The Routine

The adventures are over for a little while and so I’m settling into a routine at the orphanage.  They ring the bell (actually a rusted out tire rim) at 5:00 am for the kids to get up.  I can now sleep through it but am generally up by 5:30 or 6:00 and get a little alone time before everyone else gets up.  Breakfast is at 7:00 and then we ease into the day

It’s probably time that I admit that I have a dog here in Rwanda--please don’t tell Willie.  Ok, so maybe it is actually Victor’s dog but I have adopted her as my own for the time that I am here.  Her name is Lady and she definitely fits her name.  There aren’t a lot of dogs in Rwanda (most were killed after the genocide for less than pleasant reasons that I won’t go into) and Lady has to be the fattest one here.  She is so spoiled.  The kids call her the Muzungu dog because she is white (blond color), has her own bed (a bean bag chair), lives at the guesthouse and gets good food.  She is very patient about her food but knows she is probably going to get an omelet and guacamole for breakfast and if not, a hard boiled egg—which she can peel herself, very lady like of course, if you start it for her.  She loves a good butt rub and I would let her sleep with me if it weren’t for the darn ticks and fleasJ

I generally go to the office in the morning and fight with the Internet.  We are waiting on the ‘mapping’ to come back on the land and in the meantime I’m trying to figure out how to register a business in Rwanda and be prepared to move forward on the purchase (and various other tasks regarding Birambye).   I have become the editor for most documents as I’m the only person here that English is their first (and only, embarrassingly enough) language.  I have also been assigned the project to figure out how to cut costs in their egg producing business which should be interesting.  Add tour guide to the list and it provides a lot of variety. 

Lunch is at 1:00 after which Victor takes a siesta.  I may siesta myself or head back to the office.  Some days we head to the hospital if we need to do any heavy lifting on the Internet or I may take a walk.  Every couple of days, whether I need it not, a shower is in order when the water is hot in the afternoons.  Wednesdays may involve a walk to the market in Mugonero although not every week.   A trip to the baby house is generally in order at some point during the day.  Dinner is at 7:00 and after some conversation, to bed embarrassingly early.   

This past Friday we headed to Kibuye.  Cristina met quite a few people in Kigali and one guy has a cottage on the lake which he offered up for her use.  His ‘man’, Kazunga, (I swear that can’t be his name but she insists it is) came and picked us up on the boat (a motorized raft really) which was a nice break from the moto taxis and provided us a different view of Lake Kivu.  The cottage was lovely—we had lunch at a hotel next door, did a little shopping in the market in town and just hung out on the porch for the evening.  Saturday morning I took a couple of hour walk doing a bit of market research on the hotel competition in the area and we headed back to the orphanage in time for lunch and of course, more weekend guests.  I don’t think there is a weekend where there are not guests here. 

Guests change the routine a bit but there is a certain rhythm to the days that doesn’t change.  And it is amazing how quickly it feels like home.  This week Pam will arrive and I am very much looking forward to her visit and showing her this crazy little corner of the world.