Made it - journey to Goma!

Woken up around 8 am to find the Mavs (yes, that amazing team) climbing back from a 15 point deficit in Miami to heroically tie the series 1-1. WOW, good takes a stand against evil. Now, back to Dallas to show them the guts and grit need to achieve glory.

CRS/Kigali driver Martin came to pick us up and we hit the road toward the Rwanda/DRC border. Along the way, we pass by many communities and children walking home from school for the lunch break. They are absolutely adorable and seem to enjoy life, relishing in the friendships they've made and the family that has supported them. The roads in Rwanda are very well maintained and the ride is quite smooth. We arrive at a hotel and Martin transfers us over to Fiston, who is the CRS/Goma driver. Younger guy who, as I find out later, will be the project coordinator for my food voucher program. Nice!

The drive over is a bit bumpier but we make it to the border, get out and walk across with our passports, then climb back in and head to the office. There, we meet HOO Nancy as well as some of the local staff. Later we meet up with Kate, whose program I will be taking over, and grab lunch at a Belgian restaurant. Seems as though we are given land cruisers to drive around as it is too dangerous to take the motorcycle taxis, especially after dusk. There is one automatic car and the rest are manual. Looks like it's time for more lessons because I def don't feel so comfortable driving up and down these rocky roads, which has also suffered from Mount Nyiragongo's eruption in 2002, devastating entire villages in its path. We stop by the Shopper's market for expats where I spend a ridiculous $55 on grocers ($15 for cereal!?). They apparently only use dollars here. Heading home, I am able to rest in my private room with a private bathroom. SWEET! There are two other rooms with bathrooms, a room for ironing and cleaning supplies, a safe room (which means metal door), kitchen, and spacious living room (come guests!). I will be sharing the house with Alpha (the married man from Kenya) and Julien (Belgian who recently received his Master's from Georgetown Univ). We have a cleaning lady who sweeps the floor, does the dishes, does the laundry, and will even cook lunch for us. Tomorrow, I'll give her a list of things to buy at the marche and see what she comes up with. So far, so good!

BOTTOM LINE: Friday is a great time to arrive as it gives you more time to unwind and set up for a hard day's work on Monday. Goma is a heavily militarized city with many UN peacekeepers working alongside the DRC military. The CRS staff are all friendly thus far. Most speak Swahili and French, which is great. The city itself is quite French speaking so this is a perfect way to butcher-er, I mean, improve mon francais!