First Saturday...Kigali

Today is a work day for me...Eddie is leaving to go home to check out Romania, which will be her next posting and to see Brigitte, her partner living/working at home in Germany. Got to talk with Brigitte for a few minutes last night on the phone...brought back many super wonderful memories of dinners, talks and laughs in Tegucigalpa. Since I have been working....no photos but tomorrow is a day for exploring and tonight, Diana Perdue, a faculty member at Virginia State University and a Fulbright Scholar here and I are "going to Heaven." Heaven is a restaurant here that shows movies. There are no movie theatres!!! Now, I am not a movie theater kind of gal usually, but none in town??

And I had heard about the national HIV/AIDS campaigYen here using Rwandan personalities but I just saw a billboard yesterday and what is cool about this is...these personalities are holding up a condom, not a condom in a wrapper...they show the condom. The country is also on a mission to lower the birth rate. The president is very pro-modern and making this a well organized, well constructed country with education for all and special programs for women/girls. There are issues with control...one TV station, government ads only go to pro-government papers, stations but apparently corruption is down, the system is working, people go to school, traffic is regulated, seat belts are worn, and crime is not the issue it is in neighboring Kenya and Uganda.

Yesterday's training went much better...one man told me my accent got better to their ears! But also, I realized what I had prepared for today made no sense in their context so I have changed it all...fortunately, Louise, the woman who contracted me said that would be fine. This change mid-stream has occured in every country I have worked in. Thank God for computers. What would I have done 20 years ago in this situation with no hard copy to work with/from?

Saw my first dog and cat yesterday. A white woman was walking her dog and a cat appeared to want in the gate when I opened the door to look for my driver. Cat ran but Eddie says it can just come under the gate if it wants. Doesn't appear to be many unkept animals and yes, I did ask if they are eaten here and I was told, NOT.