Hooray for Third-World Living.

Le 18 decembre   Being a volunteer is both mentally and physically taxing – each minute of every day is planned out (and usually not by me) and when I have a free moment, I often have to think of what is best for me and take a quick nap. I’ve been absolutely swamped the last few weeks with the end of Cours d’Anglais and my jaunt to Kigali – yes, I’ll write about them at a later date – that I’ve just had no time whatsoever to check my email (always a big ordeal) never mind write any blogs! Today is the first day in over a week I’ve even opened my computer. I’ve been writing in my journal enough to keep me even-keel as well as using my current book: Half the Sky for an escape. (Yes, I’ll talk about that, too.) As I’ve told my parents, I truly enjoy writing the blog and it’s frustrating for me when I’m not able to write about my experiences or to share with you all – don’t worry, they’re coming.

Bottom line? Things are going well – I’m almost at the 3 month mark and it’s flying by, truly. I was able to apply for my visa this week (NOT easy) and it should be ready soon. Also, I got an early Christmas present a few days ago – my parents had been contemplating a visit here, but a couple of days ago they called me to tell me that they’d bought flights! This Valentine’s Day will truly be celebrated with a great gesture of love on the part of my parents, and I’m so thrilled about the upcoming trip. They will be arriving here the 13th of February and leave the 24th, and we’ll be staying in Rwanda only. Only just bigger than Rhode Island, but so much to see. Truly, this is the answer to my prayers.

I bumped into another American in Kigali this week and in our three-minute conversation, he mentioned how “It doesn’t seem like Christmas because it feels like July.” At least there’s another person here who understands where I’m coming from, most people just say, “you miss cold weather?” Haha needless to say, a strange Christmas season but a wonderful one.