Santa Vaca.. I'm in Rwanda!

Muraho (hello in Kinyarwanda) and greetings from Nyanza, Rwanda!
I've been in Rwanda for over a week now, but today has been the first day that we've been given some free time so I can write. I hope that this blog can be interactive, so please post your comments and questions below. That way I will also know that people are reading!

Where to start? I guess I could begin with Philly where we had staging- a short orientation to the Peace Corps. I had the opportunity to fly to Philly the day before which was great because I was able to meet some of the other Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs, we are not technically volunteers until we've completed training and sworn in).  I also was able to get a good night's sleep before the orientation started.  At home, in Wisconsin, it was easy to be somewhat nerous about the experience that was awatining me, but once I got to Philly it was very encouraging to meet the 70 people that are also currently training in Rwanda with me.  And the packing and preparations were done, so I was able to start enjoying the experience.  We were only in Philly for two nights but that was enough time for me to eat some Philly pizza, a Philly cheese steak sandwich, some Ben and Jerry's ice cream, and  take hot showers! After receiving a yellow fever shot (the first of many shots), we boarded two buses for JFK's airport.  Two people on the trip brought ukuleles and we were serenaded while driving. I also loved that another PCT, played the song Africa by Toto as we approached JFK and once we landed in Kigali.  I'm sure that song will continue to make me smile in the future. 

The flights went well to Kigali, Rwanda and we arrived without even losing any luggage. Miraculous!
Since Rwanda is right near the ecuator, the sun rises and sets around the same time all year long. Our hours of sunlight are approximately 6 am- 6 pm, which meant that when we arrived in Kigali the sun was already down.  We awoke the next morning to the surprise of our new surroundings.  Rwanda is green, lush, (it is currently the short rainy season) and very hilly.  I'm loving the beautiful landscape.  We spent a couple days in Kigali which served as our introduction for Pre-Service Training (PST) which is the training that I am currently in.  PST focuses on language training, training about medical concerns, safety and security, cross-cultural training, and technical training which in our case is education.  All 70 of us will be treachers here in Rwanda. The majority will be English teacheres and the others will be science or math teachers.  After Kigali, we took a bus for a few hours and arrived in Nyanza, where we are having PST.  I like that Nyanza is a smaller town and is less crowded.  I live in a house with 9 fellow trainees and 2 Language and Culture Trainers (LCTs). 

I'll explain briefly what a typical day in PST is like for me.  There is a lot of material to be covered, so days are long and we have scheduled activities on Saturdays and Sundays as well.  I wake up around 6:00 and get out of my bed that is covered by a mosquito net (my princess net, I'm thinking of it as) and get ready for the day by showering.  Sometimes there is running water and sometimes there is not.  Where there is not, I take a bucket shower.  I'm gettting better at this new approach to showering, it just takes some learning. We have breakfast from 7-8, sessions until 10, followed by a tea/coffee break, more sessions, lunch, sessions, and then dinner around 6 or so.  Sometimes we have things going on after dinner, but normally by that point I'm ready to unwind and go to bed. 

One thing that has been fun for me is that each of us is assigned to a resource family.  Peace Corps is new in Rwanda and host families were not an option, but this is a great way for me to learn more about Rwanda.  I cook and eat with my family twice a week and spend about 4 hours there each time that I go.  I have 4 resource siblings and they are 14, 12, 7 and 5 years old. It is nice for me to be with a family. The children are adorable and I love when they sing and dance. 

I know some of you are probably wondering about food, which is a pretty important thing.  So far I think they've been giving us a  mixture of Rwandan and American food to ease us into a new diet.  We've mainly been eating plantains, rice, potatos, pasta, meat, beans, cooked vegetables, etc for lunch and dinner.  For breakfast we normally have bread with peanut butter or jelly or omelets.  The fruit has been good. We've had small bananas, passion fruit, papaya, and another fruit called Japanese tree tomatoes (I think). 

Kinyarwanda is the most widely spoken language in Rwanda, although some more educated people also know some French and English.  It's a pretty challenging language, but I realize I have only been here about a week and cannot expect things to click just yet.  I can say hello, how are you, what's your name, and other greetings.  Kinyarwanda has quite a few sounds that my mouth is not yet used to making, consonant combinations that do not exist in English- mf, mw, mb, etc.  Words seem to be pretty long, for example the word for volunteer is umukorerabushake. Hopefully I will get pretty good at saying it! Right now I am tongue tied!  

The weather has been nice. It feels like spring or summer most days.  Compared to the majority of African countries, the climate is pretty mild.  I have worn a sweatshirt at night a couple of times and have even uttured the words: "I'm cold."  Being that the weather is not as hot, the risks are not as serious for certain diseases compared to Niger, for example. 
So thankfully, I've been feeling healthy and my body is reacting well to all of the food we've been eating.  Rwanda is at a considerably higher altitude, so I find myself getting out of breath, but I am sure my body will adjust.  

I am sorry if there are errors in this post, I have been trying to type quickly.  Disclaimer: I don't know how frequently I will have access to the internet, but my goal is to post about once a month.  Please be patient with my communication.  

Lots of love from Rwanda,
Wishing you all well,

Allison