Hello gente (Spanish for people)! I have a hard time believing that it has almost been a month since I last blogged. Thank you so much to all of you that have taken the time to read and comment on my blog. I appreciate knowing that I have the support of so many great people. J
Some things I love seeing in Rwanda (in no particular order):
Goats: they are so cute. Babies! Especially on the backs of women. It is adorable to see two little feet poking out from behind a woman’s back. People walking around with dead chickens in their hands or hanging off bikes, something I have never seen in the states. I am still impressed with people carrying things on their heads. I carried a smaller jug of milk on my head the other day and ended up having some milk in my hair; apparently I need to work on my technique. Hills are really great to see as well!
Something that is fresh on my mind is Thanksgiving! I had a really great time preparing for the holiday with the other trainees. Our efforts were impressive, as was all of the teamwork that went into recreating Thanksgiving for about 90 people in Rwanda. Multiple shopping trips were made, teams were assembled, and good food was the end result. We successfully made mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with a pineapple chutney and a ginger syrup, green bean casserole with beer batter onion rings, stuffing, ten turkeys, apple crisp, hot apple cider, and chai all without ovens and over charcoal stoves. It was a lot of work, but I think we were all satisfied with the food and happy that we did not let the day go uncelebrated.
Big news! I now know and have been to the site where I will be spending my Peace Corps service! I have been placed in the Eastern province, in Bugesera district, in a town called Juru. I will be teaching at the secondary school in Juru. My trip from Nyanza (where I am currently) to Juru involved a two hour bus to Kigali, an hour bus to Nyamata, and then a 20 minute motorcycle ride to Juru. You should all imagine me with a large hiking backpack and a required Peace Corps motor-cross looking helmet on the back of a motorcycle. I am pretty confident it was an amusing sight. The Eastern province is flatter and hotter than other parts of Rwanda. Unfortunately I will not have running water or electricity at my house in Juru, but I am trying to romanticize the idea of using lamps and candles at night. The headmaster, teachers, other community leaders, were very welcoming in Juru and took time to show me around and make me feel welcomed.
Kinyarwanda is still a challenge for me, but I try to keep in mind that learning a language is not a race and does take time and patience. Something that is particularly challenging for me is that there are 16 noun classes in Kinyarwanda. English has 2- singular and plural, Spanish has 4- singular feminine, singular masculine, plural feminine, plural masculine, Kinyarwanda has 16. The noun is the central part of a sentence and depending on which class it falls in, it will change the way you construct the verb, adjective, etc. Something that I can appreciate about the noun classes, however, is that it makes the sentence has quite a few alliterations which makes the language flow (and potentially become a tongue twister). For example: the word for two is kabiri. If you want to say I have two children, you would not say Mfite abana (I have children) kabiri. You would say Mfite abana babiri. It sounds nice, but it can also provide some challenges. I am find it interesting as I am learning to try to think about what the language can teach me about cultural differences.
From what I have observed, it is more common in Rwanda than in the US to have hired help for cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. Someone pointed our to me the other day that part of the reason it may be more common is because people in the US own machines that simplify these tasks and save time. For example, I have not seen a washer, dryer, oven, microwave, dishwasher, toaster, coffee pot, refrigerator, freezer, vacuum cleaner, etc. Some people pay a person to fetch water for them since having running water is a luxury.
Next week we start model school which I am somewhat nervous about. Since it is currently summer break in Rwanda and we need to practice teaching, we are offering 3 weeks of English instruction for local students. Each class will have about 40 students and we will be teaching 7th and 8th graders. It should be a good learning experience for us because in addition to teaching, we will be observing our fellow trainees as they teach.
So…. we are still in training until January and I am enjoying spending time with the other trainees. Tomorrow we might attempt to make pancakes and no bake cookies since we get some free time on Sundays. Should be fun!
Sending sunshine your way,
Allison
