Salsa Dancing in Rwanda?...sure, why not.

Muraho,

I had my first taste of Primus beer last night, Rwanda's finest. Yup, you guessed it....tastes like bud. A bunch of volunteers that I have met and I decided it would be fun to go Salsa dancing last night. We were blown away by everyone's salsa moves and needless to say we had no idea what we were doing......

Things have been going really well here. I found a balance of Gisimba time, exploring, and connecting...soaking it all up. Six of us are going to go to Akagera National Park this weekend on the border of Tanzania. We have all been looking forward to it all week! I am very anxious to get out of the city back into the hills of hypnotic beauty again.

Today I went to another orphanage called Mother Theresa's with my friend Yvette (From LA). Although she did well at preparing me for the day, I still found myself bewildered and in disbelief during my time there. Alongside the 50+ children under the age of 5, there are also around 40 peoples with disabilities. We are going back this afternoon and I am interested to see what will unfold....

On a side note, on a very very sad note, Ice Cream is very very expensive here. I know, it sucks. But don't worry to much, I have still managed to get my fix.

with love,

-Rach

The Perks of living with the Minister of Sports and Culture: Free Football Matches at Amorha Stadium!

Muraho,

So our trip to the Naming Ceremony was a success, thanks to some new friends I made the day before ;) I traveled to Ruhengeri with 5 other people that are volunteering in Kigali this summer, one of whom works at Gisimba with me, Kevin. The day started off with a rocky, but BEAUTIFUL ride through the hills to Ruhengeri, where we then had to wager six motobike rides to the actual place where the ceremony was taking place, about 20km away. It was an all day event filled with traditonal dance and drumming performences, naming baby Gorrillas, and a speech from the Prime Minister. We also got a free fancy lunch out of the whole deal....yay for us!
We decided it would be fun to walk to the nearest town instead of take mototaxis. Six umuzungus walking down the road tend to draw some attention, so needless to say we had quite a crowd playing with us as we walked. Did I mention Ruhengeri is beautiful?

When we got back to Kigali that night I went over to the Guest Hhouse and had dinner with my newfound umuzungus. Yesterday we all went to the market in Remera and I bought fabric to get a traditional dress made. I also got a certain something for a certain someone who happens to have the same birthday as me...

This evening I am going with Jean-Michel and the crew to a football (soccer) match at the Amorha Stadium. It is a charity match for the One Dollar Campain, and luckily I am going to have the opportunity to see some great players at the game......
So it looks like Akagera National Park may be happening this weekend...bring on the Lions!

Mwiriwe,
-Rach

Yes, I just said hello to you in your language...so stop staring!

Mwiriwe,

I have taught my kids at Gisimba (yes Kara in Kigali) three songs:

1) The Shark Song...you know..."Baby Shark Do Do Dodododo". If you don't know which one I mean than silly you.

2) If your happy and you know it clap your hands...they already knew it in Kinyarwanda.

3) The Hokey Pokey...yes I'm for real. 

The whole school sings songs outside for about an hour in the morning, and these have been my contribution.

Today a young Women, Queen, who works at Gisimba with me, invited me to her home for lunch. We walked for about an hour to get to her small home that holds a family of 8. I could tell she had put a lot of effort in to making rice and beans for me, it was all prepared for when we arrived. Afterwards, her brother, Strong, showed me his artwork. He is about my age, and I was blown away by his work. He had a painting of two lions that took my breath away. While there, I commented on how I liked his bracelet he was wearing. When we were leaving to go back to Gisimba, he said he had a gift for me, and gave me the bracelet.

I plan to go back to Queen's home with here again next week and will give Strong a bar of Hershey's chocolate that I brought with me.

with love,

-Rach

rushing=bad spelling.

Wow, I am actually writing again on the same day. Crazy! So, my last blog was full of spelling mistakes, which was a result of me trying to write before my computer died. I am going to apologize in advance for all the spelling mistakes I may make while blogging...no time to proofread.

Yesterday I decided I would go for a run around the area where I am living. It started off as a nice, easy jaunt, but I soon "ran" into two obstacles:

1) People are not used to seeing a white girl running by herself. Or maybe it is just seeing a white girl. This lead to curious followers every so often. I felt a little bit like Forest Gump. I did not feel threatened, more just annoyed with the fact that I have no idea if they are harassing me or sincerely interested in whom I am/what I am doing.

2) Rwanda is called Land of A Thousand Hills for a reason.

Ah, silly Rachel.

I have discovered African Tea. As far as I can gather, it is Rwandan tea steeped in Milk with Ginger. The first time I had it was in Butare with Jackie and it was very good. 

Tonight I had it again...wow ginger.

-Rach

Wait..so I'm living with the Minister of Sports and Culture of Rwanda? I see.

Mwiriwe,

So I am now volunteering at an Orphanage called Gisimba. The orphanage is named after a man named Gisimba who started hiding orphans in his home during the Genocide of 1994. He is named one of the 7 heros of Rwanda. After he died, his son carried on the orphanage. It is a great place. There are over 186 children. They kids love me, I honestly have to pry children off of me when I have to leave. It is exhausting work, but very rewarding.

There is one boy, Joshua, who was left at the gate of Gisimba a year ago. It is believed that he is around 3 years old, and he is an absolute angel. The other day we kicked around a volley ball together and his aim is quit remarkable.

On Monday a group from CT came to Gisimba. Their school is funding a project to build a school and health center in a remote village outside of Kigali. They were traveling their that day, so I asked if I could join. It was a wonderful experience. We hiked into the village, which I loved, the other group members did not. When we reached the village their was a community assembly to present the project to the village. The sang to us and we blessed a house.

At one point, I casually took down my pony tail that was getting quite annoying and the whole community cheered and clapped. Oh umuzungus and their long luscious hair.

On Saturday I am going to have the once in a lifetime opportunity to attend the naming ceremony of the baby Gorillas in Ruhengeri. Oh, and JeanMichel is the MC of the event..a natioanal honor. Did I mention he is kind of a big deal? Well...he is kind of a big deal.

with love,

-Rach

p.s.- Dad, if I don't get a change to talk to you next Sunday...HAPPY FATHERS DAY! MWA!

African tea...not what I expected.

I made it to Butare safefly. We arrived around 8 last night, after a two hour bus ride from Kigali. I traveled with the usual crew of JM, Karim, Nadie, and Yannick.
Jackie was at the bus stop to meet me. She is staying in a hostel for the summer, so we were able to catch up in the quiet of our own room.
This morning we are enjoying breakfast together in town, then plan to explore for the day. They have a unique cathedral as well as a museum here, and Jackie wants to take me to the rice patties that she stumbled upon yesterday that she thinks I will enjoy.

mwiliwe,

-Rachel

Jambo!

 Finally...I am able to write. First, let me clarify: Jambo is actually greetings in Swahilli, not Kinyarwanda, but is still used here, so I am allowing myself to use it.

 I can't believe that I will have been here a week tomorrow.

So, where to start...

My journey to Rwanda took exactly 24 hours, and I was quite surprised to find that I still had enough energy to wait an extra hour for my bags to arrive in the Kigali airport. My travels were definitely made more enjoyable by the company of some fellow Africa-travelers that I met boarding my plane in JFK. Once in Belgium, I reunited with them and spent a good four hours Saturday morning eating Belgium Waffles together. Emily, Heather, and Megan, going to Guinea, and my fellow outdoor climber, J-Man who was going to Cameroon. ( I just made up J-Man to add some  hype to his character).

On the plane from Brussels to Kigali, the last 8 hours of my trip, I talked with a charming Southern Baptist from Greenville, SC. She was on her way to Uganda. Before we landed, she gave me a bracelet with a quote from my mom's favorite poem "It was then that I carried you..."

By this time I am sure that Karebear is getting annoyed that I have not talked about my actual time in Rwanda yet. Lets speed up. To recap the week that just passed:

I was, and still am very jetlaged.

It took me until Sunday night to realize that French is used frequently, but it is nearly impossible to understand.

Kinyarwanda is a very intriguing language.

Yes, it is hot.

I went to a Rwandan Wedding on Sunday, my first day here. Beautiful.

I am living with a fairly well-off family, in a fairly well-off part of Kigali: Jean-Michel, (Friend of Jean-Paul who invited me into his home) Host Mom: Justine. Twin brothers: Cedric and Eric (18 years old), and Host dad: Joseph.

My favorite food so for: Ibitoki. Green bananas cooked in a special way that makes them taste super good. Good description huh?

Jean-Michel has a lot of friends. I don't know if this is a Rwanda thing, but there are always new people with him when he comes to meet me. JM is part of an organization called "PLP: Peace and Love Proclaimers" whose members are planning the conference in July. Given that this is soon, the days for Jean-Michel and his crew are very busy.

On Monday, Yannick, one of PLP's members, took me to the Genocide Memorial Center. I am amazed that I made it through the whole museum without 1) Closing my eyes 2) Crying  3) Deciding not to go into a room for fear of seeing something I wasn't strong enough to see.

The last exhibit was a room filled with pictures of children. Under the picture it had: 1)Their name. 2) Something about their short-lived life 3)How they were killed in the Genocide.

 I lied before....I cried during this exhibit.

On Tuesday, JM and his crew brought me to Gisimba Memorial Center, where I would be volunteering, to meet and greet. On Wednesday I went back to meet the children. On Thursday I started my volunteer time. Every time I walk into the courtyard, at least 20 children run up and grab onto me. They call me "Umuzungu" which in this sense means white person. I honestly can't walk two inches without 20 children attached to me.

Tomorrow I am going to Butare with JM and the crew for the weekend. I will get to see Jackie, which I look forward too. We are also going to go to another Genocide Memorial.

I am still waiting to see Jean-Paul, he is in Uganda being the amazing man that he is.

I love you all,

-Rach

Test. Test. One. Two.

Okay, here we go I guess.

Aside from the weekly journal entries that I need to submit to the IA department, my hopes is that this blog spot will provide a space for me to keep in touch with you all, and with myself. Anna reminded me this morning how therapeutic it is to write down one's thoughts, and I am pretty sure that this journey will be one worth documenting.

Finally...I'm going to Rwanda.

-Rach