Adventure TIME!

Adventures in Kigali- 27/7
My first time in the big city all on my own...rather lonely really. I am thankful for the free wifi and iced coffee more than anything. I did get some exciting life staples...like soy sauce and pancake mix and peanut M&Ms. I think they'll make it possible for me to survive here, but the oats I've been in search of are elusive. Thus, making my "baking no-bake cookies to make everyone like me" plan very difficult....Last chance at the restaurant supply store, although they're probably ungodly expensive. Last time I got them at T2000...but today for some reason, I couldn't find T2000.
Yeah, I've been there twice.
Yeah, I walked around in circles for half an hour.
No, I still couldn't find it.
But! I did finally find a can opener so I can feed my little Fivel kitty the sardines that have been sitting on my desk/table since I got them from my host fam. A really sweet thought...but I can't bring myself to eat them. Fivel, however, will LOVE them.
Now, I'm trying to leave Bourbon but I can't remember the kinyarwanda word for "check"...sometimes I really really miss having an LCF on-hand to answer all my language and cultural cues. My ultimate goal is to find someone at site like that. Seeing as I see my supervisor only about once a week, I'm thinking the two housepeople that work at my complex (who finally seem to like me) could be very helpful in that capacity. I will, of course, show my appreciation with no-bakes (once I find oats) and with peanut butter (now that I know they like it). I'm really happy PB is such a universal good. It proved a favorite in Brazil when I made PB cookies, ditto in Ireland (although my office preferred scones) and now here. Thanks George Washington Carver. You're my favorite.

Adventures in Nyagatare- 31/7
So an exciting week for me! Lots of change of scenery! On Sunday, Alex and I planned a trip to our exciting, buzzing metropolis of Nyagatare! Though neither of us had actually taken public transport there yet, we braved the wilds of this rugged East and made it! We met up with another PCV from the area and had a lovely (though crazily overpriced) brochette and frites lunch complete with salad! it was very exciting. I think i might have to resign myself to the fact that salads will now be onions, cabbage and shredded carrots. I'm gonna attempt to plant lettuce...but I first have to find a space to do it. Not sure how well received a garden in our courtyard would be. I might still push that idea and just get everybody working on it to make it a fun project. I never really started a garden before, but I have a book...the process will be like everything else here...figuring it out as I go along. Not a bad method really, once you embrace discomfort. That step is critical to life as a PCV. Walking to my bathroom, from my shower, cooking dinner, going to the store to buy bread, planting my herbs...all of this must be done FIRST with the idea that you WILL be watched as you do it, and SECOND that they will likely think you're nuts.
Last night, as I was making pineapple fried rice, i was cutting up my carrots and one of the cooks said to me quite simply, "those aren't good carrots." When I asked why she replied because they were so small. I tried to explain, they were just as good, just tasted a little different because they were baby carrots. Not entirely sure how that was received in the end. I also get a lot of scrutiny for not adding a lot of salt or oil to my cooking. Saying that I liked it that way wasn't really understood so I tried to explain a family history of heart disease. Luckily, as soon as you mention a doctor, while they may not agree, they'll accept that as reasoning. I'm trying to use all this, first, to understand how to live here and make myself accepted (if not understood) and second, to see how that will all affect what I'm trying to do here in terms of improving community health. Every experience here is a lesson.