Moving to Africa for three months does not come without it's own questions about where will I live and what will it be like? Before accepting, I asked a thousand questions. While Chris, my friend and manager, patiently waded through my anxiety. He finally acknowledged, "Ken, I am happy to answer all your questions, and you should keep asking, but the truth is you cannot imagine what it will be like to live here. And all the answers I could give you still can't tell you what it's like. You have to come experience it." And he was right. So this next entry will try to describe what it's like to live here.
Kigali, Rwanda is a city of more that 600,000 people. It sprawls amongst many hills with modernizing offices, traditional mud/adobe homes and walled "suburban" yards all side-by-side. Paved roads run along the ridge tops, with a network of red clay pathways and roads branching outward. Heavy rains, sometimes daily, streak ruts into the roadbeds.
I live in one of the walled, suburban compounds which I share with three other volunteers. It's a 4-bedroom ranch house with three baths and a sad little kitchen. So much for the
Joy of Cooking. Still, it's more than comfortable, and it comes with a staff. Having Security watch the house and people to clean feels odd, and yet it provides jobs. At first it seems like an embarrassing luxury, until you realize the alternative might be much more basic than we think of as home.
The house comes with a beautiful garden with hibiscus, passion vine, and plants we'd consider houseplants. Edibles include
banana and plantain palms, along with okra, onions, amaranth (think celosia stewed into greens), basil and mint. Plus, a headge of lemon grass no one could possibly use in a life time of Thai soup. It's a great spot that attracts an amazing array of birds, to say nothing of the bugs.
Bugs... big bugs and small... Here's a giant critter who visited my living room. Surprisingly, bugs have not been as prevalent as I expected. It's the little ones you need to watch out for... Living in malaria-prone areas comes with lots of precautions. Everyone sleeps under mosquito netting, giving your room a sort of Jamaican princess inspired flair. Other than seeing the exact same arrangement in an American Girl catalog, it's a small inconvenience. For those of us staying a short time, we also take drugs.
East Africa is known for unparalleled birdwatching. I haven't had the chance to get out much to check it out. But I'm amazed at what I see all around me. Whether in the yard or down the road outside our driveway, I see incredible new species everyday. This little guy below is a Red-Cheeked Cordon Bleu (
Uraeginthus bengalus). I have yet to snap an image of the African Paradise Flycatcher (
Terpsiphone viridis), but they hangout in our yard all the time. My lifelist is going to need a new page or two after this stint.
And my favorite spot is the terrace off the living room. It's a great place to lounge, read, watch the birds or enjoy the breeze. I think this is the part I like the most.
Kigali, Rwanda is a city of more that 600,000 people. It sprawls amongst many hills with modernizing offices, traditional mud/adobe homes and walled "suburban" yards all side-by-side. Paved roads run along the ridge tops, with a network of red clay pathways and roads branching outward. Heavy rains, sometimes daily, streak ruts into the roadbeds.
I live in one of the walled, suburban compounds which I share with three other volunteers. It's a 4-bedroom ranch house with three baths and a sad little kitchen. So much for the Joy of Cooking. Still, it's more than comfortable, and it comes with a staff. Having Security watch the house and people to clean feels odd, and yet it provides jobs. At first it seems like an embarrassing luxury, until you realize the alternative might be much more basic than we think of as home. 
The house comes with a beautiful garden with hibiscus, passion vine, and plants we'd consider houseplants. Edibles include 
banana and plantain palms, along with okra, onions, amaranth (think celosia stewed into greens), basil and mint. Plus, a headge of lemon grass no one could possibly use in a life time of Thai soup. It's a great spot that attracts an amazing array of birds, to say nothing of the bugs.
Bugs... big bugs and small... Here's a giant critter who visited my living room. Surprisingly, bugs have not been as prevalent as I expected. It's the little ones you need to watch out for... Living in malaria-prone areas comes with lots of precautions. Everyone sleeps under mosquito netting, giving your room a sort of Jamaican princess inspired flair. Other than seeing the exact same arrangement in an American Girl catalog, it's a small inconvenience. For those of us staying a short time, we also take drugs.
East Africa is known for unparalleled birdwatching. I haven't had the chance to get out much to check it out. But I'm amazed at what I see all around me. Whether in the yard or down the road outside our driveway, I see incredible new species everyday. This little guy below is a Red-Cheeked Cordon Bleu (Uraeginthus bengalus). I have yet to snap an image of the African Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone viridis), but they hangout in our yard all the time. My lifelist is going to need a new page or two after this stint.
Ken, I wanted to let you know that I heard a report on NPR the other morning about Rwanda's specialty coffee growers - they even mentioned "cupping". Thanks to you, I knew what they were talking about! It actually sounds like a great job - chemistry with a practical application.
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