The Miss List.

This afternoon I was walking down the street, arm in arm with a dear Rwandan friend and a woman passed by carrying her baby in typical African fashion - blankets wrapped around the babe and little feet popping out the front around the woman's mid-section. 

And I got teary-eyed. 

I'm going to miss seeing little feet popping out from around random women on the street. I love those little feet! 

I added "little baby feet in the air" to the mental list of things I am going to miss about Rwanda. Time is absolutely flying by, and with the mayhem of work travel that is May - there is not much actual time left in this country. I welcome the coming change, Rwanda is not somewhere I would like to stay forever, but in my daily life I find small things that have become endeared to me that I will truly miss. 

Like...

The Congolese tailor who takes sheets of fabric and makes dresses that hug my body so perfectly I feel like a kitenge Goddess. 

50cent mangos purchased from buckets atop women's heads. 

The ever-present green mountain view. It's everywhere in Rwanda. Every inch has a scenic view. 

Red roof tops. I love the red roof tops cascading down into the hills. 

The fact that this country has literally 3 roads that span outside the capitol city. 

Boiled bananas in tomato sauce. 

Fanta. And "chips" (french fries). I will always associate Fanta and Fries with Rwanda. 

Motorcycle taxis. Love 'em, hate 'em. I'll sure miss the wind in my hair, about to die but don't care feeling. 

"Imperial Leather" soap bars. I love that stuff! Liquid soap is extremely expensive so I have become a bar soap convert and I might never go back. 

Guesstimating how much electricity I am using. Here, we buy electricity in little shops and add it to our meters outside our homes. When the electricity you have purchased runs out, your electricity shuts off. Thus, I have perfected estimating the amount of electricity everything takes (taking a hot shower, running the refrigerator for days at a time, etc). I'm pretty proud of myself for figuring this out and I'll miss checking the meter every few days to make sure my usage is on target. 

Geckos. Little baby geckos everywhere. Cute, except when Mushu leaves them in our bed. I'll actually miss them. 

The African sky. It's just so blue. And so expansive. Clouds look like candy. It mesmerizes me. 

My co-workers. I've been insane lucky to have been placed in a country with two other fellows. I might not have made it through the chaos that was the first 5 months of my fellowship without that fabulous pair. 

Being told I look, "Smart." "Smart" is the way to say "You look nicely dressed and put together." 

And this is just the beginning of the "Miss List." Things I never want to forget (but probably will in a few decades).  I'm compiling what I will miss, and what I never want to forget about this surprising, beautiful, confusing, interesting place, Rwanda. 

walk slow. xoxo.