Today was our first day in Kigali and our goal was to get ourselves "operational" as Patty puts it. We started with our first Sunday breakfast together and then Lauren and Patty ventured off to the market and returned with a rainbow coloured medley of bean and fruit and veggies for dinner.
Then it was off to get some "cash power" which we found just down the street from us and within minutes we were plugged in again. Not that we really needed it for the day because the apartment has such a nice light during the day and as we later found out we even get treated to a sunset view from the balcony.
Then it was off to get our memberships at the Serena Hotel, we discovered a spinning class which will get our cycling legs warmed up for our cycling trip the third weekend we're here. We walked everywhere today and it was incredibly easy given all the newly build sidewalks and infrastructure. We all agreed that the streets are cleaner than they are back home and the landscaping is truly something to photograph, our favorite was these very bring orange flowers that looked like groups of pipe cleaners.
It was then off to the MTN store (that we've coined the "Mountain Store") for internet access and new SIM cards, hence the first blog post because we are now connected!! We took a detour to the Bourbon Cafe for a bite and some tea and I discovered some yummy and very strong coffee that cured any lingering jet lag.
The second plus in the A++ comes from our shopping trip to Nakumatt for more essentials. We won a gift card for a return trip! We didn't exactly understand why we were so lucky but it definitely added to our successful day.
The last item on our list was a "working dinner" with Matt McNevin, a brilliant future medical student from Canada here on a CIDA scholarship teaching physiology at the Kigali Health Institute. He will be helping us with our cardiac physiology lectures for the resident academic day. We had a great evening and in exchange for dinner Matt gave us some much needed physiology tutoring.
Looking forward to our first day of work tomorrow!!
Terri
The food looks fantastic and it is great to have a day to get settled in.It sounds as if it was a very fun and productive one. You must have walked miles to get to the market, Nakumart, Serena . Jennifer told me yesterday that she is " homesick" for the apartment! Give our regards to everyone and I will look forward to the installments and updates.I checked the Kigali weather....very warm!
ReplyDeleteAhh, the avocado and tomato salad! Yummy :p
ReplyDeleteI'm already jealous of your amazing day. Wishing I had listened to Patty and joined you all. Good luck and eats lots of passionfruit for me.
Happy Birthday Patty!!!
ReplyDelete