happy happy happppppppppy!!!

     So my birthday was on Tuesday. 25. OLD LADY. On Monday I got on the bus heading to Kigali where 21 other volunteers were headed so we could all hang out. I knew my ride wasn’t going to be enjoyable or relaxing, but must they all be absolutely unpleasant?? When I got on there was no room about 9 people ago, so of course they’re going to fit me in also. I sit in between 2 men on my left and a man and woman on my right. My backpack was in my lap also. Randomly, the old man to my left who smelled of booze at 8:15 am had a white hat on. The man in front of me also had a white hat. And the guy to my right? Well of course, he had a white hat too. Is this important? Not at all. I just found it silly. Let’s see. So I my left ass was on a seat lower than my right ass and my spine was like sideways and definitely in pain. There was a baby crying and fussing the ENTIRE 2 hour ride to the point where I just wanna be like “can I hold your baby please?!”. About 2 rows back someone was throwing up and it started to smell and thankfully, even with cold weather people opened the windows. Then there was someone who kept coughing up crazy amounts of phlegm for what would have been the fattest loogie, but no, they swallow it instead so the whole bus gets to keep hearing chunks of snot in their throat. Sooo nasty and since I had to listen to it, you get to read it. When we were 30 minutes from Kigali I seriously thought I might freak out because my knee was in so much pain but I couldn’t move it anywhere. On top of all the madness, our driver must have been the slowest driver in history. I felt like he was just enjoying cruising so slooooowly.

     Didn’t do much that first day in town. 5 of us went to Peace Corps HQ to use the free wireless and get packages. I had one from my mama and one from Singapore and both were full of goodies! Dark chocolate covered pomegranate seeds from Trader Joes=amazing. Got some more drink mixes, obs, food and my favorite vball shoes from high school! Natasha, if you’re reading this, my mom sent my Nike’s with the poofy baby blue laces!! We knew Monday night was trivia night at Sun and Moon, a pizza place where a lot of white people go. About 10 of us went and our 2 Peace Corps teams got the lowest scores! Haha. The environment was pretty annoying and most of the people there were expat douche bags. I was happy to leave.
    
Tuesday about 10 of us went to breakfast which is just not a good idea in Rwanda. I’m not sure if I ever mention this, but restaurants are pretty ridiculous. It’s like you should definitely eat a snack before you go to the meal because after you order it’s at least going to take an hour. It’s brutal. And even then you are lucky if your food is right or ever shows up. One girl waited and waited and her breakfast bun never came. Sad. Then I did a little shopping and had a beer with some people at St. Paul’s, the place we stay. Mandy, my roommate in Philadelphia at staging gave me a pair of seashell leggings she found at her local market. She got a pair for Christmas and we decided it best if we wore them to dinner that night. If you haven’t seen the pictures, check facebook. I’m also wearing a tie-dye shirt and a crown that says ‘princess’. It was a pretty good look. We had Indian food for dinner and although it was expensive, it was soooooo good. Seriously, it was up to Par with food I had in India. Delish!


Wednesday I headed back to site with Megan and Austin and we got a ride in the Peace Corps car! YES! Super clutch because I had bought a few things and got 2 packages so a bus ride would have been a mess. Megan just received some her luggage from Mauritania and they were delivering our bikes so we swooped a ride. They also gave us a moto helmet which is seriously the most obnoxious thing you have ever seen. I need to take a picture. I put it on when Megan and Austin came over yesterday and I felt like Buzz Aldrin about to go to space. It’s ridic.

Today I just cleaned up a bit, hung some more picture frames and am prepping for a short trip to Kigali tomorrow. I am staying the night and picking up jeff Monday morning!!!!! I can’t even sleep I am so excited!!!!!!