I am starting to feel much more at home in Kigali. Yesterday things seemed to just start to "click". I am learning to speak english in a way that is more understandable for my Rwandan co-workers - no contractions and just generally speaking slower and enunciating. I also feel much more comfortable navigating the city. I walk to and from work when it's nice and I've been trying to take advantage of that since rainy season will be here soon and I will have to take public transport most of the time.
Today I took the morning off from work and Aryn, the sort of "house mom" for the study abroad students and the only full time resident of the compound I live at, took me downtown to get me oriented to that area. We visited a fairly modern shopping center with a very modern grocery store. We also went through a craft co-op, and even stopped in the actual hotel from Hotel Rwanda. There is no indication inside or outside of the hotel that it was indeed where that event took place. I think they think it would be bad for business. It was hard at first here not to be consumed with dwelling on this country's past. The genocide was all I knew about the country before coming and going to memorials right away just reinforced that. I had a real sense of uneasiness and fear about being here the first few days, but now that I am getting to know the current culture, it is so encouraging to see how far they have come and where they are now. Aryn and Kate advised me to avoid watching any documentaries or reading too much about the genocide while I am here.
This week I met a girl named Breanne who is also interning at a nonprofit here in Kigali. She is a senior at Wheaton, not far from Trinity. It was great to meet her and trade Chicago familiarities. I am hoping that I will be able to hang out with her more often and get a little America fix.
I am also very excited to share with all of you that my trip has been full funded! Thanks so much to all of you who contributed! God is so faithful to continually provide what I need!
Hillary
Yay! So good to hear you have all the money you need to be over there. I love your posts--it's so good to hear your reflections on the country, the people, and your experience so far.
ReplyDeleteSo this Uganda news? Do tell.
ReplyDeleteFH has offices in both Kampala and Kitgum so I'm going to take the 12 hour bus ride from Kigali to Kampala and then fly with an FH Uganda staff member to Kitgum. The Kitgum base is actually located within the walls of a huge IDP camp. I'll only be there a couple days but I'm so excited to see the area and meet the people I've been advocating for the last 4 years. I'm tentatively going mid October. Once we get all the details sorted out I'll make a more "public" annoucement on here..ha.. but that's the plan as of now..
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