Funny ha-ha's

*when crossing the street in a foreign country that's not England (where it's written in bold print: LOOK RIGHT!), it's important to find a local and mimick their crossing. Ie: let them step out first, especially near roundabouts, and then step out at the same time. Now...if they do a funny hop, skip and jump to avoid oncoming motorbike taxi driver, it doesn't mean you have to mimick this move. If you do....laugh at yourself. It's an appropriate reaction.
*am reading Sheryl Sandburg's book "Lean In" about women in the workforce and leadership. this morning I saw a Rwandan lady with a baby on her back and a briefcase in her hand. mat leave and "guilt management"...ya right! she was getting it done!
*two words: TREE TOMATOES! I had one for breakfast this morning. love that strange little is-it-a-fruit-is-it-a-vegetable.
*woke up to birds chirping, so awesome. tried to record the chirping on my phone to share with friends at home and birds stopped chirping. recorded 1 minute of dead air time. turned camera off. bird dive-bombed me and flew to nearest branch to resume chirping. this was at 5:30am local time
*had to resist urge to take moto last night. urge won this morning. first "miscommunication" of the trip led me to MTN centre instead of UTC centre and paid a little extra ($2 total) to get to right place. not whiteknuckling it this time. prior knowledge key and assurance that my moto guy doesn't want to wreck any more than i do.
* so many hills- every direction you turn is either walking up or walking down. great training for future "warrior dashes" and "tough mudders"
*Reminders of various memories here: meeting Bobby Scott and Jeremy Fokkens, having lunch with Catherine O'Heithir, going to the SportsCentre with Tina Hewing, swimming in Canadian Ambassador Bill McCarthy's Pool, lots of adventures with Karen Jacobsen including having doctor play Kenny Rogers "Islands in the Sun" before giving us the results of bloodwork for "do i have amoebas in my belly" test and the marriage proposal
CAN'T WAIT TO GO TO GITARAMA! I get the warm fuzzies when I think of Marie, Jean-Paul, Emmanuel and Procar. And I have been praying a lot about seeing Jean-Pierre (the boy who made me Christmas dinner) again.
*got AziziLife a hook-up at breakfast this morning as i met an expat girl at breakfast who wants to do the Azizi Tour next week.
*noticeable changes: bank machines, more cyclists and the VSO office is a laundromat now.
*noticeable non-changes: La Nouvelle Planete is still there, Ndoli convenience store is exactly the same and Beausejour....ah it feels so restful there. I am staying in the room 2 doors down from where I stayed for a month in April 2009.
I must go venture around Kigali now! Oh yeah....and I'm about the fastest walker here. Thanks Toronto ;)