First Impressions

The Smell – There’s something so specific about the scent of tropical air that makes me feel so completely at home. I stepped out of the airplane and the smell of lush-ness just enveloped me. Mommy, you told me I’d be overcome by an impressive waft of heat, but that didn’t happen. I was actually quite comfortable in my jeans and leather jacket, but it felt like a clear summer night after a day rain, when the steam starts to come off the earth and the greenness of the world almost turns into a taste it’s so thick on the air.

The Moon – I don’t know if it’s just the fact that traveling again has me reminiscent of Nicaragua, but Maya, I send a shout-out to ya. The first image I had of Rwanda was a valley of lights crowned by a giant full moon. You know how intimately aware of the moon we were in Nicaragua. I get the feeling it’s going to be very similar here.

The House – It’s giant. It’s more giant than my house in Jersey. It’s got weird light switches all over the place, with no apparent rhyme of reason. My room is giant. I have a KING-sized mattress. I’ve never had a King before. I also get a closet and desk. We have a big giant living room that looks like no one ever sits in it. There are 4 long couches arranged in a square and a huge dining table that seats 10. There’s also a cat. Yay! She was insanely curious of all my stuff as I unpacked it, and had to sit in every single one of my bags and climb all over my piles of clothes. I suppose she was sniffing out my potential. I’ve already found a few of her special spots, and now, as I type this, she’s sitting on my desk (which is huge) right next to me, purring away. Word. To Do: Make a friend… check.

The Electricity – Yeah, this is gonna be interesting. The airport had four power surges, or outages, or whatever they were, in the hour or so that I was there. The people in immigration didn’t seem to have issues with it, and every time the lights went out, they pulled out their backup lamps within 13 seconds. A few minutes later, the lights would come back on, and all the backups would promptly be shut off. Now I’m sitting in my new giant house in complete darkness, because yup, the electricity’s out again. I see my computer battery will be put to good use.

The water – we have a water heater!! I actually took a HOT shower when I got in. Yes… and I mean HOT. I scalded myself all over my stomach. It’s still red, and I took a shower about an hour ago. Ow.

I’m pooped. I’m passing out.