Times, they are a changing

So things are changing here. Kirsti is leaving Rwanda to go back to Norway. Jean-Aime has left the team already. So has Maureen last week. Louis-Claude has joined the team. Bachir, our new Country Manager is expected shortly. We shall move offices in the weeks to come. They say change is often for the good. I hope they’re right.

But some things stay the same. I go the same restaurants, I see the same people and my everyday work, though not unpleasant (quite the contrary sometimes), is not very diverse at the moment. Kigali, I’ve said that before, doesn’t have much to offer in terms of distractions. But at the same time, at the moment, I think if I was to spend a weekend in a city like New York for instance, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.

But if Kigali doesn’t seem to have much to offer after 8 months, I still have plenty to see in the country as I think I told you before. That’s exciting and since I don’t know if I’ll ever come back here, I want to make the most out of the remaining few months.

There’s not much to do here but I don’t really complain cause it’s not really places to hang out at or things to do that I miss. I think I just miss my friends. And my family of course... Not badly but just enough to make me smile broadly when I think of my first evening in Perth or my first night back in France.

Working and living abroad is an amazing experience and I recommend anyone tempted, to do so. I have been lucky enough to experience that before (but nothing like this last one) and I know how much I learned from it. This time I already know I’ve learned even more.

But everything has its downside. It’s not easy to be away from the people that really matter. It’s not always easy to be satisfied with the short-term friendships that you create. It’s not a pleasant thought to think that if I choose to follow this path, I might only see my friends and my family for a couple of weeks every year. I don’t like that idea. But I also don’t like the idea of staying in one place for too long, I don’t like the idea of not discovering new people or cultures or landscapes all the time, cause for me, doing that is the closest thing to what could be called a “passion”. Some people are lucky enough to have had one for many years, almost since they were born, like my brother and his planes, or my friend Julien and his music. It took me quite some time to find mine. But I think I have now.

To sum up, I guess I’ll never be satisfied !!! Well, things could be worse, I guess I’ll just keep on traveling... And if some of you want to join me on the way, you’re more than welcome ! By the way, next destination: Asia…