cloudy with a chance of rain, but mostly just pretty clouds :)

I am OBSESSED with the sky here. It’s blue, not like blue gray in Los Angeles but blue and it’s gorgeous! And the clouds are AMAZING. Anyone who has been around me on vacation or when taking pictures knows I am in love with clouds so that’s been a real treat. The last few days have been so pretty it’s made my days better. Happier. And makes walking so much more enjoyable. Walking is nice except for most Rwandans have never seen a white person before so they stare or talk to you and after the initial greeting it turns really awkward really fast. But they still walk right next to me or right behind me and I feel them touching my backpack or touching my skin because it’s white skin. Today I was walked home by literally 12 kids. It’d be totally fine if I didn’t have the thought in the back of my head that they’re gonna jump me. I know, I know, 10 year old girls are probably the least of my worries but one can never be too cautious these days!


We had a medical session yesterday and for the entire hour and a half we talked about diarrhea. Floyd? But just talked about how it’s gonna happen all the time and ways to avoid it and a little cup to put it in and just a gross talk. Then the transfers from Mauritania informed us we will all shit our pants during our time here and it’s no big deal. Thankfully my dad called to interrupt the poop talk because their stories were getting pretty detailed. So yea, that happened. Reading a few new books. Bitter is the New Black and Three Cups of Tea. I am not enjoying the first one because the chick sucks. Total biotch.

this is from a different med session where we put sex in order.


Guess who got shelves in our room? Yep. The other houses didn’t but I like to think I’m a good negotiator. When we first moved in Mup said he would get shelves then he was like oh no you don’t need them so I said okay fine I’ll just take the tables from the dining room and he said okay okay you get shelves. We each have one shelf to put our stuff on and have hooks on the wall for towels and coats. I guess I need to take a new picture for all you haters that talked shit on facebook.


I updated my list of supplies but that’s pretty much for the next 2 years. My package arrived in Kigali that was sent before I left so approximate package time is 3 weeks. Not bad. Once I move to my site I will be living alone (YES!) and I couldn’t be more excited. Except for the whole cooking thing. And no fridge. I need to figure out that whole scenario. But, we were told by the current PCVs that everyone has a house girl who does their shopping and laundry and will cook for you if you want also. Of course we all thought this was crazy but apparently it’s totally normal and everyone has one. So that sounds fun. It’s like buying a friend in my new town. Downfall is that they apparently like to steal clothes and/or wear your stuff while working. One girl said she pulled her earrings out of her house girls ears. Tough crowd.

On a side note, in case anyone was wondering, Tonka is loving her new home in Texas. She and Lula Belle, another English bulldog are very good friends and wrestle over Tonka’s bed and other various items. My dad says Tonka doesn’t take crap from the other dogs which is funny because she was always battling Pistol who is 60 pounds heavier than her. I will add a picture of her new fam to facebook if I can but it took me forever to upload the few pictures of Nyanza. Sorry the pictures aren’t all crazy cool, I am still pretty wary of taking pictures of people and carrying my nice camera around so I’m sticking to scenery with my little camera. Jeff, you can have your camera back when you visit. Maybe. J