This weekend was awesome! On Friday night, Natasha, Esther, Kim and I went to dinner. Kim is a fellow intern who is from New York! It was great to meet her! Having someone that wants to experience Kigali was really nice! We went to dinner at a place called Pili Pili! It was sooo cute! I think my favorite atmosphere so far as far as restaurants are concerned. It was like a gigantic tiki hut within a tree house! The view of the city was spectacular! We went to dinner for like 4 hours. Just talking and getting to know one another it. It was quite nice!


Saturday, I woke up to Ange wishing me a good morning! I was so excited to see her! We immediately started making lunch… it’s a process! I invited Kim over for lunch and Rita was able to join us. It was cool to hear the commonalities and the shared experiences that we have. Kim and I ended up taking a walk to an art gallery nearby, Inema Art Center. It was SO cool. A group of 5 brothers run this gallery. The paintings were amazing! I told them I would buy one once I had a job and a steady income again! They were so kind to us and we ended up hanging out there for quite a while.
During our time there we were able to watch a group of neighborhood kinds practicing their dance! We learned that they perform once a month at a local restaurant called Heaven. I hope to make it to their next performance! The kids were SO ADORABLE! I can’t even put it in words. They were having so much fun which made it so fun to watch!  

We started getting hungry and our new friends were advising us on different dinner places. One suggested Zen, which was an Asian restaurant on my list! Yay! Two of them ended up joining us. Innocent and Greg. They were so kind to us and made wonderful dinner mates! Zen was really cool. Turns out we were the early bird crowd having the whole restaurant to ourselves for the majority of our time there. We stayed for a few hours. Dinner here is certainly an experience. You don’t rush through a meal and get your bill like in the states. Drinks, starters, meal and then after dinner drinks has become a practice here! It’s quite nice and allows for great conversation. I guess the key is ensuring you’re in good company!

Sunday I went to church with Ange! She invited me earlier in the week and was so excited that I said yes! She attends a Baptist church in walking distance from where I’m living. She sings in the choir and I was really excited to see her in her element. I was greeted with warm smiles as we made our way to our seats. Ange shared with me that she had a friend coming to help translate the message for me. I thought that was a really nice gesture! So, it turns out that church here is a whole experience. It started at 9 and ended around 12:45. They have a worship team and 4 different choir groups. They all perform 2 songs each from what I gathered. There was woman leading the church which I found surprising for some reason. Turns out it was Women Week where they celebrate the role of the woman within the church and the broader community. Due to it being women week, they had a woman open up with a message as well as a few moments within the service that were celebrating women. The music was cool to see – the energy within the room and the sound when everyone is signing was quite beautiful. I’m very glad I went! 

After church, Ange invited me to her home for lunch. Her friend Gisele who translated the service, and another friend joined us for lunch. Ange lives in a one room hut of sorts with her daughter Stacy. I’ve never experienced anything like it. I could tell she was comfortable enough to let me see where she lives but also continued to make remarks about the size. I told her that I loved it and she was surprised and continuously kept asking me, “Really?” She also shared that she pays for this home on her own! Ange is 21 now, turning 22 at the end of April, and has a 4 year old daughter! I love that she is proud of having her own home and just adore her spirit! 
This experience reinforced this idea for me that you really don’t need much to be happy. Within the room was a suitcase with her clothes, a couple of bags hanging on the wall, two posters that had inspirational messages (which of course I loved) and a mattress that fit in the room perfectly. There wasn’t room to walk around or do anything other than sit. The four of us ate lunch together on her bed as if we’ve been friends for years. 

The majority of the time I was hanging out with Stacy, Ange’s daughter. She’s 4 years old and speaks English! Ange is sending her to a school that only speaks English and says that one day Stacy will go to America! She invests a lot of money for Stacy to go to this particular school and is so proud because she’s at the top of her class! Stacy is precious. Super curious, very outgoing. She is comfortable with new people and engages, but also just enjoys watching what’s happening around her. She was continuously singing – alphabet songs, church songs and even that apples and banana’s song! “I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas”. She was surprised I knew that one! 


After a few hours here, Ange and I went to town. When we were leaving, Stacy asked me if I’d come back! YES!! OmG, I love that kid! I told Ange that I will be her auntie… Ange laughed and told me later that she told Stacy and she was excited! Haha
Ange and I went to town to get food from Simba, the grocery store here. We also got our nails done – fingers and toes for under $12 for both of us. Craziness. I also got a new pair of shoes to wear to Akilah! ($8) It was such a nice day! I am grateful not only for this experience, but for meeting Ange! She has been a key player to my experience here and I will never forget that!

-GATC –