Beginnings of Week No. 2

Hello friends and family! It's Sonrisa again, with the latest updates on our team adventures in Rwanda!

The best news: Cole has arrived! Cole left Denver late last Friday night and arrived in Kigali yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. We left Musanze on Saturday morning and headed to Kigali to meet Cole at the airport. Hasan came with us in order to visit a friend of his from Cyanika that is living in Kigali at the moment. 

When we arrived in Kigali, we met Hasan and his friend, Jessy, who just also happens to be Jacques's niece. We spent most of the rest of the day with Hasan and Jessy in Kigali, going to a HUGE local market in Kigali called Kimironko Market. We nearly lost Cassidy on a moto but thank goodness her driver found us waiting for her fairly quickly. Jessy had taken us to the market to buy local crafts, however, the market was SO crowded and we were nearly the only mzungus in sight so we were promptly swarmed with vendors hollering "Brother! Sister! Come, come, come! Look at this - it is so beautiful!" It was very overwhelming and none of us ended up buying anything because there was just so much to take in and process at the moment. After the market, Jessy took us to a restaurant in town where we had fresh juices, chapatti wraps, and, of course, french fries. 

The next day, Sunday, we had some time to kill before Cole arrived so we went to Caplaki Craft Village. The craft village is for sure a tourist haven and the prices are a bit more than at local markets, but there are lots of good things to purchase in an environment that is much more relaxing to be in.  Caplaki is called a "craft village" because it is an open marking lot type of area lined with vendor stalls. We practiced our bartering skills and headed back to our hostel to drop off our newly purchased items before picking up Cole at the airport. 

(thanks, Google for these photos for the markets - I didn't get the chance to take my own)

Our motos dropped us off and after we paid, one of the drivers immediately pulled a wheely and started to do crazy tricks in the street, giving us quite the show. He even stood on the seat with one leg, using the other to steer and accelerate. And that wasn't even the whackiest part! After pulling a couple leg-pivot-donut-things in the middle of the street, the moto driver got off his bike and offered it to a cyclist training in the neighborhood who happened to be passing by. The cyclist got off his bike and literally hopped over to the moto (he had only one leg), hopped on and took off down the street while swinging his one leg from side to side on the motorcycle in order to shift. By far, this is one of those memories I'll have forever that seems to be uniquely "Africa" in my mind as I could never imagine seeing anything of the sort happen at home. 

Cassidy and Casey went to the airport to pick up Cole while Gary and myself stayed at the hotel that way everyone coming back from the airport could fit into a single cab.  We took Cole for his first meal in Kigali and naturally we ended up going to Now Now Rolex, a staple of last year's travel team that is turning into the same thing this year. 

Now Now Rolex 

We took the (very bumpy and hot) bus back to Musanze from Kigali this morning and have spent the rest of the day not doing much. Gary and Casey went to Goico market to pick up and get clothes made from one of the many seamstresses who work there. Cassidy, Cole, and I spent some time researching and talking about the projects and the possible addition of the latrine project to our team's work. For those not familiar, our team is currently researching and assessing for a possible latrine project in Cyanika that the team would work on in addition to the rainwater harvesting we currently do. We have met with a sector official who has told us that there is a need for good and safe latrines in public areas where football matches and community meeting take place. The rest of this week will see us meet with the sector officials again and have them show us examples of poor and good public latrines in the community that way we have a better idea of what the project would entail before we make any decisions on our involvement with this latrine project. 

Gary, his favorite seamstress, and our translating friend, Amis 

Tomorrow is Tuesday and we will be meeting with the Community Vision Board again in order to introduce Cole to the chiefs and to talk with the chiefs of our current systems about what our future plans for building systems are. They have selected three other villages for the team to assess so that we can plan on what next year's implementation trip will look like. We hope to build two systems next year. 

We have had much more downtime than I had expected when creating a schedule for the trip. I was expecting there to be more repairs that need to be made at the systems in Cyanika but everything looks great! When we have met with the system caretakers and talked with them at the sites, they have explained to us that while there are a few minor things that need repair, they have already ordered the replacement parts and are prepared to fix them ASAP, without any assistance from the travel team.
The only disappointment that I've experienced this trip (other than getting a surprise cold) has been the terrible air quality that is in both Kigali and Musanze. The sky, in both places, is heavy with smoke from fires burning trash and wood. It reminds me of a Colorado sky during a heavy wildfire season. The resulting visibility is so poor that you can't see the Virungas (volcanoes) from Musanze except at night when the red sun allows for a peek at the silhouettes.

Smoky Kigali skies