This Weekend

This was a great weekend. Many weekends I feel pulled in many directions. I want to go and visit friends in Kigali but sometimes I have guilt for not staying with the kids. This weekend was a great balance…something that I work every day to achieve.

On Friday I traveled around Kigali with the director, Nir, Salomon, and the man who work with the chickens, Alfred. Our mission was to look at some chicken operations around Kigali. We visited 2 different places. Our first stop was to the ministry of agriculture. We met up with a man there and traveled 5 minutes to the National Hatchery. There were no chickens there but we got a tour and had the opportunity to learn many things. I was most interested in learning about their bio-security measures. I got some great ideas and useful information. Our next stop was the largest chicken business in Rwanda. I was shocked. The places smelled horrible (I surprised none of the workers passed out) and the birds all looked so sickly. Sometimes you can learn more from how not to do it…this was definitely the case here.

There was no running or farm on Saturday morning. Instead we prepared ourselves for a picnic! We got on the buses and headed to Seeds of Peace which is located on Lake Muhazi. It’s a beautiful place right on the water with a very large area to hang out. When we arrived, everyone went in all directions. Some went toward the lake, others enjoyed the swing, and some enjoyed just sitting down and relaxing. I found myself trying to enjoy everything and spend time with different students. Each family got to visit a replica of the king’s hut. We were shown all around and learned the history. The girls in my family loved taking pictures inside. After visiting the hut, I played frisbee with many of the kids. The big challenge was that the place to play was on a hill and some of the frisbees kept landing in the water.

Just before lunch I left the picnic and headed to Kigali. I got lucky because just as I walked outside, there was an express bus heading to Kigali. I arrived in Kigali just in time for my running group, Hash. The Hash was taking place at the Mutzig Beer Fest. The run was on top of a mountain where we could see all of Kigali. After the run, it was time for some good food, hanging out with good friends, beer (I’m getting so tired of the beer here), and lots of dancing! At the end of the night, I went camping with some friends at a place overlooking the entire city.