Day #3 - Shopping

I've got a yucky cold and am having a difficult time concentrating. In my foggy state, I also failed at some great photo opportunities today.

This morning Heidi had a meeting at the peace corp office so she dropped Bromely and I off at a small shopping center. We were in the government sector of town where there were grand houses of various diplomats. Missed photo op#1 was the Rwanda Parliament building which is a beautiful building that is still peppered with holes from gun fire during the genocide. Intentionally left as a reminder, it made a very powerful statement.

The shopping center Heidi dropped us off at was fairly western. A beautiful building decorated for Christmas. Our first stop was a German butcher shop, where I found such items as ketchup and mayonaise (two of the items that caused a lot of tears during the packing stage of my journey).

We stopped for coffee at a great coffee shop where we also had chocolate croissants. Not the best chocolate croissants I've ever had, but the view was beautiful:

But pretty much nothing beats this view:

After Heidi picked us up we went to the Rwanda version of Wal-Mart. I wasn't sure what to expect, but there was a surprising selection of goods to be had. No cheddar cheese though. If there had been cheddar cheese, I honestly think I would have ripped my sisters lips off!

They did however had an entire aisle devoted to petroleum jelly.

A peek at the inside:

I'm off to try to have a nap. Happy Monday!

From Polliwog to Shellback (or the aviation equivalent if there is one)

I've lost track of dates and times already. It is approximately a quarter after 8:00 a.m. on Sunday morning in the misty hills of Rwanda. Its beautiful here. I wish I had taken photos when the airplane was landing in Kigali. But there was the whole luggage debacle in DC and my camera ended up in my checked baggage.

Yesterday after I arrived and made my way through customs with a couple hundred pounds of cheese and other vittles. Heidi, Evan and the kids took me out to eat for grilled tiapia. It was some of the finest fish I've ever eaten. It was brought to the table whole - skin, bones and head. And we ate it with our fingers :). I wish I had a photo... but again my *%$&^$&% camera was in my *@##$^%$%&^ luggage.

When we finally got home (about three hours later because Rwanda restaurants operate on their own time frame), Heidi and I spent a couple of hours rummaging through my luggage. Everything made it except for one ziplock container of freeze dried peaches which exploded...then the humidity got to the peaches making them very sticky. So, sticky peach bits all over everything. Could have been worse I guess.

Shortly after 8:00 pm I had come to the end of my sanity and crawled into bed with "New Moon". I finished 'Twilight' before Rome with like 10 good reading hours left in my journey, but AGAIN... UNINTENDED ITEMS IN THE CARGO HOLD OF THE AIRPLANE!

Right after I took an ambien, and was preparing to shut off my light and go to sleep, mama Sol (sister of Luna), Peter the kitten, and Coco (daughter of Sol just here for a visit) came tear-a$$ing into my room......chasing....an enormous....cockroach. It was about two inches long, an inch wide with feelers adding another 2-3 inches, and I nearly ripped my own lips off. The offender was ultimately smashed and flushed, but not before leaving me too anxious to fall to sleep.

Once I did, however, I slept great.

This is a new house for Heidi and Evan that they just moved into yesterday before I got here. I found my camera but only a a few photos right now to share, taken here at the house:

This is Peter:

This is Heidi's kitchen sink...it is so nice and HIGH! It comes up to my hip bone:

I would give anything to have this much cupboard space:

If that weren't enough, she also has this pantry:

And the kids (cause that is why I'm here after all!):