June 10, 2007

Hello Everyone! Greetings from Bourbon Coffee Shop in Kigali, Rwanda (again)! It has been a little over one week since I’ve settled into my new home and things are going well…for the most part. As this is Africa, one thing or another is breaking or doesn’t work or doesn’t something. The unexpected is what makes life so interesting… I guess. We haven’t had warm water for near five days now. Cold showers are becoming the norm. I suppose it’s not that bad after a good run. Last night half the electricity in the house died, and everything in the fridge is likely, at this point, covered in some slimy nasty mold. Sometimes that happens irregardless of a power outage. I swear, every time I stick a plastic bag in the fridge, three or four days later there is some kind of slim on it. Happy to report that I haven’t experienced any GI problems yet (knock on wood)! Anyway, I’m avoiding the whole fridge problem until later today. My housemates and I have contacted the general workers at the project site to come and help us solve the problem. Oh by the way, I live with four people – Taylor, Tyronza, Emily, and Lakshmi. Emily and Lakshmi are only summer students and will be leaving some time in August. The rest of us are in it for the long haul. Everyone get's along great. We cook dinner and eat together daily. The other several other interns and summer students staying at other project houses.

So last Sunday, after my first posting, I went to a Rwandan Catholic wedding with Taylor. It was really interesting. The bride was the daughter of one of the counselors at Project San Francisco (the project I work at). She looked beautiful! People came and left the ceremony at varying times. The bride’s mother arrived with only about 30 minutes until the ceremony’s end! I’ve surely found my place here (Lauren, you know what I mean). I don’t think I can ever be late! (I’m generally between 10 min and 2hrs late for everything!)

I began work on Monday. I’ll be helping to manage the main site laboratories here. However, before I can start my job, I need to rotate through all of the departments. This week I rotated through the Medical and Couples Voluntary Testing and Counseling (CVCT) departments. There were many firsts for me this week. I witnessed gyno exams, male and female general physical exams, and HIV pre and post test counseling. I saw one man receive his HIV results, which were positive. His wife was there with him as well, hence CVCT. She was negative. What a heartrending moment! I can’t imagine what it must be like to receive those results. Although he wasn’t surprised by his results, he expressed to us how very sad and scared he was feeling. I couldn’t understand his words (which were in Kinyrwanda), but his eyes said everything. If it weren’t for a terrible cold, I would have cried.

The facilities here are nice, but nothing like those in the US. It makes me wonder if we really need everything we have. People here seem to get along just fine. The work environment is great! People sing, chat, and just seem happy to be where they are. Again, quite different from back home… Rwandans are just so…well they’re just so happy. No other way to describe it. It’s amazing.

You’re probably wondering about the genocide. You can see its effects everywhere. Limbless individuals, dilapidated buildings, etc… There are memorial ceremonies and constant references to it in the one and only newspaper here – which is state run and in English (go figure). No one talks about it though, or at least they haven’t to me. I think people just want to move on from this tragedy. Sometimes I can’t believe I am living in a city where hundreds and thousands of people were slaughtered only 17 years ago. It’s almost unreal.

Well, I play soccer two nights a week at the Belgium private school. I’m one of the worst ones and only females there, but it’s still fun and great exercise. I run four days a week with Lakshmi and Emily. Oh yes, I begin private French lessons starting Tuesday for six hours a week. I’m hoping to be fluent by the time I leave.

Until I figure out how to post pictures in this blog, you can see some photos at my flickr site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8584169@N05/). Hope all is well. Stay in touch. It’s never been so nice to get an email!