Week One

It’s been exactly one week since I stumbled into Kigali airport disoriented, overwhelmed and with a mild headache. In a week Beirut has gone from mass pro-March 14th coalition protests following Gemayel’s assassination to mass anti-March 14th coalition protests, sit-ins, and sleep-ins. In that same week, I’ve changed continents (while maintaining my time zone), and gone from completely disoriented to only mildly disoriented in Kigali.

My first couple of days here I didn’t dare leave the house without clinging to Elizabeth (my former classmate and now roommate) as my guide. Getting around was especially frustrating because it was so cloudy and rainy that I couldn’t locate the sun to tell East from West. I’m not joking, this was an actual source of anxiety. What an old world concern - It turns out it’s simply not that important! Clearly, I have moved on: Goodbye Jerusalem, goodbye Beirut, goodbye green lines! Hello green hills!
Granted, an entirely different set of divisions await my discovery in this tiny country that is not exactly united – but I will leave that for later.