to Kigali.
I taught another group of peer educators the permagardening and nutrition the next week and this time had two students from the university to help me. We started on Tuesday for two days with the Youth PEs and then thursday and Friday with the adults. Thursday after work, I went out to get a drink with the students and they took me to a bar I didn’t know existed, so that was fun. I always like finding new places to go. It was called the forest bar or something to that point, because it was in the middle of nowhere surrounded by trees. It was cold! We had two drinks each and I called Abdoul because I figured he’d be at the University studying, so he came and joined us for the second round. Then Abdoul and I went to dinner. Friday, we left the training early (didn’t eat the free lunch) so that Martin, my driver, and I could catch our buses to Kigali. Mama Adam was in town and I met Adam, Louis and her at the big supermarket where they were buying things for the new house. After shopping, we went and got some dinner then met up with others for drinks at a bar none of us had ever been to. It was a little shady, so we decided to go to the nicer bar that we knew of down the road, but it was closed, so we ended up in some hole in the wall that was actually really fun! By the end of the night (early morning) we were the only ones there and the bar keeps seemed more than ready to go home and sleep (one fell asleep in a chair by the door). Saturday, Adam took me to a BBQ for the new Young Professionals Leadership group thing he just joined. It was pretty fun and at the end of the get together, they had a drawing in which I won the main prize! I got a free pass to go see the gorillas!!! I am really excited because I haven’t done it yet and I have been wanting to since I got here. I almost went in August when Jon visited, but now I get to go for free! After that, we met up with Mama Adam, Minega and Louis for dinner at the fancy Indian restaurant and had a delicious meal; all in all, a really good night. I left Sunday back to Butare.
Monday and the rest of the week, didn’t have much to do. No trainings or anything, so just stayed in the office on the internet and working on the COP (country operational plan) that we need to turn into USAID to get our PEPFAR funding for next year. I also spent copious amounts of time trying to figure out my flight home, working both on the internet and on the phone with mom, but finally got it and I’ll be home November 24th for 2 weeks! Wednesday, a friend from Nyamasheke came and stayed at my house for the night with her friend who was in PC Jamacia. We hung out at the house, got bored and went out for drinks at the motel near me. We saw lightning and heard thunder, but decided to go anyways, since it was close. Well, we got trapped in a little hut thing outside with the rain blowing in and the thunder and lightning interrupting our conversation. We got sick of the rain blowing on us, so we up-ended the table to block the doorway. There was a small lull in the storm, so we ran to pay and to get home, made it just in time! The rain pick back up ferociously right after we got in the door (after I slipped and fell, again!). We made popcorn and just hung out for a few hours talking when the power went out. It came back on not too much later and then we decided to call it a night and go to bed. Oh, and the RPCV from Jamacia did some laundry that night before we went out to the motel…needless to say it was soaked! They stayed for a bit the next day and Katy and I went to the office to use the internet, while her friend went to the museum to check it out. Afterwards, we went to have lunch and then to the ice cream shop. I got hot chocolate instead. There, we met a white guy who Katy had met a few weeks before at the airport and he is with an organization here who works on gardens for nutrition, so we got talking about our work together and he gave me some documents that he thought might be helpful. He was really cool. Went back to my house to get their bags and saw 8 monkeys jumping around outside at the neighbor's.
No comments:
Post a Comment