first week in Rwanda

Had dinner with Bob on the deck last Saturday night. We watched a pair of wrens feed their brood - it was a beautiful Indiana evening. Like magic (and a very, very long commute...) I had dinner in Ruhengeri, Rwanda with Mike Cranfield, the director of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, on Monday night. How crazy is that!

Rwanda is much as I remember it from oh-so-many years ago (1985), although Kigali is more modern, the roads are better, and everything is clean - no litter anywhere! The ride from Kigali to Ruengheri is about 2 hours, almost all uphill toward the Virunga Volcano Range, through intensely managed fields. Rows and rows of crops go all the way up the hillsides, some nicely terraced and some not. It was cloudy so I couldn't see the peaks, but even so there are more hills than in Indiana...

We arrived at the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project regional headquarters Monday evening; my home for the next two years. The headquarters is a compound with a very large house that has been divided into offices, a lab, the veterinary clinic and sleeping areas. There is also a small house on the property - more housing for scientists and students. There is a beautiful courtyard with flowers, small flowering trees and bushes, and large front and back yards with flower and vegetable gardens. I have an office (I took a picture but after 15 minutes of trying to upload I gave up - I'll keep working on it!) that looks out onto the courtyard and has a window to the backyard too. My "house" is part of the big house, just off the diningroom and kitchen. I have a livingroom, bedroom and bathroom. There is an extra bedroom that Mike uses when he is in town. Very comfortable. Leon is our house manager - he cooks and does the laundry, among other things. He's been with the project for many years, and has seen many veterinarians come and go. He works quietly and is unassuming, but he doesn't miss anything... and he's a GREAT cook (again, I'll work on the uploading photo thing...they are probably too big...).

Tuesday and Wednesday Mike, Magdalena (MGVP field veterinarian who has been with the project for several years) and I attended meetings with government agencies in charge of tourism and conservation, gorilla trackers, gorilla guides for tourists, research organizations - all partners in Mountain Gorilla conservation - all very, very dedicated people. VERY interesting for me - I put names to faces, learned about the history and challenges of the various projects. I feel so honored to be a part of this dedicated group. Thursday was spent unpacking, getting started on my visa and park entry permission papers in town (I can't go to the gorillas until I complete 2 weeks of quarantine, and have my permission papers). Finally, yesterday I had some time to begin to learn the mechanics of the job - Magdalena showed me the medical records, Clementine (our office manager) got me started with the budget, I tried to get myself organized in the office... And today I began to answer a weeks worth of emails!

There is sooo much more to tell, about the people, the 3 great dogs at the compound, the birds, the geckos, the town, and my new pet guinea pigs, but I'll sign off now - I'll try to add something daily when I can. Let me know what you want to hear about!