Tonight I arrived at Kigali international airport about 20 minutes late. I exited the baggage claim area and spotted a man with headphones on bumpin R Kelly with a sign that said “Welcome Coach Matt PJB Goma”. From the second I walked through the doors I was greeted and treated like a welcome member of the PJB family. We went to the taxi and Dario, the organizer of the program, gave me a call welcoming me and expressing his excitement of having me. The welcome was awesome.
One thing that caught me off guard was that I landed at about 7:00 PM and it was already pitch dark outside, and very pleasant temperatures. It was a very nice 24 degrees with a clear night sky above us. We had a nice 30 minute drive to our small hotel room. Then we went for a nice walk. Kigali has similar features to Seoul because it is mountainous. Our hotel is at the bottom of a hill, and at the top of the hill is the business center of the city, so we took a nice 2 mile walk up the mountain and grabbed some waters and had a tea while watching some football (soccer). The excitement that Kadi expressed is pumping me up. I am excited to go and see the smiles on all the players faces.
Me and Kadi had great conversations about basketball and the goals that we have for the year. We will have a great opportunity to develop many kid’s skills and hopefully help PJB grow into a famous African basketball academy. For now I am just excited to get to Goma and settle in. Apparently Kadi tells me that by November I will be fluent in French and will be very good at Swahili. I am very nervous about that part. Anyway… I am super tired, but very excited to be in Africa. I cannot stop thinking about all of the people I miss, but I know this is where I am supposed to be.
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