Swear-in, shopping and Indian food.

Apologies for the blog silence, everyone, I’ve been deliriously busy and haven’t been able to get to a computer, so I wanted to update you on life here. Last week we packed up all of our belongings and sadly left Nyanza, our homes for the past two months, our new Rwandan families and many new Rwandan friends, and traveled to Kigali for Swear-In. Yep, it happened, we are officially Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV’s to be exact)! Swear-in was held last Wednesday at the US Ambassador to Rwanda’s house in Kigali, with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health in attendance. Oh, not to mention the New Times (newspaper) and a TV station (I know, I know, we‘re kind of a big deal). Some pretty fantastic trainees gave speeches in English, French and Kinyarwanda. I understood all of the English, a substantial amount of the French and even a fair amount of the Kinyarwanda; but I can tell you that 2 out of the 3 speeches mentioned my amoebas (yay?). I had my “Embarrassing Moment of 2010” when in the middle of the Ambassador’s speech to us he asked us how development must be done in Rwanda, and then paused. Given the casual atmosphere of the day, I quietly (or maybe not so quietly) answered “buhoro, buhoro” which means slowly in Kinyarwanda. Well that was 1) not the answer the Ambassador was looking for (it was “by working together with the Rwandans”) and 2) not really meant to be a question that he wanted us to answer. Out loud. On tv. In the middle of his speech. Luckily mostly everyone laughed it off, but I’m fairly certain my blushing cheeks could be seen from space.

The rest of the week was spent in Kigali shopping for household items (kerosene stove, cutting board, dishes, cups: check!) and eating as much food as humanly possible. You name it, I ate it (minus sushi, which I will continue to crave for months at least) but I must say my favorites continue to be Indian (both cheap and expensive) and the veggie burger and iced caramel macchiato at Bourbon café. Pretty much heavenly!

All of us are getting increasingly excited for our moves to site, but first, the Access Project has a fairly in depth orientation planned for us. We had overview meetings last Thursday and Friday, and now I find myself in the Eastern Province in Bugesera district, shadowing the District Health Advisor for the next four days. We’re getting a great introduction to the activities that Access is conducting, touring health centers, and seeing what interventions have been successful and could be implemented in our own districts. I’ll be here until Friday morning and then back to Kigali for the weekend, before finally heading to my new home in Musanze. I can’t wait to get settled and decorate and begin the arduous tasks of learning to live on my own in Rwanda as well as figuring out what exactly my job will be. Well, off to do some research, but more soon!!