Boy, this Internet is fast! (And other wonders about Canada)

I arrived in Canada after close to 40 hours of travelling. This is from the time I left my house in Kibungo until I arrived at the Calgary airport. The trip was totally uneventful and my suitcase came (having been searched in both Kigali and Nairobi) but uneventful is just the way I like it. The food on the plane was AMAZING. (Now, was it actually amazing or just amazing because it wasn't beans and bananas....I don't know). There were movies from London to Calgary and I had a hard time choosing what to watch. 40 hours seems like a long time but the flying/waiting time was only abou 30 hours which - again - seems long but think that I spent a 30 hour bus journey through Tanzania at Christmas with NO stoppovers, no movies, no food and no toilets. Flying is a breeze compared to that. Aimey, Ang and my parents met me a the airport. Originally my parents had asked "Do you want us to come to the airport?" to which I responded, "Well, I was hoping you'd come with a brass band but if you don't have time to organize that, I'll understand." I arrived off the plane to....a "brass band".... My parents had shakers and drums and tambourines as well as a large Rwanda flag (I tried to get one in Rwanda and couldn't) and Aimey and Ang had a large "Welcome Home" sign (truthfully is was so large that I think it was taller than Ang! ha ha). Jet leg is slowly subsiding and as it does, I've noticed many things about being back:

1. Everything smells SO good!

2. People move so fast. I did three errands yesterday and accomplished all of them...with no stress!

3. The mornings are dark, the evenings are light and the weather is cold

4. Bananas taste differently....

5. The internet connection is so fast. I don't have time to read my book while I wait for an email to send.

6. People don't stare at me anymore.

7. Water, beer and things kept in the fridge are so cold that it hurts my teeth!

So...I'm back to adapting to life in Canada. It's a short visit and I'm happy to be here. I sometimes wonder how I'll go back to bucket showers and spiders, but since I don't need to think about that, I won't. For now, I'll just enjoy it!