A Tale of Two Cities: Kigali to Rome

At Last

2007-12-02T00:14:00.000+02:00

Happy December,It’s odd how we seem to soak things in better when we know it is our last opportunity to do. We savor feelings that our senses had always previously deemed mediocre, and in doing so, we discover details that we had never noticed before. For example, during the last week of high school, I remember getting hugs from people who last spoke to me during a middle school dance (in case

Determined to Have Fun

2007-11-27T23:14:00.000+02:00

Welcome back friends, make yourselves at home. If you are reading this now, it is very likely that you have read here before, so please, kick up your feet and stay a while. I am sure that the following adventures will surely entertain. With the departure of Acting Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Conner last Wednesday morning, I returned back to the office for the first time since the previous

Thankful

2007-11-21T00:34:00.001+02:00

Dear readers,Happy on or around Thanksgiving! Though my exceedingly busy work week will not allow me to celebrate Thanksgiving formally, I sure do have much to be thankful for. The past week, my second to last, has been nothing like any previous weeks, granting me new experiences in every hour. For those of you concerned about my inability to celebrate this beloved holiday, do not be concerned; I

The Onslaught of Oppertunity

2007-11-15T00:24:00.000+02:00

Well, it has been a over a week since I caught you up last, and so I believe it is time to do so again. I would have done so earlier, but as my internship reaches its final weeks, I find myself busier than ever, both in the office and out of it.In the office, the upcoming biennial Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) conference next week is keeping everyone busy, especially with the visit of

Downhill from Here

2007-11-06T21:49:00.000+02:00

Welcome,Since one of the purposes of this blog is to keep you, the noble reader, up-to-date with my everyday life, it is necessary for me to catch up in my posts. For instance, the last entry, which I posted yesterday afternoon, concludes with me returning on the Sunday night a full week earlier. So reading my blog has become like looking at the light of the stars, which appear to burning in the

The Beauty of Southern Italy

2007-11-04T16:11:00.000+02:00

Dear readers, even though last week (well, two weeks ago now) was an amazing educational one, it also seemed the most purposeless. Though I am sure that each and every experience I have will play its role in the future, for the sake of this internship, I offered next to nothing as I sat and observed the WFP Executive Board Meetings.This negative perception, I am sure, was also affected by the

Executive

2007-11-01T00:25:00.000+02:00

Dearest readers,I am sorry it has been so long since my last entry. Though this post will refer to “last Monday,” I am actually referring to the Monday of last week, which is in fact two Mondays ago. However, the former flows much better, so I will use that phrase anyways. Before I begin, though, I would like to thank all of you that left a comment on my previous entry, putting the comment count

World Food Week (part 2)

2007-10-26T09:40:00.000+02:00

Ciao!I know you all have been anxiously awaiting this moment, so without further ado, the exciting conclusion of Jim Allen’s two-part special on World Food Week. However, I find it necessary to point out that Saturday, chronologically the next day to report, ironically had nothing to do with World Food anything. Sorry for the misleading introduction.Saturday was a day of escape for me. Not only

World Food Week (part 1)

2007-10-22T22:48:00.000+02:00

Buon giorno!For all of you who didn’t Google search “FAO, food” after reading the last blog, last Tuesday was World Food Day. Well in fact, since the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN is headquartered here in Rome, it was more like World Food Week, since the festivities officially ended this Monday night. But it is only proper to start at the beginning…Last Tuesday, officially

Out and About

2007-10-16T19:16:00.000+02:00

Dearest readers,For those of you traveling to Rome sometime, this blog may be of particular interest to you as I highlight some of Rome’s lesser known attractions. Strange as it may be, I have been in Rome for almost a month now and have yet to visit the Coliseum, the Roman Forum and the Roman Palatine (ancient Rome’s famous attractions) as well as anywhere inside the Vatican (Rome’s other

Daydreaming

2007-10-13T22:07:00.000+02:00

“These are the parking lots located in the embassy. To get to this one, you can enter here, which is the short way, or here, which is the long way. You can not go this way now though because of construction. To get to this parking lot, you can enter here, which is the short way, or here, which is the long. However, you can not go this way now, because of construction.”The USUN staff had warned

Settlement

2007-10-07T22:15:00.000+02:00

If you were to see me now, I would, again, be writing this blog from my bed, and, again, it would be an entirely new bed from before. However, this happens to be the bed where I will be writing countless other blogs, for it is the bed in the room that I plan to stay in for the next two months. I have finally settled in to a place.My room is very nice indeed. It is near Piazza de Repubblica, not

SAGA-sitting

2007-10-01T23:11:00.000+02:00

The two highlights to my week were enjoying lunch with a group of Americans who work at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and enjoying lunch with the employees of the USUN mission at the Ambassador’s residence. The first was on Thursday afternoon. I ended up sitting next to a fascinating woman who writes a yearly report that I read regularly for Model UN. In fact,

My Exodus

2007-09-27T23:32:00.000+02:00

Hello again friends,Transitioning into a world that is entirely unprepared for you certainly has its risks and difficulties. To my own surprise, I would say that my personal relationship and dependency on God has already been weathered more here than it ever was in Rwanda. Whereas my accommodations and meals were planned out before I left for Rwanda, life is

Home Is Where the Heart Is

2007-09-24T22:48:00.000+02:00

THIS WAS WRITTEN ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 23rdTo feel at home, I have concluded that one needs to have both a secure form of shelter and friends who allow you to be yourself, thus meeting both your physical and emotional needs. Lately, I have had neither. Yes, the hostel is a place to sleep, but hardly a place to settle, and while I have met friendly people, I simply do not know them well enough. I

Homeless

2007-09-24T22:36:00.000+02:00

THIS WAS WRITTEN LAST FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21stFour nights in Rome, and I am still writing this on a bed that I can not call my own. Though warm and comfortable as I sleep, the fact that it is surrounded by another seven beds in the hostel room has never really allowed me to settle in. My plan was for this to be the last night, but being that my search continues, I booked another instead. I

Airport Reflections

2007-09-19T16:29:00.000+02:00

Dear Beloved Readers,Welcome back. After five weeks hiatus, I am at it again. I write this from the Detroit McNamara airport during the last hour that I spend in the United States in 2007. It is strange to be here again, waiting for another flight. Its seems like Rwanda was a year away.This is probably because I have been so busy; I lied when I called it a hiatus. I worked two jobs as a

God Bless Goodbyes

2007-08-10T00:29:00.000+02:00

Welcome readers, to the first blog entry I have written outside of Rwanda. That's right. I have recently returned to the United States after my last days of heartfelt goodbyes to all of my friends. Because of this, I have failed to write for a while, making sure to cherish all my last moments in Africa, and God surely has blessed me with many final memories. Allow me to pick up almost exactly

Last Week of Work

2007-08-03T20:28:00.000+02:00

No, I haven't been fired. I know that is what you were thinking. You can't fire an intern... I think Aaron and I would know if you could. :) Rather, today was simply the last scheduled day of work for us Food for the Hungry (FH) interns.Other than that, though, it seemed just like every other day at work. Dwight gave us a project to do; we did it. I continued to work on my research project

My African Safari

2007-07-31T23:20:00.000+02:00

Greetings friends. It has been said that we learn something new everyday. Hopefully, somewhere during the course of blog, you will fulfill your quota. For starters, "safari" means "trip" in Swahili. And being that this summer's safari is only a week from completion, last weekend I thought it was necessary to go on a modern African safari, while I still had the chance. Besides, after a week

Reseraching, Reporting, Reading and wRiting

2007-07-28T09:31:00.001+02:00

This week can truly be summed up in the title. And while most may read and suddenly conjure images of dreariness or exhaustion, on the contrary, I consider them the 4 Rs (almost) of productivity. Closing in on the last week of our internship, it has become a priority to tie loose ends in order to ensure that the work we have started continues after our departure. In fact, Caleb has already

Life is Full of Surprises

2007-07-24T19:25:00.000+02:00

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to my 16th blog post, a post like none other, with twists and surprises like you've never seen before. Okay, I apologize for the sensationalism, but the past four days certainly have been full of unexpected surprises. Hope you agree.It began Saturday with a pleasant walk up Mt. Kigali with our Rwandan friends, Emmanuel, Christian, Felix and Thaddeus. After

A Welcomed Change of Pace

2007-07-20T19:35:00.000+02:00

Well hello there. It's a pleasure to see you again, or for the first time, depending on whether you have seen this blog before or not. Either way, welcome.As a briefly mentioned in my last blog, though my work has been productive, it has also been repetitive and not worth detailing. However, Tuesday began with an interesting meeting with Food for the Hungry/Rwanda (FHI/R) country director, and

Urakundo

2007-07-16T18:03:00.000+02:00

Dear and dearest readers, thank you for joining me again. Work has been productive, but repetitive, and so I will do all a favor and spare you from the details. In essence, Aaron and I are still doing good work in developing concepts for E-Sponsorship. However, today I did organize a stack of papers into four books after watching Emmanuel struggle with the ordering the pages.This weekend

Psalm 22

2007-07-12T16:56:00.000+02:00

Salutations readers.This week sure has gone by fast. With less than a month until my return, there are some things that I can finally start looking forward to, including apples, laundry machines and, of course, seeing all you wonderful people again. Without a doubt, though, I will miss Rwanda as well, especially now that I am starting to feel as if Aaron's and my work at the FHI/R office is

Holy Kibuye, Batman!

2007-07-09T18:33:00.000+02:00

Greetings frequent visitor and newbies, thank you for reading my blog. It has been a blessing to share this experience with so many people. I just continue to hope that you enjoy reading.This entry should not bore, though, as it is about my captivating weekend to Kibuye, a village in western Rwanda on beautiful Lake Kivu. After an exciting week of work, almost everyone (all the interns, Abi

The 4th of July!

2007-07-04T22:52:00.001+02:00

For all of the Americans reading this blog entry, Happy post-Independence Day! And for everyone else, I do not know how you got word of this blog, but thank you for tuning in. Though one would think that spending the 4th of July in Rwanda would be anticlimactic given the lack of American activities, this assumption is mistaken. True, there many times today that I longed for a barbecued

University

2007-07-02T14:13:00.000+02:00

Good morning, afternoon, evening or night, depending on when you read this. Thank you for checking in. Just as a reminder, if anyone reading this would like to comment on something I read or simply pass a greeting, please feel free to click on the "comments" link on the bottom of each blog entry. Simply fill in your name and a brief message, and I will return your comment as soon as possible.

Back from Burundi

2007-06-29T16:56:00.000+02:00

Greetings everyone. Well, I am back from Burundi with many exciting and humorous stories to share. But firstly, I must comment on Aaron's blog, which I just read for the first time. The story that I recommended to everyone, "How Jim ruined my Friday in 5 different ways," I am de-recommending. More of it is lies than I thought. For example, I did not start throwing cushions at Aaron, I only

One Last Thing

2007-06-27T13:42:00.000+02:00

Hey y'all,I have about 15 minutes (meaning 45 minutes) until I leave for Burundi, so I decided to occupy my time managing this blog. I have decided that I should start putting links to the blogs of my fellow interns on the left panel, so that you can read their perspective on the trip and not just mine. Currently, I have only posted Aaron's, the intern I am living with, who has come up in

Stitching the Pieces Together

2007-06-26T19:33:00.000+02:00

Greetings readers! I hope I find you in good spirits, and if not, hopefully this blog can cheer you up a bit. The past few days have been exceptionally educational and productive. Just wait until you can see what I can do now... my mom will be so proud.Monday morning started out with a twist: our ride was here on time! Typically, Aaron and I are ready at 8:15 for our 7:50 ride, which in

These Past Few Days

2007-06-23T22:38:00.000+02:00

Thursday, John Domoscene, a newly-wed who works for the Rwandan government, shared with me a joke told to him by his Egyptian friend:"What product is Rwanda's number one export?" asked the Egyptian."I dunno," replied John, "Coffee or tea?""Which one?" the Egyptian insisted."Tea," John guessed."Liar," remarked the man, "Rwanda's number one product for export is its soil."Though I have yet to

Long Time, No Write

2007-06-20T11:06:00.000+02:00

Greetings. Thank you for checking in. Since it has been about six days since my last entry, I have many adventures to share.The first of which is that this past weekend Karen, Aaron and I traveled to Guitarama to hang out with our fellow interns stationed there. On Saturday morning, we went to the market, which had many sights to behold, including a trisected bleeding cow in the back of a

Out of Place

2007-06-15T12:34:00.000+02:00

Hello readers, thanks for tuning in. Before I begin this post I would like to inform you that the Food for the Hungry Interns 2007 introduction video can be found at the bottom of this page. Simply click the link, and scroll up where you will find it loading. The video was made by Caleb Lilley, a fellow intern, and is pretty hilarious. It is also a good way to get to know the cast of

My first day of work

2007-06-13T11:31:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was my first day work, and I would have to say that it went very well. It began with a meeting with World Vision to discuss DAP (Development Assistant Project), to discuss an upcoming assessment to evaluate its various approaches to promoting economic development throughout Rwanda. It is funded by USAID (US Agency for International Development). However, I learned that because USAID

Beautiful Rwanda

2007-06-11T18:35:00.000+02:00

I have only been in Rwanda for a few days, but I already feel at home. That may be perhaps my residence, a Food for the Hungry (FH) guest house is wonderful. Not only is a spacious and has a cleaning/cooking staff, but its view overlooks the heart of Kigali. Additionally, none of us have gotten sick yet and all of our luggage miraculously arrived, which were perks as well. Though it is true

Written in my journal on June 7th 2007

2007-06-10T08:35:00.000+02:00

Well, we're off, many a thousand feet above the air. Our flight itinerary is insane, from Phoenix to Denver, Denver to Washington DC (the flight I'm on now), DC to Rome, Rome to Addis Abeba, there to Nairobi and lastly to Kigali. I'm almost guaranteed to lost my luggage. The good news, though, is that I am excited, I feel safe, and I love the people I'm with, despite the face that not all of