Made it to Rwanda! First few days here

It was a long ways here but I finally made it to Rwanda! I met my host family, who is extremely welcoming! I can’t wait to get to know them better. J The first night was honestly a little rough for me. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling extremely homesick. I really wanted to talk to my family and friends back at home. The thought of living in a new country by myself made me feel hopeless. I realized that I hit the second stage of culture shock: depression. This explains why I felt in such ways. I decided that I would call everyone back home the next day.

The first full day here was a lot better. I finally met everyone that is part of EWH. They’re all friendly people and I can’t wait to work and get to know them better. For the first half of the day we learned greetings in Kinyarwanda. For the second half we had an introduction to our lab work and a formal orientation to EWH. After class, everyone decided to go out and explore the town. One of the students and I decide to go get money exchanged. We also tried to search for internet around town. We heard of a restaurant with Wi-Fi, called Whatsapp Pub, and decided to go there with another student. When we got seated, we realized that we were actually at a bar! There was no internet access either! We wanted to leave but we already ordered water and food. So, we ended up studying at the bar! LOL.

After eating at the restaurant, we ended up going to a building on campus with Wi-Fi. I was able to talk to my sister, dad, and my best friend from college! Talking to them made me feel a lot better. Although I got disconnected, hearing a familiar voice made me feel happy. I will definitely call again!

Jade and I enjoying the beautiful weather during break! Surprisingly, the weather here is a lot cooler than back at home.

Partying it up real hard by studying at the bar!