Yikes! Our four checked bags were ALL overweight by 20 lbs. - more or less - and, as the Delta representative shortly informed us, Rwanda does not accept bags over 70 lbs.! Following some fast sidewalk baggage shuffling, we paid our overweight charges and boarded our first of three flights. We were...finally...on our way!
Arrival & Walkabout
Around 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 1, the lights of this city of one million plus people were glimmering below us and soon we landed at Kigali International Airport. As we exited the plane onto the tarmac for the short walk to the Arrivals Hall, the cool night air was refreshing. At this time of year, temperatures in Kigali range from the mid-60s to the low 80s. Kigali is 100 miles south of the equator and about a mile high in elevation.
Jado and Marisa from the Embassy were outside to welcome us and pay the porters. Reservations had been made at the Ninzi Hill Hotel not far from the airport at $90 a night.
Adrenaline still coursing through our veins, we decided to explore the nearby area and get some Rwandan francs (800 RWF= one dollar) and a drink. Bed time at last!
Observations on our first walkabout:
The streets are super clean and free of any litter. As of 2013, if one is caught littering, there is a 10,000 RWF fine (or $12.50). Keep in mind that 26% of Rwandan workers earn less than 150 RWF per hour ($.18). Another 24% earn between 150 and 450 francs per hour, ($.56). 29% earn between 450 and 1350 RWF per hour, ($1.70). The remaining 21% earn more than 1350 RWF ($1.70).
People don’t smoke in public.
People don’t eat or drink on the streets.
Restaurants are enclosed by shrubbery or walls and hidden away from public view.
ATMs are enclosed and are accessed through a door.
Apartment Hunting & SIM Card
On Friday morning, Jado and Marisa stopped by early to show us a few apartments. We looked at two apartments and finally checked out the place that the previous Fulbrighter in Mark’s position had lived. Rubangura Apartments had a small studio as their only availability, but beginning September 8th, there would be a one-bedroom apartment available on the third floor with a view of the swimming pool and expansive views of some of the hills surrounding the apartment with City (downtown) in the distance. It also included membership to the Waka Fitness Center.
Our next goal was to have our phones activated. We decided on MTN as our carrier. As we were soon to learn, a 1 GB per day data plan is way to much for our use. Climbing the learning curve! Plans will change next month!
Observations on our second day of exploring:
Cell phones are ubiquitous and WhatsApp is what everyone uses including students and their teachers.
Cell phone company representatives are on almost every street corner. MTN reps are under yellow umbrellas; AirTel reps are under big red umbrellas and the TIGO guys are under the blue ones ready to assist you for more data storage and telephone use (but cannot assist you in buying a SIM card).
Our phones automatically put a #1 in front of the number, so they do not connect. We will have to find out why?!?
Google Messenger is one choice for free video and phone calling and texting.
Trip to the College of Education
The following morning, we boarded a local bus and headed to the University of Rwanda College of Education (CE). A very interesting cultural experience.
Observations on our bus trip to the CE:
A bus fare is about 250 RWF ($0 .30) but changes often with fluctuations in the RWF.
Some of the buses have free wifi access. However one has to log in with a user name and an email which many people don’t have.
Buses accommodate 25 people, and when a bus fills up, no one else can get on.
Sitting in the middle means raising and folding your seat as others exit the bus.
People enter the bus at the same time that others are exiting.
Buses play music from KISS FM radio (102.3), a pop station, and very popular here. We have since dowloaded the tunein app, located KISS, and play it as often as possible. It is awesome!!
The University of Rwanda College of Education is one of six UR colleges located all over the city. Check out the CE website to get a better idea of the College.
Exploring the neighborhood on foot
Checking out Waka Fitness and the restaurants near our place were on our Sunday agenda.
African, Mediterranean, Ethiopian, French, Italian, Chinese, and Indian restaurants are all within walking distance of our residence.
The Waka Fitness Center is about a 15-minute walk from our apartment. We will definitely take advantage of this freebie!
Conquering a Few Kigali Hills
Trekking up and down these Kigali hills is challenging, to say the least. On Monday, we began our journey at 11:30 a.m. to find an ATM and finished with minimal stops at 2 p.m.
Observations on shopping:
Expatriate stores like Woodlands Supermarket employ clerks that will offer to carry your shopping basket.
All purchased items are bagged in a paper bag. Fortunately, we packed 4 cloth Publix bags, which have come in handy.
Eggs are sold separately. We couldn’t figure out how to carry six eggs safely while walking kilometers and kilometers.
Most Rwandans buy what they need daily and buy from canteens.
In many supermarkets, even the small ones, the purchase of bottled drinks includes a recycling fee which is reimbursable upon return of the empty bottle.
The big supermarkets charge 18% tax on items purchased - a BIG reason to frequent the local markets!
Simba Supermarket is a big chain that has a large selection of items. Unfortunately, local produce does not make it into these stores. Click on this link to read about the struggle local farmers have to get their agro products into these stores.
Simba salt sandwich bread is not exactly sandwich bread but frankfurter-type rolls.
More Walking & Exploring
Tuesday ended better than the previous day, that is, we seem to be adapting to the high elevation and trekking up and down the hills. Our legs are getting stronger. We spent the late afternoon relaxing by the pool and snacked on crackers and expensive feta cheese. Goodbye to imported cheeses from now on. We hit the sack early.
Meeting CE Administrators
On Wednesday, Jado, Marisa, and the two of us met with the Principal, Dean, department heads and folks in the Human Resources office at CE. All were very gracious and answered our many questions.
Observations on our meeting with the College of Education administration:
The Principal, or Director of the CE, brought us through a brief history of the CE. It was a formal but friendly experience.
There was no air conditioning in any of the offices we visited, nor were there ceiling or floor fans.
Tea and coffee were served at this initial welcoming meeting. We were not sure who was supposed to start the pouring, so we left it to our Embassy representative to pour the first cup.
Everyone that we have met so far uses his or her first names and job titles. We suppose this is the case because of the length of Rwandan family names and the difficulty foreigners have pronouncing them correctly.
After the meeting with the Dean, we stopped by HR to talk about what we needed for the work visa and arranged to return the next day with the paperwork which we had assembled prior to leaving the States.
We walked home after mistakenly boarding two buses. A long and tiring day.
CE HR, Moving Day & Suitcase Snafu
The following morning, we gathered all the paperwork and dropped it off at CE HR. Fingers crossed that all is in order for our visas!?!
Move-in day was fun. Bertrand, a Rubangura employee, carried all four bags up to our apartment along with three hanging clothing racks, computer bags and our carry-ons. Talk about an Iron Man!!
Much to our surprise, one of our stored bags was not ours! As we opened it, we were shocked to see at least 20 pairs of kids sneakers. We had the wrong bag for an entire week and our bag had been unclaimed or taken by another passenger a week ago at the airport!!! In our bag was a projector that Mark was planning to use in his teaching. After calling the airport, traveling there with the wrong bag, discussing the situation with immigration officers and Lost and Found representatives, our bag had been waiting for us and was once more in our possession. Oh, glorious day!!
MTN & Our Neighbors
We again headed out for a long walkabout on Friday morning. On our way to the MTN phone service center, we passed by the Peace Corps headquarters. As former Peace Corps Volunteers, we will drop by for a visit in the near future.
The MTN folks - Olive, Nicholas and Alain - were very helpful in troubleshooting our problem and turned off the feature called “Assisted Dialing.” We had a wonderful MTN experience and now have new Facebook friends.
Our evening was spent around the swimming pool watching the sun go down and reuniting with a young Belgian couple, Antoine and Florence, who are renting a house nearby. We exchanged stories and ate fish brochettes. This was indeed an eventful first week (and a day) in this beautiful country of a thousand hills and its lovely people.
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