Hello from Rwanda

Hi all,
I hope you are all keeping well! I’m really excited that I’ll be back in Ireland for two weeks at Christmas and hope to see as many of you as possible.
Last weekend, I went to visit Ruhengheri (famous for the gorillas!). There is another Irish volunteer based there so I stayed with her. She is very lucky, she has electricity and running water! It was a nice break from the outhouse for the weekend. We didn’t visit the gorillas (I’m waiting for the dry season) but we did see the volcanoes and lakes. It’s very beautiful there. It was quite overcast and it reminded me a lot of home. While we were there we were only 25 km from the Ugandan border. I plan to visit there soon with a couple of other volunteers.
At school, the exams have started for all of the children. They must pass the exam at the end of one year in order to pass into the next class. A lot of children have to repeat years. I am looking forward to visiting a school tomorrow. The principal is a really nice lady who doesn’t speak much English so it will give me an opportunity to use my French. The children must sit all of the exams except Kinyarwanda in English.
It is the short rainy season here at the moment. In Rwanda, the seasons are different. There is the short rainy season, the short dry season, the long rainy season and the long dry season. Here, there is usually a storm in the evenings. The rain makes a lot of noise on the roof. It is really difficult to hear anything. One afternoon, we had a visitor during the rain and all we could do was sit looking at each other while we drank our Rwandan tea, it was impossible to talk. There hasn’t been rain yet today so I’m waiting for it!
I’ve posted some more letters even thought I don’t think the ones I posted a month ago have arrived yet! Its funny posting letters here because you have to put so many stamps on the envelope it’s like a jig-saw! The post office is an hour away on a taxi-bus so I usually post a few at a time and check my post box to see if anything has arrived for me. It’s funny having a post-box. The postman doesn’t deliver to houses here so anyone that wants to receive post must rent a post-box!
Take care,
Pauline