in kigali, rwanda now

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with another keyboard in arabic. it's very beautiful here. actually really beautiful. i was glad to hear back from so many people - it makes my day because no one calls me and i haven't been able to call the us from my phone now that i'm in rwanda. tomorrow night we move into our homestays - it's starting to go by quicker and i guess i have to admit i'm getting a bit sick of being around people sometimes... we drove to the border and crossed it on foot yesterday. literally a few minutes after driving we passed a genocide memorial site. the words were in kinyarwanda, but genocide was in bright red. it was kind of crazy. on the way here we also stopped at a refugee settlement about 80 kms before the rwandan border. it was interesting to talk to the people there. although in rwanda there is an avoidance of using the past ethinic identifiers of hutu and tutsi that wasn't quite the case in the settlement. it was strange... and i guess a longer story than i feel like typing out and putting up on the internet. we also crossed the equator which was cool. the sun here feels so so much stronger than in uganda - it's not that hot if you're in the shade or if you don't move a lot... but it's also so hilly and most walks feel more like hikes. kigali is very clean and has many rules. they even have traffic lights and crosswalks. plastic bags (which are called paper bags) are also illegal. there are huge satelite dishes and big screen tv things on some buildings - it seems very western for the most part. even the motorcycle taxi things are different - drivers and passengers have to wear helmets. i need to go get a new sim card for my phone when i'm done with this blog...
um yeah so all is well aside from my being a tiny bit cranky today from being around so many people constantly... i love everyone and miss you and my cats... yup. ok later.

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