Long overdue post

Wow. I guess it has been a while since I last posted. I made so many promises to post, but life got in the way. More posting, I promise. 

Overall, life has been good to this guy. As they say here in Rwanda, somehow I am surviving. Work is getting busier and busier. The lighter patient load I had in Oct and November gave away to busier wards now. With that comes more responsibility. And the patients are sicker, and they are difficult to treat here in Rwanda. It breaks my heart sometimes. 

In addition, my internet at home and at work has really been suffering over the past few months. There are more days with crappy internet than with functioning internet. My friends are experiencing similar problems. This week seems to have improved tremendously, hence the posts. 

Here are some updates:

-  I went to visit my brother, Scott, in Abu Dhabi for Thanksgiving. RwandAir has a non-stop flight to Dubai daily, for a decent price. It was about a 5.5 hour flight, but the times suck. Leave Kigali at 6 pm, a 45 min layover in Addis Abba, and then to Dubai. I arrived at 4 AM, and took a 90 min taxi from there to the Abu Dhabi Airport, where my brother picked me up, and we drove to his school. He is an art professor at an all Women’s School called al Zayeed University. It was enormous, and modern. I passed out for an hour while he was teaching (not in the same room, people.…) We spent Thanksgiving with his friends from Australia. We found a small Turkey, and made all the fixings. It was a lot of fun. We spent the next few days exploring his city, going Middle Easter rug shopping (for me,) going out with his friends, and, most importantly, watching a Formula 1 race. The last race of the Formula 1 season is the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It was truly amazing to be a part of it. I can now cross that off my bucket list. My brother and father are bigger fans than I am, and I can imagine them going to Monaco one day to watch the most famous race of the circuit: The Monaco Grand Prix. Overall, it was an amazing trip. UAE is a weird, but somehow cool place. I am glad I went, to see the interesting world that is UAE, and Abu Dhabi. 

-  I went home for Christmas for 12 days (+ 2, 24 hour days of travel… sigh…) It was great to be home for a break, to see my family, and to be an American for a little while. Everything works so well there; life seems, I don’t know, easier? Everything is also bigger than I remember it: grocery stores, cars, food, people. I was also home for the craziness that is the Holiday season, with constant bombardment of Christmas music, sales, consumerism. That does’t really exist here. Regardless, home was fun. My family is amazing, and I miss them. Christmas day was fun, as was Boxing Day. My brother and I have a tradition of going to see a movie the day after Christmas every year. This year was a big movie: “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” We have been looking forward to that for a while. Wow, what a great film. While the theater was not packed (they were showing the movie every hour, all day…) those in attendance, yours truly included, were cheering as familiar characters returned to the screen. My childhood flashed in front of my eyes. I loved it, and will probably see it again. We also saw some other relatives from Michigan, including my 90 year old Great Aunt, who is thriving in her retirement community there. I also went down to Columbus for a few days, saw some friends, and relived my time there. I kind of miss it. I spend New Years Eve with my siblings in downtown Cleveland. That was the first time we have EVER spend New Year’s together as adults. By the time Jan 2 rolled around, it was time time head back to Kigali. It was hard saying goodbye to my parents, siblings, and friends, but I knew that my life here in Rwanda was calling me back. I had some more fun in store for me when I returned in Rwanda: a gorilla expedition!

-  So I went to see the gorillas on Jan 6 with a long time friend of mine, Maggie Gilbert. She is a money veterinarian at the Tulane Primate Research Center north of Lake Ponchartrain, the lake that serves as the northern border of New Orleans. When the opportunity to see gorillas with her because a possibility, I jumped at the chance; I mean who better to see gorillas with than a primate veterinarian! I will save the details on my gorilla expedition for a different post. 

By the time I finally made it home to Butare on 9 Jan, I was so glad to be home, see my dog, Magnum, and settle back to my routine. I was rather happy to be home. The garden looked good, everything was green, flowers were blooming….. and there was no power and it was pouring down rain when I reached Butare. Normally, the rains are done by early January, but climate change (including El Niño) affect Africa. Plus, I had a medical student friend of mine, Kevin Hachey, with me. He was going to do a rotation with me for one month, and I agreed to let him stay with me. 

So, folks, all in all, I am now settled back in to life here. It has been a crazy 2 weeks of sick kids, increased responsibility at work, meetings in Kigali, a Hash (yet another post coming soon), and life in general. 

I can honestly say that I am truly happy here, despite all of the little frustrations. One of my NY resolutions was to prevent these frustrations from affecting me. So far, so good. I am learning how to adjust to life here, to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference Yes, I know, I borrowed this phrase from a famous prayer, but it really does help with life here. 

Much, much more to come my friends. And I promise it will not be 2 months before I post again!

Tusongera (See you soon in Kinyarwanda)

Craiger