Tonight is my final night in Kigali before I leave for my placement. Today we had our final ICT session - a day long workshop with our employers. This had to be pulled forward a day as it was meant to be tomorrow, but at the end of last week, MINEDUC announced a very important and compulsory meeting for all District Education Officers (DEO). Since most of the volunteers appear to be employed by Districts and we are line managed by the DEO, this meant turn-out would be almost nil if VSO kept the meeting on its original day. So it was changed. Apparently it is quite common for meetings to be called at the last minute, or even for public holidays to be announced the night before. I look forward to some aspects of this spontaneity!
The day was scheduled to begin at 8:30. By the time most people were present, it was after 9:30, but at least most people had a chance to speak to their new employer before the day officially began. Unfortunately my DEO was unable to attend, but, in his place he sent a Head Teacher from one of the schools in the District who has done a lot of work with volunteers. We had a pleasant day of planning and discussing and eating and then arranged times for tomorrow. She is bringing the District car up to Kigali tomorrow morning to pick me and my millions of bags up. I am very excited about the prospect of finally seeing my new home. Cathy (my new housemate, who has been here for a year) is making plans to be there when I arrive - although she has already met up with me to give me a set of keys. It's finally happening! Apparently it will be about a 2 hour drive tomorrow and there will be some very beautiful scenery on the way.
As a final goodbye, we are off for a group drink to the local bar. However, I am so tired that I will probably just show my face for a few mins and then retire. My new bedtime is at about 9pm. That's the good thing about it getting dark early - it doesn't feel so bad when you zonk out early!
Last night we had a pleasant evening at a local restaurant where they sell the Rwandan delicacy of goat brochettes (kebabs). We had a quiz to keep us busy, which was just as well as it took over two hours for our food order to arrive. This is not uncommon in restaurants in Rwanda and most people turn up with snacks to share. I was delighted that someone who I was sitting with had been generous enough to do this as I was famished! The good news is that my team won the quiz. So, I shall head off now and my next update will be from Kibungo...!
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