day one :)

I am here! After some blessed motion sickness medicine throughout three cities/two connections, I arrived at the Kilimanjaro Airport last night with two friends, Selina and Michelle. This morning we took a short tour of the Nyerere Centre for Peace Research (the Centre is the result of a partnership between Arcadia University and the East African Community), followed by a visit to the UN-ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda). The buildings for Nyerere, the EAC and the UN-ICTR are all in the same compound, which makes it especially nice for walking.

So the UN-ICTR was supposed to close down in 2008. They got a one year extension, and the tribunal is looking to close at the end of this year/beginning of 2010. Michelle, Selina and I will be working on collecting information for what they call, "residual functions"; in other words, work that needs to be done after the tribunal closes down.

The weather is cool here - I wish I had worn more than just a fleece out this morning. I imagine this week/end will be much of catching up on sleep, getting to know Arusha and of course getting to know the people we have been so blessed to live and work with. Our supervisor at the UN-ICTR gave us this bright yellow binder-ful of information about the tribunal to prep us for the work we'll be doing. The three of us are waiting to get settled down (e.g. exchange money, find cell phones, find FOOD) so we can make some hot tea and start reading up on the tribunal.

I hope that wherever you are reading this, this finds you healthy and at peace. :)