Hi all!  I’m now in my third week in Musanze, and people are continually asking me what my first impressions have been and what the biggest shock/surprise has been so far.  As for the first question, Rwanda is beautiful.  Breathtakingly so.  I flew into Kigali with another group from South Carolina (Pawleys Island, coincidentally) in the early evening last Friday.  Kigali is so gorgeous at nighttime – it’s built on a hill, so in the dark all you can  see is a rolling sea of lights.  I met up with my cousins, Caleb and Louise King, and their daughter Lydia, who I’m homeschooling, and spent Friday night with them in Kigali.  Saturday morning we arrived in Ruhengeri after a bumpy but beautiful car ride.  So my first impression of Rwanda was that it was incredibly gorgeous, and that impression has not proved wrong yet.  Tuesday we went for a hike to see the hydroelectric project Caleb is developing.  I’ve posted some pictures - it was great to be able to see the project coming along, and the view was pretty amazing.

                         

 

                
                 We also drove up to Volcanoes National Park, where the mountain gorillas live. We didn't see any gorillas but we did walk through the park. It was amazing to see the volcanoes - you can see them from Musanze, but they're even more incredible close up.

                                                                    
                                                                      
                                                                                                      Sabyinyo Volcano

As for the second question, the most shocking thing so far has been how decidedly un-shocking everything is.Of course, I get a lot of looks and have gotten used to hearing “Muzungu! Muzungu!” (white person) when I go out.But overall, the people have been incredibly friendly, and the culture shock has been minimal.It helps that many people have a better grasp of English than I do of Kinyarwanda and that I’m fortunate enough to be staying in a house with electricity, hot water (!), internet, and delicious food (prepared by the King’s cook, Beatrice, who is helping me with my Kinyarwanda).

I hope to have a little more news by my next post; I’m still getting settled in.  I've started homeschooling with Lydia, and am also teaching at the school down the street in the mornings.  But I think y’all will be happy to know (well, my mom will, anyway) that I haven’t had to use this suggested phrase from my guidebook: Mushobora guhagarika busi, nkeneye kuruka (Can you stop the bus, I think I need to vomit).