12/20/2020 0 Comments Last night in rwandaIt’s a very odd feeling that I will be leaving here tomorrow. It feels very strange that I’m not even on the same continent as my family. I will leave Monday but not even be home until later Tuesday night. I have been thinking over a lot of this experience and what it has meant to me. I have met so many people that I really hope to stay connected with and get to visit many times. I really love Kigali, I have become very comfortable with it. Learning the bus routes and correctly giving directions to get places always felt like accomplishments and made me feel like I knew where I was.
Looking back I think there are certainly things I would have done differently and some things I possibly regret not doing. I wish that in our first month here when we were getting stipends to eat out, that I actually did, even if that meant sometimes going by myself. I was just really nervous in the beginning and unsure of venturing out on my own a lot, I did sometimes but I don’t think so nearly enough. I’ll be honest that I was jealous when one of the other girls was describing what different restaurants are busy on certain nights... I wish I knew that. I did a lot of nights just ordering in with some friends, which wasn’t a bad thing, always need time to just stay in and relax. I also didn’t want to be left out by going out on my own a bunch, being left with no one. I wish that I was more adventurous in Kimironko and explored the area more, but again I was nervous to be out by myself. But I shouldn’t have been. All this said, I think I needed this experience to learn all of these things. To learn that I can be more adventurous and try more new things. To go out by myself and just learn more about my areas. I hope that I can take this experience and these lessons to go out and continue adventuring, to test my limits/ go outside of my comfort zone, and really just explore life. For a long time I was scared of taking these adventures due to my health issues, but I have seen what I can accomplish and there’s no turning back. If someone had told me that I would’ve done what I did over the past 3 months with all the new foods and long traveling, I would have laughed in their face. Not to say that I haven’t had my challenges, because I certainly did, but I have seen how I can persist and make the best out of situations. Tonight I went out onto our balcony and just looked out at the beautiful nighttime Kigali skyline and couldn’t help but have tears come to my eyes. This has been the most challenging and gratifying experience that I have had in my life. I have learned so much on the academic side, and as a researcher. But I have also learned a lot about myself: how to be more patient, to be flexible, to care less what others think of me, to be myself, and to go out and explore. Without SIT and staff- Celine, Mercy, and Janvier (Uncle Janvy)- I don’t know how I would have made it through this time. Janvier has been like an amazing Uncle to myself and the other students. I will miss our pretend fights and jokes and story times. I have learned so much from you, and I cannot wait to come back and visit (because there is no way I can stay away from this place). Wow it’s so crazy this is it. I am so sad :(
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12/18/2020 0 Comments Last night with annaUnfortunately due to planning and Asia and I’s trip to Gisenyi tomorrow, this is our last night with Anna, and boy was it so much fun!!! We went out to dinner at Japanda, which was INCREDIBLE!!! It’s basically across the street and I’m so mad we never went before. It was a great dinner and we had really great conversations. Coming back however, we were determined to one final crazy fun night, and we definitely accomplished it! Anna really came to play, and it was the best time we had all program! Anna’s wild side really came out and she got soo competitive, which was hilarious because she was awful at the game lmao. Asia and I were really just on a roll in guessing quickly what the other was doing haha. We all just sat around eating snacks and having a few drinks playing games and reminiscing over our time together. We also had little Pebbles with us who always makes every room and moment brighter.
I don’t know what this program would’ve been like without Anna. She has truly been a rock for me, and the more time we spend together the more in-sync we became. I loved our Bible study sessions and really wish we had done more (we always have zoom) and our cuddling while watching movies. It was so fun experimenting with making different Rwandan drinks with you at the house! I hope that we have more time in the future to meet-up and keep making memories. This was the best night, it was so much fun and such a great way to end our time together. I wish it had been my last night too because I can’t imagine what mine will be like without you here! 11/15/2020 0 Comments The supernatural smirnoffWarning: Supernatural occurrence ahead! The mystery of the bottle cap.
Anna and I were out getting dinner one night in Gulu in the small restaurant off the street. I decided to get a Smirnoff, green apple flavor which was amazing. The bottle cap was sitting in front of us the whole dinner, no one was around us and the waitress never passed by once we had food. After I poured out the last bit of the drink into a glass, I put it back down on the table. Anna and I continued to talk, and a few minutes later when I looked at the bottle, there was a different cap on top of it?!! A Tusker bottle cap was TIGHTLY SECURED around the top of the bottle! HOW?????????????? We were, and still are, so absolutely confused as to how it got on there and where it came from. The waitress came back to give us the check and we showed it to her and she had no idea how it happened and was equally freaked out. Our only explanation is a ghost. 11/7/2020 0 Comments Sarafi Trips & ElectionSafari Days!!!!!! We left at 7am from Kapchorwa to drive out to the Heritage Safari Lodge where we got to stay in huts and go on two safari rides. We had also planned on taking a boat trip to see more animals, however the water levels have been extremely high and so we couldn’t go on the boat (this reason also cancelled our trip to the source of the Nile sadly). On Saturday we arrived around 10 AM, got to relax for a little bit, have lunch, and prepare for our 3 PM game drive. Our guide was Moses who was a lot of fun, and Sharon drove. The truck was multi-level and completely open (which was not great with the winds and cold at the end of the night). Entering the national park, we first see a little family of monkey walking across the “road”, basically just a dirt path for the cars to safely drive through. Moving on there were tons of antelopes moving about and having a relaxing afternoon. We also saw warthogs, which Lion King did so dirty. We all fell in love with them and how they prance around. Moving further into the park there was a small family of elephants having an afternoon snack right off the road (which Moses said was very rare to get this close). While the elephants were extremely beautiful and the little baby was adorable as it tried hiding behind the mom, we also saw the effects of poachers. Poachers are able to enter the park through canoes in the lake further down and set up traps to try to get the tusks and horns of different animals. The top of the mother elephant’s trunk had been severely sliced from one of the wire traps and Moses said it would soon fall off. It was extremely devasting to see how even in a large environment with few people around, animals are still negatively affected by humans. We continued on for a little bit down the main road, until Sharon stopped the car and said something was wrong with one of the tires. We checked to make sure it was safe, and all had to get out of the van. Turns out, we got a flat tire. One of the girls said this was her worst nightmare, being stuck in the middle of a safari with a broken down truck, not that it was really broken down. (Haha sorry parents I didn’t tell you this at the time cause I didn’t want you to worry). We all stayed close around as they fixed the tire, which did take some time, but got to take some cute pictures and walk around a bit. Once fixed, we were back on the path and ran into a group of buffalo. Now Moses explained to us that there are two distinct groups of them out here. There’s the healthy fun group that moves in large packs, are generally clean, and look out for one another. Then, there are the losers. Theses are the older buffalos that are cast out from the main group and live in mini factions with the other losers. They are all generally very muddy, and don’t have the symbiotic relationship with the birds that the others do. Moses said, sadly, they basically wait for death. Getting out of the larger road we started along a smaller path and got to see so many giraffes up close. They would always stop and pose for us, and Moses said that they looked at us intently to “count the muzungos” (muzungo= white people, not necessarily a negative term). There were rarely giraffes by themselves, they were almost always in small groups/ families. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to see any lions/hippos/leopards that night, but we were going back the next morning to try to find them. Heading back that night, it was super late once we got back to the hotel, and right as we pulled in our phones started buzzing that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had won the election. We all forgot about the amazing animals we had just seen and started screaming with joy and relief for our country, burst out into singing about being proud to be American and “Party in the U.S.A.”. Our director made the rare move of giving each of us a small stipend for alcohol to celebrate. I got a Nile beer (oh so amazing) and most of the girls got shots and we celebrated the night away with CNN on reporting the joy. Many of us cried and hugged for hours, the absolute best night of the trip!! That next morning, we got up at 5:45AM to get out early to try to see the lions. The gates opened at 7 AM and we got there right around opening. We moved quickly through the front of the park to get to the area with the lions. After driving around for a little, Moses got a call that there was a spotting of lions in another spot of the park. We sped off and met another van that was stopped and Moses said there were two lions under a tree in the distance. We all got to climb on top of the truck with binoculars and got to see the lions!!! Unfortunately, we didn’t get any pictures because they were too far away, but it was amazing getting to see a free lion in its true habitat. We continued up and found another group of female lions. They were all laying down, apparently pretending to be tired to get the antelope to relax so they could hunt. They were so big and absolutely gorgeous!!! A little further down there was a leopard relaxing up a tree! We were all amazed that Moses could see it since it was so far away. He explained that he’s picked up some of the regular places for the animals, and if you looked hard you could see along the dark branch of the tree, there was a line of whiteish-yellow- the leopard’s leg. We got out our binoculars again and were able to view the beautiful animal. Again, too far away to take pictures, but an absolutely incredible experience!! After awhile we moved onto the lake area where there was a group of the winner buffalo group, and out in the water were 5 hippos!! THUS COMPLETING THE BIG 5!! They didn’t come very far out of the water but they popped their heads up and we got to look at their cute faces. We went out and took pictures in front of the mountains. The ones in the back are in the DRC, which seemed crazy that we were that close to the border. We headed back after the hippos, saw more giraffes, and headed back for lunch. It was an absolute incredible experience getting to see all of the animals in their real habitats. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not a major fan of small zoos that take animals out of their real homes in tiny areas to live. These animals all had miles and miles of territory to live. It was beautiful. I loved every second of it and will remember it for the rest of my life. 11/1/2020 1 Comment Sipi waterfallOne of the greatest moments in Uganda was today! We were in Kapchorwa one morning and hiked through a gorge and down a mountain to view the 100-meter Sipi waterfall. The hike was extremely hard and beautiful as we saw beautiful landscapes and felt the spray from the waterfall. We learned that I am not the most graceful of hikers and slipped a few times lol. Also, I have not lung capacity. I could barely make it back up the gorge at the end and had to sit for a while to get a real breath again. Afterwards we went with our tour guide to his guest house where he showed us his coffee business, and we got to grind and cook our own coffee. He taught us some of the songs that are traditionally sung while grinding. We went to lunch at this beautiful restaurant overlooking the waterfall we had just climbed to, and hung out with an adorable stray cat. We thought the morning was the peak of our trip. However, after lunch we went on another hike through a mountain to the 60-meter Sipi waterfalls and got to stand in the waters of the waterfall and hang out in the caves behind. It was an extremely exhilarating moment being under the rushing waters. We all swapped taking tons of pictures and hanging out under the water. It was very refreshing after the first hot half of the climb. We continued on to the top and got to see out beyond the entire waterfall and mountain area. It was one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. We then had to cross the lake right before the waterfall across two logs. It was very shaky and absolutely terrifying but we made it across. This day was absolutely breathtaking and the views were some of the greatest in Uganda.
10/25/2020 0 Comments Trip to the center of the earthTrip to the Equator!! Today was so much fun! SIT offered to cover a trip for those who want to go to visit the equator! Many didn’t go because it was a 2 ½ hour drive each way, but Anna, Asia and I thought it would be so exciting to get to just go and stand there. What turned out to be really nice as well was just getting to get out of the city and have fun on a road trip seeing more of Uganda we wouldn’t have otherwise seen. I used to hate being in a car for hours and would get sick, but I have been having a lot of fun with it in Rwanda and Uganda. We left around noon and after about 45 minutes of driving we stopped at a gas station with a shop to pick up some snacks and water for the trip. Anna and Asia got jackfruit, which I thought looked really funky but they made me try it. Jackfruit is amazing! It tasted like bananas and I ate a bunch! The drive was beautiful with the long landscapes of greenery, but also sad as we drove through some of the smaller villages and saw the poor state of their houses and shops. We’ve been talking a lot this week about development issues and the ways that we need to listen to the communities and learn from them on what kind of work is necessary.
After the drive, we finally got the area with the line for the equator! There was a fun photo area where you could stand in between both hemispheres. It was so much fun to think that we were jumping and standing in-between both hemispheres. We had a lot of fun taking pictures, and then got to walk around a bunch of small local craft stores. I bought a few beautifully made local artwork of elephants and a wood carving of Africa. The local store owners were all very nice and friendly, and Anna and I practiced our bargaining skills. The whole experience was a ton of fun and I’m so excited that we went and got to get a break. We were all very refreshed coming back and I’m excited for the new week! 10/22/2020 0 Comments U.S. v Uganda electionsToday we discussed the issues of elections and did a panel discussion with three Ugandan professors comparing the upcoming United States and Ugandan elections. As the student of the day, I had only planned on introducing the speakers and one of the professors was planning on acting as the facilitator of the discussion, however I was asked before to join the panel as an additional facilitator with an American perspective. This experience was one of the best things to happen to me, getting to discuss politics with professors with international perspectives and getting to share experiences. As I walked with Dorothy to Café Javas, we talked about how I have been participating in elections and campaigning since I was eight years old with my dad when he was running for local office.
I found our discussion very enlightening as we discussed the issues with Ugandan elections, such as media influence, campaign financing, electoral security, voter suppression and more. As we talked, both professors and students saw how similar the elections are in Uganda and the United States. What I found most interesting about the similarities was the unknown of what’s going to happen post-election and the possible violence that may occur in the streets. There were clear distinctions throughout the conversation, including the freedom of media in the U.S. compared to Uganda, the openness of campaign financing in the U.S. whereas unknown in Uganda, the use of the national guard pre-elections in Uganda, and more. 10/17/2020 0 Comments Cupcakes & Pastor visitA wonderful surprise came on Thursday when my dad had chocolate cupcakes delivered!!! They were very delicious and a wonderful surprise! I gave a few to our directors and friends and we all had a fun time.
Thursday we also spoke with a local Pastor who gave most of us all a spiritual awakening. He was an amazing orator and the way he talks about forgiveness and the spirit of God makes you really think. I'm planning on going to his church on Sunday morning for the English service to hear him speak more. 10/14/2020 0 Comments ButareMonday through Wednesday of this week we traveled to Butare, about a 3 hour drive from where we are in Kigali. Monday afternoon we had the option to go to the Murambi Genocide Memorial. Asia, Anna, Caleb and I went to the memorial which was very emotional. The beginning of the tour started with a museum going over the history of the genocide, much alike the Kigali Genocide Memorial, but the back of it was a building where they had preserved bodies from the genocide. It was a lot to see the actual bodies and was very graphic. Afterwards we came back to the hotel and everyone had a somewhat disappointing dinner, except for me because I got the Spaghetti Carbonara and it was amazing! On Tuesday we got to go to the Maraba Coffee Co-op and had a really fun tour guide, and of course started the tour with a cup of coffee. We decided instead of driving to get up the mountain to the coffee fields we would do the "10 minute" hike up the mountain. It was somewhat hard but actually a lot of fun. After walking around the fields a bit, it started to pour down on us. We ran up the hill to the fire pit where we roasted coffee beans by hand, crushed them down to powder, and then got to drink the coffee we made and tasted amazing (which also helped us all warm up a little bit). We then ran back down the mountain to the van and went to where they grind the coffee for mass production. Afterwards we headed back for lunch and then got to meet with the Karama Women's Co-op for widows and wives of perpetrators. Theirs stories of reconciliation were moving and the ways that they've been able to come together in the community. It definitely wasn't an easy thing for them to do and took a long time to work through everything that happened, and they are continuing to work through their issues. On Wednesday at breakfast a group of monkey's played with us and tried stealing a bunch of bananas. We headed back to Kigali, stopping at the King's Palace Museum with replicas of the huts of past King's next to the modern house where the last King of Rwanda lived. It was very educational and interesting learning about the history of the King's in Rwanda. Near the huts was where they have kept up the tradition of the sacred cows. Two men took a few of the cows over for us to meet and sang to keep them calm. The cows were incredible and very calm. We went over to the baby cows as well, one very excited for head pats which was absolutely adorable!! It was a really fun visit with the animals! 10/11/2020 1 Comment End of HoneymoonI've been posting most of the positives of this experience but I don't want to lie, there have definitely been a lot of hard times. It has been very stressful trying to figure out our housing situations for ISP, as well as dealing with all of our work and writing research proposals. I also learned of how I have a limited time to fill out my IRB for my Elon research project here and the modules I have to complete have taken away hours of time I need spending on my work here.
The study abroad honeymoon is over unfortunately and the stress is setting in. Every morning I still feel grateful and am in awe of my view of Kigali from my room, but the pressures of the program and social life here have deeply set in. I really appreciate the support of my friends and family who have helped me deal with the pressures of the program. My big Kristiana has been a major rock for me, checking in daily and following what's been going on with me. Delaney and my family have been equally there for me and helping me through the ups and downs of being abroad. I miss everyone a lot and appreciate everyone's support. |
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