Rwanda Partners: You Made My Day!

Well now that I’ve gotten my virtual head bit off for my last post, I’m going to take it down a notch and write a VERY overdue post. BTW – the last one was a joke, apparently not a funny one – except to the Brits, I bet you liked that one. This post is WAY overdue, so here goes.

About a month or so ago, a simple click of the mouse won me a taste of Rwanda! What’s that you say? YES, all I did was RT (that’s retweet for you non-social media people, and that’s twitter for you people who live in a bubble) @RwandaPartners and I became their Tuesday winner!

About a week later a fantastic package came to my apartment, and what was inside you ask? Well…

Rwandan baskets! I am so excited - they are sitting on my dresser as you read this and as I type this. Anyway, Rwanda Partners is a great organization that wants to advance Rwandans by ethnic reconciliation, education and job creation. In the holiday spirit early? Donate here!

So that’s it – I also found that Bourbon Coffee is now in DC. So I can surround myself in Rwanda-ness for a while now. And I will obviously have a post coming up on that soon. Stay tuned.

Ndakunda urwanda

I don’t think I have an all encompassing post on this, but, as many of you know, I’d be perfectly happy packing up my life, moving back to Rwanda and growing old there. Why?...Is what most people say. And that is frustrating. I didn’t have any visitors in Rwanda (woe is me), and I know it’s a long trip, but I’ve teased out moving to South America, and I already have my friend’s cousin’s ex-boyfriend’s kinda friend’s twin willing to visit me there. No one came to Africa, so shame, shame on all of you. Here are the top 5 things you missed:

1. Tourist attractions. Gorillas, birds, monkeys, oh my! Really though, Gorillas in the Mist was in Rwanda. If you want to see them, go there – not to mention they have some intense birds and golden monkeys. Want to trek a volcano? Me neither, but you could in Rwanda!

2. Safety! Rwanda is regarded as the safest East and Central African country. Move over Uganda, Tanzania, DRC.…well, I’m assuming you’ve already moved to the corner of the room – Rwanda is like living in candyland compared to its western neighbor. I felt perfectly comfortable traveling alone in Rwanda – just as safe as I do in Washington, DC.

3. Fun. And everyone hates missing fun. Whatever you consider fun, Rwanda has it: clubs, bars, brochettes, adventure, hiking, trekking, motorcycles, children, a love of Obama, languages, difficult languages, easier languages, hills, motos to avoid walking the hills, and on and on.

4. A Lake. Oh you think you can find a lake just anywhere?! What about a lake with methane gas underneath it? Yeah, didn’t think so. Lake Kivu is beautiful! There are many places to go on the lake, with beaches and amazing views.

5. Amazing People. I met the most amazing people in the world in Rwanda. To go on from where they came from is incredible, the courage and strength that Rwandans have goes unmatched in any other country I’ve ever been to.

So while you think about traveling this fall, maybe consider a fun, yet safe, lake for tourists where amazing people linger.

Tweeting around the World

This one is for all you naysayers who try to argue against social media when I preach it: I don’t care that you wore red socks today (twitter), how is a picture of me doing a keg stand client-appropriate (facebook), it’s creepy that you know who else is in the restaurant (foursquare). Well here’s an interesting story that would not have happened without social media, and it’s how I met @travoholic.

It started with one simple tweet from Kirsty (travoholic) about what to do in Kigali, and @rtwdave offered me (@nleary) as someone to reach out to as he knew I spent 3 months in the country. We tweeted back and forth and then exchanged emails, and I found out she was looking for a place to live. Turns out, so were my old roommates. As chance would have it, she not only moved into my old house, but my old room (seriously, how small is Kigali). And now, I get to follow another person’s adventures through Kigali and contribute my experience to her upcoming new blog. You can read an interesting recent post on the attitude of travel bloggers here – wait, who wrote that 8^th comment? Tell me more about her.

In sum, I’ve met a lot of travelers on twitter, so I guess I haven’t met them per se, but you get it. Some of my favorites (other than the two mentioned above) are: LunaticAtLarge (actually met), AdventureGirl (actually met), Amateurs Africa (would like to meet), rtwnobag (would like to be), among many, many others.

Now, while I have your attention (though I probably don’t since I included about 25 links in this post and I’d completely understand if you were now wrapped up in the lives of the travelers above): take this pledge with me! Donate 1% of your salary, come on, I know some of you are investment bankers and lawyers and “consultants” – if my PR salary can do it, I know yours can. Oh looking for a place to donate? Well I know juuust the place: Generation Rwanda (ORI changed its name). I’ve managed to not guilt you all in to donating before, but if the billionaires can give up 50%, we can give up 1%. Now feel really bad about all the money you spend of frivolous things and sign up.

Telling the Family You're Moving Abroad

When I moved to Rwanda, so many people asked: “what did your family say?” I think a lot of people struggle with this, since let’s face it: your family gets a bit concerned when you make the brash decision to up and leave. The only advice I can give is to make the decision for yourself and let your family/friends come around to that decision. I told ORI yes and booked my flight before telling many people so that I would be able to honestly make the decision for me, not for anyone else. Of course, getting advice is great, but from unbiased sources, not people who don’t understand the politics of the country you’re going to and the reason behind your decision.

Telling my family was…interesting to say the least.

So you have a reference of who I am talking about

My older brother was all for it, but he had been at school for 26 consecutive years, now working as a lawyer at one of those big scary law firms - I’m surprised he didn’t hide in my luggage. My sister couldn’t have been more irrational, emitting a high pitched WHAT?! And insisting that it wasn’t happening. My dad and I didn’t really talk until word of my move had spread through my family, then sighed and asked me why I was doing this. But really, he is the pot calling me, the kettle, black because 2 days after I left for Kigali, he went to Antarctica – uhh scary, deserted, cold, if that’s not the scene of a Michael Crichton novel, I don’t know what is. Really, you don’t know there’s not a Jurassic Park there!

My mom and little brother, however, were a bit more ridiculous, so I’m highlighting those convos below:

My mom – the eventual sympathetic one. At first horrified at the idea of her little daughter moving to Africa, my mom soon came around to my move. She came around, and then she really came around. One conversation with my mom took place while she looked at the website of my organization, reading the individual stories of the students:

Mom: Wow Nora, these students have come through a lot; it’s really great you’re going.

Nora: Yeah, they really have; they’re incredible.

Mom: You know, I would love to do something like you’re doing

Nora: Well I mean you still technically could. Why did I just say that?

Mom: What if I went with you?

Nora: What?

Mom: I could take you there and do some work.

Nora: Mom, you want to take me and drop me off at my new job? Now I had no friends in Kigali at this time, so having my mom drop me off like taking me to summer camp would not really help that situation. Not to mention it’s a very long, uncomfortable and expensive flight.

Mom: What? I could take you over there and make sure you get settled.

Now she didn’t actually take me, and even though I requested visitors, no one came to see me in Kigali, so was I even there? Well, none of you will know for sure, now will you.

My little brother – the lying one. So I love my little brother, but he tends to speak as if he knows the world (he’s 17 though, so didn’t we all think that?) When I told him, he already knew from my parent’s grumblings about it, so this is how that went:

Nora: Hey bud, did you hear about my new move?

Conor: Yeah, mom has been so upset and dad is mad.

Nora: Well it’s really safe and they don’t understand that.

Conor: Do you know there’s a war going on there?

Nora: No, there’s not. That was in 1994, it’s long over.

Conor: No, Nora – there’s a war; you’ll be living in a war zone.

Nora: Conor, no there is not. Check the state department site, check the news, the war is next door in the DRC, not Rwanda.

Conor: War. zone.

Nora: (Pause) Can you put mom on the phone.

I also pretty much ruined Thanksgiving because that’s when my extended family found out (I have a very large Irish Catholic family ps), and you know what else, that’s not the first time I’ve ruined Thanksgiving – one year I brought the stomach flu home from school and everyone got it. Don’t make me do that again.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

After a two and a half month long – I don’t want to blog because I’m not in Rwanda anymore and not traveling sucks/where’s that donor that’s going to send me traveling again, sigh I guess I have to stay in the US for a while – hiatus, I’ve decided to rev this bad boy back up and discuss upcoming plans. If I knew how to make a poll I would, because today I want to discuss: should I travel or should I save? Recently, my friend asked me to go on a trip to Panama and Colombia. Don’t even mom, Colombia is fine. As you know, I will literally go anywhere, so naturally I began googling and planning this adventure in my head. Unfortunately, there are a couple of snags that I think I should point out:

1. I have one penny in my savings account. How did I get that one penny? PNC gave it to me when I opened the account. To no one’s surprise, it hasn’t accumulated any interest, so it’s not like I ever have the option to “break into my savings” when up against a wall. But isn’t spending the new saving?

2. I have limited vacation days. Well, when you take 3 months off you do not accumulate any vacation days. Then when you have to move, go to graduations, etc. those days dwindle. I’d practically have to work on Christmas if I went away for a week. But isn’t working on Christmas the new celebrating with your family?

3. I’m trying to do a week in Argentina. This one is a serious concern. I have a friend moving to BA, said friend highly contributed to naming the blog, and I want to spend a week there this fall or winter (ick, cold). So really, is Panama/Colombia the new Argentina?

On the pro:

1. I’m sick of being in this shanty town. Sidebar: I love Washington, DC, and I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in the US. But, it’s the summer, everyone’s short, blah. I said that I would try not to leave the country for the rest of the year, but I made no promises, nothings in writing...don’t judge, you don’t know me.

2. I will hit my 6th out of 7 continents! South America, you’ve managed to avoid me thus far, but I knew it was only a matter of time before I William the conquered you. I speak Spanish too, so really? Why has Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa, America taken precedence? Africa is obvious, and well I guess Australia was a 5 month long spring break so duh, and Asia is super cool, but Europe? Come on. Europe (and not even Spain)?? Sorry about that South America. Let me make my apologies in person.

3. Scholarships. You don’t think I’ll get a full scholarship to grad school? What, like it’s hard? I’m “saving for grad school”, but really? We’re talking $600 roundtrip flights? Whhaaaat?? I know. So I mean..that’ll pay for a semester of books. I do love school (I’m serious here if you’ve never actually met me), and I can’t wait to go back buuuut I mean…I have some time..ok this is actually an issue I’m now realizing.

4. Peer pressure. Let’s be honest, if my friends go on this trip that I’ve already planned in my head (so now I feel like it’s my trip) without me, I will plunge further into my wanderlust depression. And really, who wants that?

Oh welp, looks like it’s 4 to 3.