I have successfully completed my first weekend in Kigali! On Friday night I went to see the new Star Trek movie at the American Embassy with two people from FHI. There’s no movie theater in Kigali, but the embassy shows films once in a while. We had to pass through a metal detector and have our bags searched before we could enter the main compound. You could take in cell phones, but not cameras. The movie was shown in the conference room of the main building and we paid 2000 RWF (about $4) for a ticket. Beer cost $1.50 and the popcorn was free. The movie was OK and, although I’m not a Star Trek fan, it’s surprising how many famous lines and characters I knew. The new Captain Kirk was hot! I did get a ... read more

Hello from Day 3 in Kigali! All is well and I’m completely adjusted to the time zone. Things are starting to feel routine and I am enjoying it all! I’ve been busy at work and have two productive meetings today. Tomorrow is a catch up and reflection day and then I’m touring the largest referral hospital in Kigali on Friday. Jessica and I met today and started mapping out next week. There is a lot to do and my list is growing, but it’s still reasonable to accomplish by 14 Aug 2009. I'm especially excited about the day I will tour a primary health care facility, a districy hospital, and a referral hospital - all three levels of the health care system here. Plus, they are all either on the way to or in Butare (now ... read more

Home! All luggage arrived House fine, but grass desperately needs cutting Filthy laundry soaking - the "whites" turned the water instantly gray Need shower, but no hot water yet as tank needs to reheat Exhaused after 40 hours of travel - must nap now for several hours More soon...... read more

Hello from Vang Vieng, Laos! We arrived here yesterday afternoon after a seven hour bus ride from Luang Prabang. The ride was through the mountains on very windy roads. The scenery was beautiful, although Laos is very smoky right now as it is the season when the farmers burn their fields in preparation for spring planting. It limits the visibility, but also makes things look strangely misty which is cool too. Once again, we have a great hotel wityh an amazing view from the back deck. We sat out there for a while in the late afternoon enjoying cold Beer Lao and awesome views. In our initial walk around town yesterday, Catherine, Tricia, and I found an Irish Bar (called The Irish Bar) and we convinced most of the group to go there for dinner and ... read more

Day 5 - Steph's BD... read more