Akagera National Park

It has been awhile since my last post. Sometimes the frustrations and challenges here put you in a bad mood and so if you have nothing good to say should not say anything at all.
New RGI colleague Jim Bulluc arrived in Kigali last week and delivered 2 rolls of Copenhagen to me which was a much welcomed relief!!!
The project is moving along well. Should be fabricating trusses on site this week which would be a few weeks ahead of schedule. I am pushing the contractor quite hard.
Reviewed their site design two weeks ago and had 5 pages of comments/corrections to be made. Just as I issued these comments their Architect headed to Kenya so we are at a stand still until he arrives back hopefully this week to have the meeting I requested to review with the engineers and incorporate into final design. After this I will need their final site work pricing which will be the same struggle to get.
Took my first Saturday off from work and went to Akagera National Park. Hope you enjoyed the photos that I forwarded. Amazing experience to finely see the animals that before I had only seen in a zoo. The park was established in 1934 and is quite large but in 1994 was reduced to 1/3 its size due to the need for land based on all the Rwandans returning to the country after the genocide. Much of the park has experience wildfires during the dry season. These fires spread rapidly thru the Savannah's where the ground is covered by tall grass. The trees survive quite well. The Acacia trees are quite beautiful. Unfortunately did not see any elephants, crocodiles, lions, or snakes. Will definitely see them when I head on safari to one of the larger parks in Kenya or Tanzania while I am here.
Looking forward to returning to Seattle on 9/8 for 2 week break. Not allot of time as I return to Rwanda on 9/21. Taking the jet lag/time difference recovery into account leaves me with about 10 days to enjoy home and see family and friends.
All for now. Hope you are well. Take care.

Week Eight

The pool at the Serena last sunday was wonderful! Quite good for the mind. $40 US for the pool and brunch but well worth it. Today I am writting from the Mamba House. This is a local establishment with pool, volleyball, Mutzig, and food. I am the only muzungu in the place. Definetly not the Serena.
Well its been 2 months since I arrived. We have accomplised alot in the last 2 months. I need to keep this in mind when dealing with the many frustrations I encounter. 4 weeks til i board a plane for 2 week break in Seattle, yea!!
Worked til 1pm yesterday and then went around town to take pictures if the signage in Kigali. I have found the signs very entertaining and thought you might to so am attaching some of them to the blog and will also send out via picassa.Good example of the exciting things to do in Kigali!
The presidential election is tomorrow. Paul Kagame the current president should win by a landslide. It has been interesting to see the increased military presence throughout the city in the last month. Men with big guns all over the place should there be trouble. Although the government claims to be democratic the Tutsie's are definetly the elite and in power. Have heard reports of a few opposition people being murdered. I am not anticipating any trouble but will hang low tomorrow. there have been political rallies for the last few weeks. A tremendous amount of celebrating. Tomorrow is a national holiday and Tuesday will probably end up the same.
Construction is going well. Block work is now progressing in most buildings. Ring beam started in Dining. Will be ready for trusses very soon. Received site grading and utility design on Saturday and will spend the day reviewing Monday. Will spend Tuesday hopefully finalizing the deal with the power company Electrogaz to provide power to our site. Recieved and reviewed another round of BOQ/Pricing on several more buildings and should finalize this week. Next critical is the sitework and utilities pricing which is major. Learned last week that a environmental impact study is now required. New requirement that Rwanda has implemented in the last year that was not required when the permits for the project were issued. Frustration/headache #1001!
All for now, have a great week.

Week 7

well the block issue has resolved itself. the new machine is making very good blocks and the block masons are installing with nice equal joints. mission accomplished! construction progress moving along well, in fact Hygebat is ahead of schedule. finally finished all building design last week and should receive site grading and utility design on monday. keeping my fingers crossed. my next push with the contractor has been for him to finalize all budget re-pricing. this has been like pulling teeth as has everything else. once we accomplish this task i can then start spending more time on the site addressing day to day issues. I can also hopefully take some time to get the hell away from Kigali and see other parts of East Africa.

when i decided to take on the assignment i new it would be interesting in many different aspects. after 7 weeks in country my initial expectations can be multiplied by 10! along with the construction aspects considered another aspect was how would it be to live in a third world country for this length of time and deal with the day to day issues? well it has proven to be very difficult. the demands of the project are quite intense. on my next opportunity i would want to be involved with the NGO/Foundation and plan for the project much differently than was done on this project. living in a third world country is challenging and takes allot out of you, in fact drains you. from the poverty you see here, the language barrier, pollution, heat, dust,un-sanitary conditions,internet malfunctions,isolation being one of the few muzungu in town, cultural differences, missing your familiar surroundings, family, friends, and the luxuries we have in the US,etc,etc. I work hard to maintain a positive perspective, take in all the different experiences, and work towards my ultimate goal to complete the school construction. one walk thru the many slums puts you life into perspective. i feel fortunate for the opportunity.

not much other news to tell. i think i will visit one of the hotels in town today and take advantage of their swimming pool. attitude adjustment!a day of relaxation! hope all is well with all of you. take care.