Rwandan Development....

I was in Kigali before but didn't stay down town. This time, however, we stayed in a downtown hotel. Rwanda seems to be developing a lot and either benefiting from, or catering to, the money coming in from the Western world. It is likely both. Much of this money is what some call guilt money. Aide that has been sent into Rwanda for the past 10-years because of the guilt of failing to act during the Rwanda Genocide in 1994.

A couple of high-rise construction projects and newly finished developments are the biggest signs of this increased economic development in Kigali's "business district" which seemed to be about 4 blocks around. They still need to make some improvements thought. When trying to use the ATM, the machine would choke, as if it was cutting my card in to shreds, and then spit my card back out, fortunately still in one piece. But with no money. So, I went into a bank and asked them about the ATM machines. "Oh, they don't work....". me-"where can I find one that works?" "none of the ATM's in Rwanda work" All of Rwanda!? I had heard of local machines not working for some reason, but the entire ATM network in a country not working... Wow. (I later found out that they do work for local cards, but have not been set up yet for international transactions)

Quick Kigali Day 1 summary: After arriving early in the morning from Kampala, I was beat. I was afraid that Ashley would want to tackle the day in Kigali since she got a bit more sleep than I had on the bus ride, but was relieved when nap was on the top of her list as well. So, first day in Kigali started with a long nap, which was rudely interrupted by some pretty big swaying from an earthquake that we later heard had struck the Bukavu area on the south side of Lake Kivu along the border of DRC and Rwanda. No structural problems in Kigali however. Then we were both itching for some different food, which after two weeks in Uganda for me and 1 month for her, meant Italian food! Found a great place with PIzza!