The Worst Hotel Ever!

Today we woke up at the Paradis Guest House and left farily early for Kigali. We booked a ticket on the Belvedere Business Class line for about $4 for the 3-hour ride. They had a TV on the bus and played several videos including a very violent Tanzanian TV show and music videos from the US that were unedited. If you know what we mean.

About 20 minutes into the ride, the bus was stopped by the Rwandan police. Everyone got out of the bus and was required to show identification. Luckily, both James and I had our passports on our person. We discovered that the police were looking for illeagal immigrants (probably Congolese) that were on the bus without visas. It was a little scary but worked out fine.

When we returned to Kigali, we checked into the Sky Hotel. Upon arriving in the hotel, we found that the power was out. We were told it would be turned on at 6 p..m, which was fine. When we got to the room, the water didn't work either. We were told that it would go on with the electricity at 6 p.m.

We were both pretty hungry after the bus ride and looking for something a little different. We went to the Shanghai restaurant and had Chinese food, which was really pretty good.

After lunch, we paid another visit to Center Merembo. The kids were learning modern dance, and the class was disrupted when the two Muzungos from last week strolled in. The kids and teachers invited us back for a soccer match tomorrow afternoon at 2:30. We're looking forward to playing soccer with the kids and seeing them use the equipment some of you donated.

When we got back to the hotel around 6:30, the electricity was indeed on. When we got to the room however, the water was still not working. Over the next couple of hours, we were told three times that the water would be turned on; they just had to start the pump. It never came on. We had been travelling all day and were hot and sweaty and needed a shower as we had our meeting with Senator Dave Durnenberger in the morning. At around 7 p.m., very loud music started in the nightclub that was directly underneath our room. It was over at 11 p.m., but the partygoers hung around until about 3 a.m. These events made for a long night.

Thanks again for reading. Amahoro!

James and Dave