It has been two weeks since I last wrote to you. And oh, man, quite a bit has happened. I chose not to write last week in hopes that today I could tell my longterm residency permit (immigration visa) story in its entirety. But alas, with less than a week left on my entry tourist visa, I am still not a legal long-term resident of this beautiful country. I am cautiously optimistic – no need to panic yet. The immigration process is, at a minimum, methodical and fair – more than can always be said about our own in the US. But please, say some prayers for me and stay tuned next week to see if I am still writing from the Land of 1000 Hills or if I have taken an emergency trip to Uganda!
Stress aside, I actually had an incredible week. It started with a nice reminder of home – Dr. Marcel Durieux, an anesthesiologist from UVA Medical School and a personal mentor, taught a research course at the medical school in Kigali all week. Dr. Marcel has been collaborating with the Kigali Teaching Hospital (CHUK – I know its not a direct abbreviation, its actually French!) for, I think, about eight years now and is a great resource for me. This past year, I provided statistical consultation for the Rwandan medical residents he coached through conducting their own research projects. So on Monday, we spent a pleasant morning and afternoon in his apartment chatting with students about data collection, analysis, and communication. I really love teaching and increasingly find a knack for translating what some consider ethereal concepts into relevant examples. So I have to say, I have really enjoyed working with the students at CHUK over the course of this year and and spent Monday in all my quant-brain glory.
On Wednesday, I finally made it out of the city. Having my passport locked in the immigration vault until I get my Visa has made travel a bit difficult. But Dr. Marcel was scheduled to lecture at the University I am affiliated with, the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE), so I accompanied him on a trip to our northern campus in the hills of Butaro where we toured both the school and the affiliated hospital which is on the hill directly across the valley. I have been to both before, but being in Butaro is always quite breath-taking. In fact, since I have both accommodation and office space there when I want it, I stayed and worked from Butaro through Friday while Dr. Marcel returned to Kigali.
UGHE Butaro Campus. Yes, it really is that beautiful. No, I did not take this photo. Credits to Partners in Health
Now, yes, I am in Sub-saharan Africa. And yes, I am just barely south of the equator. So you would think that heading about two hours north would mean some scorching weather, right? Wrong. I may have mentioned before, but Kigali is already at around a mile high in elevation. Butaro is even higher. And it is freezing! Okay, maybe not literally freezing, I am not sure it got below 0° C. But there is no heating on campus and the sun sets around 5:45/6 pm, so I spent a solid few days huddled in my favorite blue knit sweater.
My morning cup of ginger tea – I should probably say my FIRST morning cup of ginger tea. I had several. Not to mention early afternoon, mid afternoon, late afternoon, evening… you get the picture. But when the views look like this, Ill drink anything to withstand the cold!
Part of the reason I stayed through the end of the week was because a new class of students in the MSc program in Global Health Delivery arrived for orientation on Wednesday. UGHE wanted as large a showing of staff from across the country as possible. I had not stayed there over night yet. But it was quite an enjoyable time. The campus is beautiful, the rooms are cozy, and they had an array of welcoming activities for the students, including a cultural festival with a display of Rwandan traditional dance!
The Campus is designed incorporating traditional Rwandan artwork known as imigongo as inspiration for the wall design
They even extend the East African flair into the cozy bedrooms.
Traditional dance is beautiful, melodic, and smooth. At the end, they even taught us how to do a bit too!
I am sure I will write more about Butaro as I get to know the campus better. And at some point, I will answer the burning question “what on earth is a medical school doing at the top of a hill in rural Rwanda?” (If you can’t wait, feel free to read up on this article here). But for this week, my main impressions were of a really bumpy ride, stunning views, my unfortunate decision to only bring one sweater, and my desire to hike for days in the surrounding mountains.
I made it back to Kigali on Friday night only to find that my housemates were planning a bit of a party for the next evening. It turns out one of my housmates’ good friends is a musician. She was scheduled to play a gig at a local restaurant for Saturday night, but keep in mind that Kigali zoning laws mean establishments are pretty much intermingled with residences. So a few noise complaints from the restaurant’s neighbors and we threw up some string lights to welcome a small crowd of people.
We did a pretty good job of transforming our house in a short time! We baked a few cakes, grabbed some drinks, and I ran down the road to grab some avocados for guacamole from the women at the stand on the corner
When Dre, our star for the evening, learned that myself and my friend Ryan are both musicians too, she invited us up to jam with her. And even though we had never played together, we got a solid two hours of music in and put on quite a show! We are not quite sure yet, but “Three Pals on a Porch” may make a reprisal in Kigali in the near future
I screenshot this one from a video, so Im sorry its super grainy. But we had so much fun collaborating
Overall, this week was a great for me as the short-term vacation vibes fade and I start imagining what living here actually looks like. I realize I have not yet given you a sense for why I am here longterm. Probably because it was not until this week that I really accepted I will be here for a substantial bout of time. But perhaps, along with my Visa, that update about my research can come in my next installment. Until then, I would love to hear from you. And let me know if there is anything else you would like me to fill you in on.
A Boy Among 1000 Hills 
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