The First Three Things You Must Do Upon Arriving in Kigali

1. Learn how much it a moto taxi should cost you from most places in the city to your house. Learn how to say each of these numbers in Kinyarwanda.

2. The first time you go to your new house, make a note of every single landmark on the way. Dusty unmarked streets look surprisingly similar, especially after dark (6pm). Trust me.

3. Save the phone number of every Rwandan you meet. You never know when you'll need to call someone at 9pm to have them explain to your taxi driver how to get to your house, since clearly you will be incapable of doing so if you get lost.

For the record, my way to get home goes something like this: drive to Kimihurura neighborhood, up to Papyrus restaurant, go two turns past, turn at the road with the TARPO sign, travel all the way down the road, past the big white building with the black diamonds, past the big-ass trucks marked "water trucks" and when you've gotten to the house with the fortress gate made out of huge rocks with white paint in between, you're home!