Weekend Bliss

After my harrowing moto ride on Saturday morning, I did make it in to the office and I was very successful in getting work done. At four pm I closed down my computer and marched home, and much to my delight, found several people who sometimes stay at the house on weekends. Sonia, my lovely Burundian friend was there getting her hair braided in typical African fashion-a trend that unfortunately takes hours and hours but is so gorgeous it is worth it in the end. I myself am considering it again-have done it several times when I lived in West Africa.

Once the hair extravaganza was complete, Sonia and I were joined by Assef, an Israeli who also works at the village, and we went off to find a restaurant. My intial intent to take them to Cactus, a great restaraunt that boasts garden seating and a gorgeous view of Kigali was short lived as the taxi driver didn't know where it was and was not the least bit interested in trying to figure it out. We ended up on the patio at Republica munching on brochette and having a few drinks. From there, we set off for KBC, one of the local nightclubs, for a night of dancing. This was quite the experience- reminded me a great deal of a combination of prom night in the 80's and my good friend Peter's parent's basement. An interesting combo indeed. At 2:30am I packed it in and headed to bed, and much to my dismay, due to pressing projects, was up again at 7am to work. The roomates were in and out of the house until noon, when all but Assef left back for the village.

Thankfully, Assef suggested I stop working and go with him to Kimironko market and explore. A much needed break . So off we set, on a beautiful afternoon in Rwanda, to check out some local art . Assef was particularly good at negotiations, and I managed to get some cool masks and drums for some lucky people back home. Then we considered our options for dinner-go out again or cook. I mentioned I'm not the greatest chef-a fact my driver, Jovin, learned, and laughed uproariously at, informing me that I'm going to be a lousy wife. Nice. Assef, however, is an excellent cook, so we wandered the market, found gorgeous fresh ingredients, bought some more beer, and headed home to cook. Assef proceeded to make amazing spagetti and sauce, we negotiated a proposed trip to head to Uganda to go rafting down the Nile in May, listened to some great music, and feasted on the porch while watching the sun set over Kigali. The kind of day that makes life worth living.

Unfortunately, I'm so wound up right now due to all the work I have on my plate that I couldn't sleep last night, despite the fact that I was exhausted from only four hours of sleep the night before. Also, as it is becoming increasingly clear that the rainy season is coming early this year, the mosquitos are acknowledging this fact as well, and seem to be bent on feasting on and torturing me every night. I don't know how, but they manage to make their way into my mosquito net, and don't seem to be the least bit swayed by my added effort of bug repellant. I am on anti-malarials, thankfully, but at this rate I won't be the least bit surprised if I get Malaria. Am going to be very conscious of fevers while this keeps up.

And finally, for my dear friends and family who want to express their love and adoration by phoning and texting, Sunday night my time is not the time to do it. I'm always tired, I always have to get up early for a crazy day at the office, and it always makes me feel borderline violent when you do. I would turn off my phone entirely but I rely on it for the alarm clock. Come on. I love you. Stop the madness.

Is Monday at lunch and I'm back to work. Have to go up to the field office tomorrow and at this rate with work and school, I'm praying I can keep going. I leave you with a couple of pictures of Sonia and Assef at the restaurant, Assef cooking for me, and the concoction he came up with.