..Wait...so WHERE am I going?

So I thought I'd do a quick crash course on where my adventures will be taking place! When first hearing about Rwanda, the only thing I really knew was related to "that hotel movie." Rwanda is landlocked, a bit larger than Vermont and a bit less populous than Chicago, a place so dwarfed by neighboring Congo, Uganda, and Tanzania that for the sake of legibility its name has to be printed on most maps outside the lines of its frontiers. The genocide and the politics that surround it are far more complicated than stating the Hutu majority randomly decided one day that Rwanda would be better off if the Tutsi minority were gone, but that is how it has often been simplified.

Rwanda's population is approximately 10.1 million, with Kinyarwanda, French, and English official languages. The population is overwhelmingly Christian; a 2006 study found that 56% were Catholic, 37% Protestant, and about 4% Muslim. It is largely agricultural, but has economically suffered since the genocide. There has been great effort in rebuilding, reconciliation, and has shown signs of rapid development. Rwanda is generally described as grasslands and rolling hills.

I will be taking classes generally three days a week, volunteering at a NGO once a week, and group field trips on Fridays. Here's the link for more info on my studies.

Ok. I think I've procrastinated enough. I must finish packing and reading Bone Woman and We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families. Both of which I would recommend to anyone interested in Rwanda! (not exactly the classic summer reading by the beach, but it's what I would pick!)