Day 1 - Arrival in Kigali


Well after 36 HOURS of traveling we finally made it to Kigali! It was a smooth trip from Salt Lake City, we made all of our connections just fine. The flights were really really long but luckily I was able to sleep for parts of them. Other than that I just read some material for the internship and watched movies! We got through customs quite fast and when we went outside Solange was waiting for us! She is a Rwandan native who is one of our coordinators here. She is very nice and bubbly. She helped us exchange our money for Rwandan Francs and we were off! She led us to a big white bus which will be our transportation for this trip! As we enjoyed driving by the beautiful hills and city life in Kigali, Solange told us all about the culture, foods, and activities that we have to look forward to! After about 25 minutes of driving we arrived at the guesthouse we are staying at for the duration of the trip. We were surprised to find out that the guesthouse is connected to a catholic church. So do you know what that means? We are rooming with the nuns! They are so nice and welcoming. They are a little older so most of them speak french (the older generation speaks french and the younger english but both speak the native language Kinyarwanda).Our rooms really aren’t bad! There are two of us to a room and we have a sink and mirror in our room. The bathroom and “shower” are at the end of the hallway but it shouldn’t be a problem! The second surprise of our living quarters was that the showers only release freezing cold water. And its not very hot here (it is winter in Rwanda) so taking a cold shower to cool off from the sun isn’t really an option. Luckily there is a faucet in the bathroom that has scalding hot water. So what we were instructed to do was to fill a bucket provided to us 1/3 full and then to fill the rest with the cold water from the shower. Needless to say showering tonight was very interesting and awkward But I am so grateful we have running water and a place to shower after long days. I just need to find the best method to go about it! The last thing we did today was our welcome dinner. Our leaders took us to the nicest African restaurant, the view was absolutely stunning. The restaurant was on a hill so you could see the whole city while you were eating on the upstairs patio. The food was super good! They served a wide variety of chicken, beef, and fish. For an appetizer they served these little fish that looked like they were just thrown in the frier! You could still see their eyes! I tried one but i didn’t like it too much. I couldn’t get over the eyes staring at me! I am super jet-lagged and falling asleep as I type this so I am going to end it here! I can’t wait for the plans we have tomorrow!





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