ladies, are you seeing me?

“Ladies are you seeing me?

Are you seeing what I’m having?

Now comment.”

Much has happened since my last blogtown, including some pretty funny English lines. They include the conversation above that Tressa and I had with a street vendor and these other gems:

“Those ladies are saying that you are somehow beautiful.”

“Is it the rainy season right now?” “Not, not.”

“Hey haw are you to day? With me am ok. I look you in television news see you good night.” (that was a text)

“You are welcome!” (as a welcome greeting. We get this daily. Drives me nuts.)

“Oh, how did you find the Indian restaurant?” (This one I said when I meant to say ‘how was the Indian restaurant?’ but adopted the Rwandan expression.)

“Yes, somehow they are liking cheese in Mukamira.”

"There are no mostiquos." (this is what Rwandans called mosquitoes. It's a mix of english and french)

I don’t mean to pick fun at anyone, this is the kind of stuff that makes my day every day.

We were sworn-in as Peace Corps Volunteers last weekend at the embassy. It was a nice ceremony with speeches in English, Kinya and French. My favorite part was when the ambassador asked all the old PCVs to stand up and about 1/3 of the crowd stood. My second favorite part was the cake. My third favorite part was seeing my friends and I all choked-up after we gave the oath. My fourth favorite part was probably when the ambassador warned that our good, warm work in Rwanda was going to raise the average global temperature above global warming predictions. Oh Copenhagen.

Fifth favorite moment was being on national television. Ikanzu keza!

Tressa and I took the chance to visit her site last week. We saw four gigantic volcanoes. My first ever! I was so happy. The north is spectacular, high in elevation and cool. I’m just tickled about my site placement. We’re back at our training site, on our own now and cooking up a storm. After a holly, jolly Christmas (I’m making eggnog!) we’ll be shipped off to our sites with our trunks packed with household goodies from Kigali. Want to know what treasures I have in mine? Dried coconut milk, lentils and spices galore. Olive oil.  A gas stove. Life is comfy.

1. Tressa and the boyz

2. Lindsay and Penny. CO represent!

3. Award-winning Rwandan traditional dancers.

4. Alright, just check out Felicien's smile. And his short tie.

 

pictures

Burera District

Blogtown
It doesn’t get much better than…
1. Hanging out with my host mom
2. Fajitas and queso
3. A sleepover with Tressa
4. Phone call from LIZA, SAM AND ROWAN!
5. Language class with Valens
6. Learning the verb “to lie and your back (and look at the sky)”, kugarama
7. Fanta before lunch
8. Pasta and peas for lunch
9. LEARNING MY SITE!!!!!!!!

After language class, we stormed the basketball court outside the center and one by one, went to stand in our newly-announced site placements on a huge chalk map of Rwanda. I am going to the Burera district up north and could not be happier. I’m teaching at a secondary school in the district. Regional market, too.What’s more, I’m next to beautiful lakes, Mount Kabuye, volcanoes and gorillas. And I’m near Tressa, Nicole and other wonderfuls. I know, you wish you could be so lucky. We are so incredibly fortunate to have stunning sites along Lake Kivu, near the volcanoes, in the forests of the south… Everyday is a privilege in Posh Corps, Rwanda.

We’ll learn more about our sites on Monday (electricity, specific teaching requests, compound or house) and then will be sworn in next Saturday at the ambassador’s house. Just thrilled. I wish I could express my excitement in Kinya but the language is adjective-challenged, so all I can say is “ndishimye cyane PE!” I’m very happy.

Before I close, I want to try to vocalize some thoughts on happiness and solitude, my constant companions in Rwanda. I normally write emails, blogs and letters when I am either extreme but the reality is somewhere in the middle. Every day I have my struggles and some days they are much bigger than others. Irregardless, everyday they are much smaller than the struggles on my Rwandan neighbors. About once a week, I wake up committed to having an awful day. Days like today, I run everywhere because I’m too excited to walk. What makes me happy somedays, like speaking Kinya with my favorite tailor, is a chore the next. Teaching, which is the biggest and also most unexpected source of my happiness here, can be so draining. (And Zak, you ask about the 2 year commitment?) The openness of our two year commitment is daunting and motivating. Suffering keeps coming up in my readings (oh Shantaram) and conversations. I am not suffering, especially in comparison to some of my fellow Rwandans, but I learn, struggle and grow everyday from the intense guilt I feel about being a muzungu.
Thank you for reading. Love love. Come visit my new home and see my garden, rabbit, colleagues and neighboring gorillas.