I’ve been in Kigali for a couple of weeks and it’s starting to feel comfortable. The weather here is perfect everyday, people are nice, and I feel like there are lots of different levels of the place to explore. I thought I’d write a post about life here in case anyone is curious or considering a trip to the city. It’s not a typical stop on the expat trail so the more I can share about it, the better for others who are heading this way.
Accommodation
I moved into a house a few days ago with an American chick, her Namibian fiance, and two British guys and they’re all really nice. My initial plan was to try to get my own place but that was before I realized how expensive that would be. Rent for a room in this place is US$400 a month and I didn’t even see ads for apartments but my guess it it would have cost me over twice that price. But I’m realizing that living in a sharehouse is good for the social life and I’m happy I’ve made the choice. It’s not quite the crazy days of sharehouse living in London, but that’s a good thing because I think my body would break.
My room is simple but the bed is comfy. There’s a huge lounge with a table that I’ve decided to sprawl my stuff over as a workspace. Two of the other housemates work from home a lot of the time too so that could be a new twist to the online working thing. It’ll be nice to have people around to have water cooler conversations with. Plus we’ve discovered that we all love creating salads and could end up taking turns making elaborate lunches.
The best part for me is the view. Kigali is super hilly and it seems like every restaurant I’ve been to has an amazing view over some part of the city. The school I was staying at when I first arrived also had a great view. But the advantage of this house is that there’s some grass to kick back on or some comfy chairs to lounge in to either soak up the sun or enjoy looking at the city lights at night. There’s a nice garden and I can keep myself entertained by watching lizards wrestle with each other. At least I think they’re wrestling…
Expenses
Kigali is an expensive place, especially if you like frozen mocha drinks and hanging out in cafes. My rent is $400 which is more than I would have expected to pay for a place in Africa if you had asked me before I arrived. First I learned that Africa was cold, and now that it’s expensive! Why didn’t anyone tell me this before?
I pay 41,500 Rwandan francs which is about US$70 per month (ouch!) for an unlimited internet connection through my USB modem (that I also had to buy for Rwf20,000 because my other modem couldn’t be unlocked). The connection has been terrible so far, only working well about 25% of the time, not connecting at all another 25% and half the time it’s super slow. I asked them about it and they said something about fiber optic cable being busted, satellite not being as good blah blah blah. I said I don’t care… just make it work. He sent an email and told me it would be better and, miraculously, so far it has.
Because my internet connection has been poo I’ve had to spend a lot of time sponging free wifi from expat cafes. Having a drink and a meal there can cost $10 to $15 which sort of kills my budget. Having a some wine at a bar costs about $4 a glass but a beer is only about $1.70. Groceries are affordable if I can stay away from Western goodies. Veggies are super cheap but ice cream is $20 for a 2L tub. Ice cream will be off the menu but I still had to stock up on some basics like balsamic vinegar and olive oil which took a bit of a chunk out of the budget.
While there are a lot of expensive options here, there are also a lot of cheap choices for eating and shopping. I’ll be heading to the market on Friday to load up on cheap veggies. Brochettes (basically meat on a stick) and samosas are both cheap options that are popular with the locals so I’ll need to find some good spots around me to grab a quick bite. I’m looking forward to cooking now that I’ve got a kitchen so, with the cheap veggies in mind, that’ll mean a lot of stir fries.
Social Life
It’s been great having my Belgian friend here for the first while because she’s adopted me and taking me out with her to some cool bars and events. Then another volunteering friend of mine was in town so that was a fun night out at dinner. And then one of my Aussie friends I went to the World Cup with swung by and we had a couple of days doing the tourist thing. Now with my friends gone or leaving soon, I’m all moved in to my new house and it seems like they’re a sociable bunch.
Expats here in Kigali all seem to have some interesting work they’re doing whether it be volunteering, NGO work or some business. I went to a weekly quiz night last night and we joined up with another team of older guys who were friendly and have all been in Kigali for years and all had their stories to tell. There don’t seem to be a huge amount of social gatherings for the expat crowd besides the quiz night but that’s probably a good thing so I don’t get stuck into the expat trap.
Do-Gooding
I really want to find an interesting volunteering opportunity while I’m here (or even an uninteresting one). I found out about a woman’s organization through this website and they said they could use someone with web design skills (there’s also lots of opportunities teaching English or playing with orphans, but that’s not really my thing) and I’ve gotten in touch. It doesn’t seem like they have a website at all so if I could help them by building one, I would love to do that. Plus I really like the idea of training one or a few people on how to update the site and make simple changes using WordPress. They just emailed me back this morning and seem happy with my suggestion so I’ll meet up with them on Monday, hopefully.
Other Stuff
Rwanda is a really interesting place. Did you know that not only can you not get plastic bags anywhere… they’re actually illegal and if you’re found bringing them into the country you could be fined? Plus the morning of the last Saturday of every month is also set aside so that everyone can work together to clean up the streets. That explians why this city is so clean.
Then of course there’s the genocide thing. That. Besides going to the memorial (possibly one of the most depressing but important museums I’ve been to)and reading a bunch of books on the subject, I haven’t had any conversations with people here about it. I’m not really sure I want to… it’s such a huge, heavy, horrible thing and I’m not sure if it’s something people here discuss or if everyone just wants to forget about it and move on. I suppose I’ll find out if I can manage to make some local friends.
I’m heading off with my Belgian friend for a night or two in the DR Congo to have a look around Goma. It seems like an interesting place and I’m pretty fascinated by the Congo. Should be fun, speak to you soon!
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