My life in the RVCP House

Having been in Butare for 4 weeks now, the RVCP house and the town really feel like my home. I realised that I haven't really posted any photos of the house or what we get up to in our spare time so here we are. (For those of you in the library or working, enjoy some procrastination!)

Here's our kitchen. When I first saw it my heart sank with disappointment - no oven in a kitchen? However now I have grown to love the barbeque pit, so no oven is no problem. We can cook just about everything on the barbeque....more updates on this after Thanksgiving as we have an ambitious menu planned (I swear all I talk about is food, sorry).

Party party in the living room (DJ booth in the corner on the chair). Apparently in Rwanda it isn't a celebration without Fanta, it's like the equivalent of Champagne here. 

Here's Libby asleep on the sofa, wrapped in her Pokemon duvet (I'm still jealous of the Pokemon duvet...)

Here's Libby doing some colouring in. We have done a lot of crafts since arriving here, mainly for decorating the house for Thanksgiving tomorrow (which I will blog about on Friday!) I don't think I've done this much colouring-in for years as I have done in the last 4 weeks (cue jokes about me doing a geography degree, thanks guys).

Here's the What Is In My Bed photo. Being on the top bunk and trapped in a mosquito net every night, I have a weird habit of accumulating stuff up there. English phone, Rwandan phone, iPod, watch, torch, Kobo, bite cream, aloe vera, antiseptic cream, lip balm, hair grips, at least 2 jumpers, the essential TUBBS hoody, my Ugandan blanket, Kenya Airways blanket and of course childhood soft toys. Spot which book I'm reading....

Lastly here's Miri, Lora and I having supper (I'll say it again: we make such good food).

Only a short blog post today since not much has happened over the past few days. We're embracing the true Rwandan lifestyle of relaxing and not taking everything too seriously if things don't go to plan. Buhoro Buhoro is the motto here - slowly slowly. This is something that doesn't come naturally to me, since I like being busy, but accepting the Rwandan culture and learning how to adapt is all part of a new challenge. I have actually been looking at what I could do when I return from Africa in the summer, whether I go on to do post-graduate study or progress further into the development sector with the experience I have gained here. But at the moment there are more important things to think about, like planning the Thanksgiving menu for our American friends, arranging training meetings with RVCP members and wondering just when Lucy and co. are going to send me the only English food I crave right now: crumpets.