La Paye de Milles Collines...

First impressions: I am head-over-heels in love with Rwanda. So far, this beautiful country just exceeds any expectation I ever could have had. Today has been so completely amazing!

I was up and out of the house in Nairobi this morning by 7am. Nat, Graham and I headed to the shopping center to grab some breakfast. A bacon-cheddar-guac omelette just started off the day perfectly. We took the half hour walk back home, where I crammed the rest of my stuff in the old backpack and finished getting ready. Shelby showed up by quarter to ten, and by ten, we were with our old taxi-driving pal Erastus, and headed to the airport.

Check-in was a breeze, and before long we were sitting in the lounge chowing down on mandazis and coke (me) and sausages and smirnoff ice (Shelby, she needed a little hair of the dog..). I was so stoked to see from my boarding pass that I was lucky enough to get an window seat, but as my luck would have it, mine was the only window seat in the whole plane that didn't acutally have a window. The flight was only an hour and twenty minutes long, and somehow, we were lucky enough to get a full meal! Chicken and roasted potatoes, coffee and dessert! Three cheers for Kenya Airways!!!

We were both just leaping for joy when we stepped onto the tarmac. The sun was shining, there was a wonderful breeze, and the city is GORGEOUS. We took an overpriced cab to the hostel, which turns out to be the most amazing place on earth. Ran by nuns, the hostel is on the grounds of what must be a convent. Within moments, we were forced to try to remember as much french as possible, as these dear women didn't speak a word of english! "Je..voudrais...un chambre...deux personnes...s'il vous plait..." Somehow we got the message across, and we got a cute little room with two beds for the whole week for only $27US each! That's practically the same as we pay daily back in Nairobi, for the whole week!!!

There is a small church less than twenty feet from our door, and because we arrived on a Sunday afternoon, there was a service in session, and we could hear the most amazing choir singing. It gave me chills, it was SO beautiful! There is a large courtyard outside, with gazebos and benches, and lots of open space. We met a group of students from Ireland, and they were nice enough to fill us in on the neighbourhood and the cool things they've been doing. Two of them walked with us a few blocks to Nakumatt (!!!), where we stocked up on bottled water and crackers and juice boxes to get us through the week.

Now we are sitting in the Bourbon Cafe, which is comparable to a Starbucks (or Java House, haha). There is a beauiful view of the rolling hils. It's dusk now, and I couldn't be happier if I tried. Kigali is SO gorgeous. It is SO clean and green and warm and inviting. The cars drive on the same side of the road as Canada, it felt weird!!!! The temperature is absolutely perfect. Hot in the sun, but nice and warm in the shade. The whole city has such a laid-back, relaxed atmosphere. Or maybe, I just feel so happy and relaxed here that I'm taking that impression from the city. All I know is that I could spend ages here.

It's so fun to hear french everywhere! We are going to try and pick up a french-engligh phrase book, hopefully I can drag some more of it from the old memory bank. It's funny, Shelby has a better vocabulary for French words, but my accent is way better, so she tells me the words, and I say it so they can understand! So far it's working great. We already can tell that we're going to be great travel companions. We agree that one of the most important parts of travelling with someone is being able to a) have comfortable silences, and b) to be able to be together, but doing your own thing. Right now, I'm blogging, she's journalling, and we are just so content.

For the rest of the week, plans are in the air. A visit to the genocide museum is absolutely top of the to-do list. We're both avid readers, so we will certainly spend some time just outside reading and relaxing. We may try to take a trip to Lake Kivu as well, if time permits. The country is so small! We're right in the middle, so its like no-where is more than 2 or 3 hours by bus away! Awesome! So far, if I had my choice to return to Africa someday, Kigali would definitely trump Nairobi, absolutely no contest! I'm so excited for the whole week! Truly, life is grand.

-Delaney xo