Marine Ball: We arrived a fashionable hour late, missing the cocktail hour, but in time for the Marines’ presentation. For their birthday celebration, they had a video about people dying in combat and then the most somber cake cutting ever (or, the ceremony could have been about honor, tradition, and sacrifice). Next came a huge buffet and continuously full wine glasses. On Saturday, we met up with two other couples and what would turn out to be our nemesis (more about this later). Then, we headed out to the tea plantation in Kinihira, the capitol of the northern province. Upon arriv [View Full Entry]

---

---

Here are some details about our relatively mundane Saturday... We started off grocery shopping at Nakumat, a Kenyan supermarket chain, located in a downtown shopping mall. Upon entering the parking lot, you pull up to a parking ticket machine where someone is standing and they push the button for you and then hand write the (military) time on your ticket. Next, you pull into a parking garage, which is normal except for the armed guards. We were looking for an electric tea kettle for our security guard because it gets chilly (65 degrees) here at night. Upon closer inspection, most of [View Full Entry]

---

---

Many thanks to our new friends Joe and Jenny for taking us on a day trip to Butare. Butare is near the Rwanda/Burundi border and around a 2.5 hour drive from Kigali. We stopped off at the National Museum and a craft store. We had lunch at a hotel/restaurant that Joe knew about (he works for USAID and has been around many parts of Rwanda for work). The restaurant had exceptionally good French onion soup. On our way back, we found a pottery "factory" which is run by a church and disabled people but it had closed for the day. We [View Full Entry]

---

---

Attempt at posting two videos. [View Full Entry]

---

---

On Wednesday this week, Alex joined the Board of the American Embassy Association of Kigali, the group that currently runs the commissary. To buy American products, like spaghetti sauce or diet pop, the commissary is the only place to go, and its conveniently located inside the Embassy. Saturday, Alex began a quest for fresh chicken. He met up with some friends and drove all over the city (rural areas) looking for the farmer with the big, American-style poultry. After 4x4ing down some one-way trails and passing by groups of mud huts, the farm appeared. After parking the car, he walked throu [View Full Entry]

---

---

I've just been fired from blogging. -Alex Anyways, on Sunday we went to the Artist Village in Kigali. It was an outdoor mall of shops the size of large, walk-in closets and no indoor lighting. We were immediately taken as suckers and ushered into the nearest shop. Nothing has price tags, and we are VERY obviously mozungas (foreigners). Quickly, we learned that if you pause to look at something and especially if you stop to pick it up, it means you really really want to buy it. The next step is to ask the price, and due to our mozunga-ness, everything [View Full Entry]

---

---

Some pictures Jenn took around our house. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039673&id=1142697526&l=8c7285b4e9 Couldn't get them uploaded on this site for right now... Anyways, another week down. Hopefully we can post some more pictures and updates soon. Thanks for all the comments! [View Full Entry]

---

---

On Friday, the Embassy trusted Alex enough to loan him a Land Cruiser so we have wheels for the first time. On Saturday, we drove all over the city of Kigali with two couples from Alex's work. We attempted to go to the farmer's market to buy vegetables and crafts, but it was closed due to a local election. Instead, we came to the shopping mall which is reminiscent of the Blazy Mall in Soldotna when it had Mugz. We are currently eating at a Starbucks-like cafe, where Alex got food poisoning yesterday, but the only place we have found with [View Full Entry]

---

---

We flew into the airport on a Sunday evening. Looking out the window of the plane, there were so few lights that it looked more like flying over North Kenai than a city of almost a million people. We walked down the stairs onto the runway and into warm smoky air. Upon entering the airport, we were met by a U.S. Embassy employee who led us into a separate room with leather couches while he took care of our paperwork. In the airport lobby, we were met by Portia, the Embassy nurse, and her husband John, the director of the Peace [View Full Entry]

---

---

Today was one of our longest travel days. We woke quite early to make our way back to Picton and then on to the ferry which experienced a bit rougher seas then our first voyage. From Wellington (back on the North Island), we drove up the east coast to Masterton for the night. [View Full Entry]

---

---