Taxi Thoughts

Miss most: driving
Missed food: chicken Caesar salad (can’t eat lettuce here)
Missed drink: skim milk (lacking dairy)
Missed Leisure: running, running, running
Miss going: Borders to look through magazines and drink Starbucks coffee

Love most: Sunsets (at home I love the sunrise, but here we wake up to lots of sunlight-very few drapes-and roosters—I HATE roosters)
Food: avocados filled with vinaigrette (mmm)
Drink: Passion fruit juice (good find Maddie)
Leisure: Long walks and talks home from the Internet café with best friend Maddie
Love going: Hotel Ibis (we eat ALL our lunches and dinners there)


Yesterday morning we packed up our bags at our hotel, Le Petit Prince, and got ready to spend the weekend in Kigali! We went to work and completed the 6 interviews for the day, had a lovely/predictable lunch at the Ibis, and got on our taxi to Kigali (about a 2 hour trip). In case you need a Wikipedia description of the taxi we rode…

Transportation:
“minivans are jammed full of up to 18 people at any time and generally do not leave until completely full. They are cheap but inherently unsafe because of the overcrowding, bald tires, poor maintenance, and seeming lack of any sort of training by the drivers.”

Well the Taxi we rode (although stuffed with lots and lots of people) was clean, well driven, and felt safe! No worries. If we hit a car we would win because our vehicle was bigger! I did have the tire seat and lots of bags so I was a bit cramped, but I blame no one but my stubborn self. Maybe one day I will learn how to pack reasonably without Mary Kathryn’s help.

Olivier and Martha, our awesome translators and new best friends, told us if you drink and drive and hit a person… you go to prison for a month… 1 MONTH-I’m hoping they are wrong. I plan to hold hands with Maddie the rest of the trip when we are walking along roads ☺ Its entertaining driving on the roads because they are made of dirt and have lots of fun potholes. Maddie and I are still young enough to enjoy a bumpy ride! I do not think my Nana would be so excited though… Its fun looking at all the trucks. They are filled with stuff because I do not think there are strict laws about how much you can stuff into your vehicle. They remind me when the Grinch Stole Christmas and brought all the gifts/food/decorations back… Dumb as it sounds, I promise you, it looks exactly the same.

I was thinking about my interviews on the ride… We interview a lot of 19, 20, and 21 year olds. That’s about my age. I started thinking, “well if I really needed to I think I could take care of my siblings.” Then I realized… Many of these young adults have been caring for their brothers and sisters since the genocide in 1994. They were the heads of households at age 7ish! I don’t think I brushed my teeth without help at that age… We interview so many kids, and I wonder if I am starting to become insensitive towards their experiences. When a person tells me they are in school and eat at least 2s a day, I smile thinking this person is good. Is that really good? Does eating enough to survive and being able to get the most basic of educations define success? I can’t imagine not having my mom to call when I need a good cry. Or going to Qdoba when I’m having a bad day with my dad.

Maddie is probably getting so sick of me talking about my family. Things are a lot slower in Africa, and I find myself thinking about how much I value my friends and family so much more. I think its because I am proud of everyone. Randomly I will just throw someone’s name out and start talking about their accomplishments or something very arbitrary or fun. I tell people about my cousin Ellen who is in China-I told the US visitors about my cousin Timmy who visited me in college (I really really want you to come to Duke!) and who goes on great mission trips. I talk about his mom all the time, Alli who went to India and worked with children. When we were on our Safari I could not help remembering the time we visited Greg at Sea World and got to go behind the scenes which I still think was cool. I was trying to explain thrift shops to Olivier and I could not help but smile thinking of going to almost every single dance with Mary Kathryn. I thought about our vintage shopping and her amazing prom dress. Getting ready for Catholic dances was fun. Ann always let me borrow anything and always took such interest in who I was going with and who my group was. Somehow the American Girl doll store came up in conversation and I talked about how the new doll “Kit” reminds me of my cousin Madeline (no idea why-but I have always thought that). Every time someone asks about my 24-hour visit to London, I try not to wet my pants thinking about the time I lost my passport in Croatia the day I was supposed to leave with Barbie… Probably one of the funniest moments in my entire life; unfortunately, not the last time I received a mug shot. Thanks to everyone (mostly Maddie) who listen to my random family comments…

And when something really gets to me or I start missing home a little too much… I put on “Ready, Set, Don’t go” by our family favorite Miley Cyrus and I picture Mariel and my dad singing on stage in front of hundreds pretending they are just in our living room blaring Disney. (plug-I wish I had had a car and could have surprised them and gone!!)

Hands down, I talk about my uncle, Navy Seal Commander Collin Green, the most. I am really just so proud of him….

Sorry for my family rant, but I miss everyone. I miss family vacations to see Nana and Opa, dinner and a movie at Stonecrest, giant family gatherings in Corolla, nights at Shooters, and runs through the Duke Gardens. I hope I remember how thankful I am for all these trips and people when I get home. And if I forget which I often do, I just wanted to say thank you.

Love,
Jessica