The Beginning

Okay so I am not much of a journaler and have no idea what a blog is supposed to be but I tend 

to be a storyteller...so here is my story.

I left San Juan Capistrano at 5:30 am on May 18th and headed to New Jersey for my first layover. I am not sure what was wrong with me and even now, but I almost feel numb to the whole idea that I am ACTUALLY going to Rwanda. I can't even describe how I feel as anxiety or being excited. Maybe its the fact that I am still a little homesick from Ireland, that California couldn't have been better, that I have been preparing myself for living in Africa for as long as I remember, or because its RWANDA. After my 5 hour plane to New Jersey I barely made my layover and next 7 hour plane to Brussels, Belgium. I got lucky on that plane and had three chairs to myself, which soon turned into my bed. I woke up from my sleep and glanced at the television monitor that tracked our plane flight. On the map we were directly over Galway, Ireland and headed towards the heart of

 Dublin. What are the odds that I woke up just at that moment. I had no idea we would be flying right over Dublin and it was so surreal thinking that my friends and memories of the past 4 months were right below me. It was 6:00 am on May 19th.

When I landed in Belgium I had to make my way to my next and final plane to Kigali, Rwanda. I followed the signs to my terminal and walked down the halls. There was not a soul in sight. It was really eerie actually. Finally I got to the transport bus to my gate and it flashed 4:57...a bus came every 5 min, just my luck. So I sat and waited 5 min then he showed up and took me all by myself to my gate. Once again I was the only one there. So here I was thinking I would be the only one one my plane to Rwanda. My first time in Africa and

 I was REALLY doing it all alone. About a half an hour later slowly, person by person showed up for my flight. A couple looked like me, aid workers  I am assuming, and the rest were African nationals. When we boarded, I again had room to stretch out. What I thought was going to be a somewhat shorter flight to Africa from Europe, turned out to be 8 hours. So I fell asleep and this time didn't wake up the whole way until I heard the pilot say "we are now making our descent into Kigali, please put your tray tables up and chairs in the upright position." I looked out the window and this is when it finally hit me that I was in Africa. Usually when you hear those words, you look out and see lights of a bustling city or some sort of civilization. Here I was 15 min from my destination and all I could see was darkness, expect for the flashes of lightening in the distance and what looked to be sporadic fires burning (probably trash piles I assume). Other than that there was nothing. Right when the landing gear came down is when I saw the faint twinkle lights of Kigali that seemed to shape rolling hills. I stepped off the plane and walked down the stairs on to the tarmac, took a deep breath of smoky humid air. I was in Africa. Ilea, who I will be the assistant to picked me up and took me to my house for the next 3 months. We drove through the Rwandan streets with people crossing in front of the car back and forth

, but other than them in front of our headlights I could see nothing. I guess I had to wait til the morning. We got to my house and my guard Gueston opened the gate. As soon as I stepped out I was greeted by a happy puppy who I named Charlie cause I had no idea what his name was and he looked like a Charlie. No one was home so it would be just me and Charlie for a couple hours. He helped me to feel safe and unpacked my bags with me (or just kindly chewed off the luggage tags). 

I got all settled a

nd my roomate who used to 

live in Sudan came home. She told me a couple things and then we went straight to bed. 

Last night I didnt get much sleep. It was so dark that I couldnt even see my hand in front of me and I had no matches to light the candle next to me. I hugged my pillow to keep me company and tried to fall asleep but only for a little bit. I realized that I don't do well with mosquito nets, as they usually just end up twisted around me with my head and feet exposed. GREAT. I layed there for a couple hours and looked at the clock. It was 3 am and I had to be up by 630 to come here to this cafe and wait for Ilea to pick me up. So here I am an

d I have a big week ahead of me. Today we are off to a horn factory...?? not really sure what that means but I am assuming we will use them for jewelry making. I can't wait for what is ahead of me. I love you all and miss you! Talk to you soon.....