So, after a minor fiasco at Logan airport (United Airlines wouldn't let me check my luggage) I had to leave behind a box of books I had intended to give to the Institutehere. I flew on to DC, then Rome, then Addis Ababa (Ethiopia - at over 7000 feet!) and then on to Kigali. The whole thing took about 24 hours.

Kigali itself is at about 5000 feet and maybe 50-100 miles south of the equator.

The temperature is pretty moderate, highs around 80 and lows around 60. Rwanda

is (justly!) called the Land of a thousand hills. The city is built on several hills, each

about as big as the hill on which Cornell sits. I get my exercise just walking up

and down them checking out the city. I'm living in a guest house on the campus

of KIST (Kigali Institute of Sciences and Technology) about 100 yards from my office.

Pictures of the guest house, my academic building and a view of the city are

above.

I'll be teaching an algebra class here. It supposed to start tomorrow, but I'm told

that not many students show up for the first week. The course schedule was only published

online today and most students don't have the internet. Most students can't afford books,

there are no texts here. They learn only from notes.