Our first week in Kigali was… tough.
Not terrible. Not frightening. Just harder than I expected.
We had arrived at a lovely hotel, our apartment was comfortable, the food was good and the service was wonderful. But once we stepped outside the hotel, reality hit.
There didn’t seem to be anywhere to walk to.
No supermarket around the corner.
No little shopping centre.
No café where we could wander over for a coffee.
No familiar convenience store.
Just narrow, steep roads, little roadside stalls and people walking everywhere.
We quickly realized that if we wanted to go anywhere, we needed a cab.
Getting Around Kigali
There are motorbike taxis everywhere here. They are called motos, and they seem to be one of the most common ways of getting around Kigali.
We were advised not to use them, so for now, we are sticking to cabs.
The traffic is fascinating. It actually reminds me a lot of India.
Cars and motorcycles seem to move in waves, squeezing into whatever space is available and somehow making their way forward. There is a rhythm to it that I haven’t quite figured out yet.
Coming from Canada, where traffic is more organized, watching traffic here can be an experience in itself! And yet, somehow, it works. At least most of the time.
Our First Introduction to “Rwandan Time”
One of our first experiences at work taught me another important lesson.
Time is perceived differently here.
We arrived at the office to get settled and begin our work. One of the things I quickly learned was that a meeting scheduled for 9:00 a.m. doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone will be sitting around the table at 9:00 a.m.
You might arrive for a 9:00 a.m. meeting…
…and then find yourself waiting.
And waiting.
And waiting.
In fact, you might still be waiting hours later.
At first, this was difficult for me.
I’m accustomed to calendars, schedules, agendas and the expectation that if something is booked for 9:00, you show up before 9:00.
But I am beginning to understand that one of the biggest parts of this experience is learning that not everything happens according to the clock.
Perhaps that’s something I need to learn.
Perhaps it’s one of the reasons I’m here.
