Merry Christmas From Rwanda!

(Read in the tune of The Twelves Days of Christmas)

7 express buses

6 moto rides

5 good friends

4 iced coffees

3 different towns

2 kayaks

And

1 well deserved break

I know it has been a while and many of you have been asking for an update on my life. So much has happened in the last 2 weeks, yet I have done very little. My focus has been integrating into my community and must of my days have consisted of figuring out how to survive in my new community. Everyday I clean my

house, or do laundry, I fetch water, and I play with the kids in my community. My life got a little more exciting this past week over Christmas.

I woke up Christmas Eve at home feeling very sick. When I called the Peace Corps doctor they told me I needed to travel to Kigali to be checked. Since I will never tell any of you where exactly I live for security reasons, I will just tell you I live very far south and very far Kigali, so it takes me about 6-6 1/2 hours by bus tp get to the city. I also wasn’t happy about having to travel there on Christmas Eve. I rushed to get the first bus out of town to hopefully make it to Kigali before nightfall (Peace Corps volunteers are not allowed to travel at night). By pure luck I got tickets on the 3 different buses I have take to Kigali and made it there in record time. Since, the doctor had an emergency to handle I was on my own for the rest of the day. Although this is a great opportunity to explore the city, I was extremely tired from traveling for hours and having to navigate the public buses in Kigali for the first time by myself, so I found the closest coffee shop and sat down to have a large

iced coffee while I waited. When the doctor finally arrived he diagnosed me with a sinus infection and said good night. Because I live so far away from Kigali, when I have to go to Kigali, Peace Corps places me on Med Hold, which means I spend the night at the Peace Corps office so I can return home the next day. Since it was Christmas Eve I was at the office alone and due to some unfortunate plumbing circumstances I was spending the night in the basement rooms. Spending the night on Med Hold is not as exciting as it sounds and I spent the night on my phone calling my parents. Those of you who know, know I dod not function well when I’m sick. My brain doesn’t work and I’m pretty much useless, so when I woke up the next morning with a fever I had a huge problem. Luckily I have some amazing parents who always take care of me. With their help I was able to spend the night in a hotel to rest, so I could continue with my Christmas plans the next day.

Luckily I woke up the next morning feel much better and met my friends at the bus station to head to Musanze where we planned to camp. After another long bus ride we arrived and took a taxi to Lake Burera where we took a boat to Cyuza Island. We spent an amazing 2 nights camping at the base of Mount Muhavura

volcano. We kayaked around the island and had bon fires. It was an amazing couple of days that reminded me of the many opportunities this country has to offer.

After 2 nights I left very early in the morning to make my 10 hour bus trip back to my village. When I finally reached home I was happily greeted by all of my neighborhood kids yelling my name and asking me to play volleyball. It felt amazing to come back to a place that loves and missed me in the few days I was gone. I spent the rest of the evening playing in the road with them just like when I was little. But instead of running to the side for cars (like in the US), we run to the side of the road whenever a cow that was grazing all day comes running home for the night.

I am writing this while baking bread on my charcoal stove (for another post) and sitting in my hammock on a perfectly sunny day in my little village when I realized today is my moms birthday and tomorrow I will be celebrating New Years with my friends and that this is the first year I my life that I will not be with my family for either occasion. While I did not think I would be sad about this, I did find myself wishing to be closer to them today so,

Happy Birthday Mom!

And Happy Early New Years From Across the World!