Last day in Ruhengeri

This trip has been so amazing and it's gone by pretty fast. It's our last whole day in Ruhengeri. I've had time to think about a few cultural differences from the US. The first one is time. Things here are at a much more relaxed pace. A two hour drive often takes 2 1/2 or 3 hours. And if you're late, it's not a problem. We showed up for the Intori dancers 35 minutes late and nobody seemed bothered one bit. This relaxed pace is sometimes frustrating, but for the most part it is good not having to rush around on a strick schedule. Another major difference is the traffic and rules of the road. Pedestrians do not have the right of way. Turn signals are used every two seconds; they even use them to let the people behind them know when it's safe to pass. Vehicles often drive down the center of the road (even though there are lane markings on the major roads) because there are pedestrians walking or pushing bikes on the outside edges of the roads. These are just a few of the cultural differences I've been thinking about.

Yesterday we got to pick which hike we would go on. Virginia and I went on the Dian Fossey/ Karisoke hike. It was really muddy and physically demanding for me. I felt really accomplished when we were done. It was really neat seeing how large the research center was and all the grave markers of the gorillas we read about as well as Dian Fossey's grave. It wasn't what I was expecting but it was a great experience that I won't soon forget!