"So you are a munyarwandakazi from USA"- HC

I just discovered one of the greatest pleasures in Rwandan life. Those of you who know me well know I’m not a big fan of American sweet corn. Rwandan corn, ibigori, is a different story. My neighbor brought me corn fresh from their field this morning and I spent my morning next to my charcoal stove, eating grilled corn like a true Rwandan. Ibigori is not sweet and fresh or old, it’s basically a win-win situation. When it’s fresh, it’s so juicy that it pops and sizzles over the imbabura. If it’s old, it’s chewy and tastes like popcorn. What a perfect meal.

I was recently reminded that American spend about 10 cents to every $1 on food but for Rwandans, the fraction is certainly much higher. It’s time for a blog completely devoted to food. I am surprised I have not yet done so as it is such an important topic.

Most Rwandan families farm at least a portion of their food, like my neighbor who brought me food. She’s also a school teacher. Komera Komera. It is polite to ask someone when first meeting them, “What food do you grow?” Up here in the north, the common crops are potatoes, beans ($.50/kg), sweet potatoes, corn, tomatoes ($.50/kg), cabbage ($.05), pineapple ($.5), tea and avocado ($.05). They are everywhere you look in every direction. No land is wasted here and only the steepest land is left uncultivated. Crops are grown in small plots and combination planting (I think that’s what it’s called) like growing potatoes underneath corn is very common. Composting and the use of manure as fertilizer are not new concepts to these hardy farmers. Neither are pesticides. They are also knowledgeable about natural insecticides. This morning, Alice noticed I had an ant problem near my compost pile so she had some neighbor boys bring armfuls of some sweet-smelling plant that repels insects.

Often you’ll see a woman walking to or from the field with a baby on her back, a hoe over her shoulder and a basket on her head. Farming is their life. On my walk to school every morning, I walk through fields of corn, cabbage, sweet potatoes and beans. All varieties of farmers trek on foot or by bicycle to district centers twice a week to play vendor at the market. In my small town, the market has a decent variety of fruits, vegetables and some gems like limes and ginger, but unfortunately, most calories in the Rwandan diet come from starches like potatoes and cassava. I have the luxury of being able to consume more nutrient-rich fruits and veggies and protein-sources. My recent market purchase was:

-        20 bananas

-        Onions

-        15 tomatoes

-        Garlic

-        3 passion fruit

-        4 tree tomatoes

And I paid a whopping RWF 900 ($1.80).

When  I consider the amount of time the average Rwandan invests in food (growing, selling, cooking on a charcoal stove 3x a day) I am filled with so much admiration. They are intimate with their food in ways that would make the urban hippie/Whole Foods shopper jealous. Rwandans know where their food comes from and how it was produced. Many Americans would admire the quasi-sustainable farming patterns in Rwanda but at the same time, many Rwandans are looking to break this cycle of farming. As more and more Rwandans are educated and go to school, they gravitate towards service jobs in the city. I ask my friends and neighbors who will grow the food when more Rwandans are educated but they cannot see past the current reality: all Rwandans are farmers. They cannot see a way to change this.

If less Rwandans in this densely populated, hungry country are farming, how will they increase the food supply? Technological innovations, namely machines, cannot be the widespread solution. Machines and farming techniques used on a large scale in the US cannot be applied to this mountainous landscape, especially in the north and west. This is a problem for all the East African Community and there have been many recent summits on how to increase food supply in hilly or drought-plagued countries. This question has been plaguing me for the past two months and I hope to find some answers over the next 21 months.

In terms of food preparation, the food in Rwanda is over-cooked and bland. Spice is a luxury that is unheard of in the village. It is important to have as many dishes as possible at each meal and this is one reason why I am hesitant to feed my neighbors and colleagues. Many menu items are culturally loaded. For example, meat used to be mainly for men and only women can eat squash. From what I’ve observed, ALL Rwandans serve themselves incredible, heaping portions at lunch and dinner. Some times we joke about not being able to see someone over their “mountain” or ask them how the phone service is on the other side of the mountain. Meals are a necessary part of the day and I’m going to guess a smaller source of pleasure than in my culture. They cannot afford to take food any less seriously nor can they afford the food items that complete American meals like meat, spices, dairy, processed grains and raw vegetables.

Thank you for reading. I’m going to go eat my locally-grown bean soup (except for the cumin-thanks Mom!).

Ps. Our “spring break” starts after next week. I’ll be heading to Kigali for some good internet connection. If you wanna skype, let me know and I’ll tell you when I’ll be around. xoxo

"The best women all reside in Africa" - Tressa singing Ludacris

I wrote this a few days ago before I spent the weekend in what we call the motherland (Nyanza). I’m feeling stellar- relaxed, happy to return to site, ready for two years… Also, I maybe just drank a milkshake. Somehow. I’m climbing out of the rut I’ve been stuck in for the last two months.

Today was noteworthy. I spent a day by myself in Musanze which was so good for my little heart. I saw some frightening things, like a baby riding on the front of a motorcycle and my favorite restaurant spraying insecticide or air freshener on their buffet. I received some incredible packages and returned home to fun and games with Christine. She told me this is the happiest she’s seen me in a while… I think I’m starting to come out of my funk! Christine reminded me, “don’t ever be sad! Rwandese love you, especially Bella (5 months old).”

The other morning was noteworthy too. I arrived at school after a particularly sunny walk and met with Christine for some lesson prep. A male colleague of mine surprised me with a new morning greeting. It sounded something like “mwaria” and it meant how did you sleep? This is a loaded question for a single guy to ask a single girl. I said I slept great and he said, “really? Alone?” Christine reminded our colleague that I was not alone, I was with God. Next, my colleague Tharcille told me, “Amanda, you are very smart in the hair today.” She liked my braids. I ran off to teach some Price Elasticity of Demand and when I asked the school secretary if she had an “elastique” I could borrow, she ran all the way to town to buy the prop for my class. It was surprising and so kind; I owe her a huge favor.

The BEST part of my day was in my S5 English class. I do a “do first” exercise everyday after Tressa shared the idea with me. It’s the first thing students do when I walk into class. Today’s writing topic was, “What is your most prized possession?” which was a surprisingly popular topic. Innocent gave an answer that had the whole class laughing, especially the teacher. For some background, Innocent is a tall, skinny, sweet and goofy kid with big ears and a big smile. The first day of class, he asked me what type of guys I prefer and what I would do in Rwanda if I didn’t have a fiancée. I fear I blushed when I was forced to admit that well, I like tall, skinny guys. Anyway, today Innocent told the class, “my most prized possession is my underwear I am wearing… because they have a picture of my favorite superstar on them.” His favorite superstar is R. Kelly. Do you think R. Kelly has any idea he’s on African underwear?

This class also featured funny comments like “my most prized possession is my chunkland” and “Did you here the news?  Yes, I saw many casualties while I was washing dishes.” It was one of my best lessons, by the way. We played the game “telephone” which is not only popular but hands-down the most effective way of engaging every student in listening and speaking exercises. I do it by row so it goes fast. For another activity, I wrote 8 sentences on the board that used vocabulary from the first term. The students then had to write and perform skits in pairs using at least 3 of the somewhat random sentences. For a class of 51 students, this activity was fun, went smoothly and got everyone talking.

In teacher training, we listened to “When I’m 64” and filled in the blanks with the song lyrics. That song is so lovable. The teachers complained a little though. For some, our listening activities were too difficult and for the colleague who earlier asked me how I slept, he was anxious for us to cover the topics “friendships… and choosing a mate.” I’m not sure how to approach the latter but trial and error is how we role in the Peace Corps. We’ve been doing lots of tongue twisters in teacher training. One of my students is named NIMUSABIMANIZATWUMVA Julien. Say THAT five times fast.

PS. YAY FOR INCREASED READJUSTMENT ALLOWANCE!

Amanda Penina

"Long ago God created two beloved creatures. Adam and Even." - my student

Every night after school, I either walk to my colleague’s house for my

daily liter of milk or she delivers it on her own time. To the great

disbelief of Rwandans, I cannot drink 1 liter of milk in a day but I

enjoy the cultural routine and the visits with my colleague and her

family. They are helping my Kinyarwanda and my heart. Since it is our

first clear night in a while, the house girl pointed the flashlight at

the sky and told young Ritchie, “look, you can see God.” And he said,

“really? Where is he? Is it really him?”

Tressa spent the weekend with me at my site. It was the perfect way to

celebrate women’s day and 5 months in Rwanda. I also had my kick-off

weekly Sunday morning pancake breakfast with her and Christine. We

spent most of our time sharing our concerns, ideas for secondary

projects, cravings (currently oreos, queso and pickles) problems,

funny stories, frustrations, etc. We joked about l’s and r’s and the

upcoming presidential “erections.” We are both on exactly the same

page in terms of homesickness, adjusting, wanting to give in to

laziness and solitude all the while feeling like we’re not doing

enough. I came to Peace Corps an idealist but my idealism leaves my

head aching with feelings of helplessness and inadequacy. However,

Tressa and I seem to right on track with where we’re supposed to be

emotionally. We’re throwing our hearts into teaching in order to

ignore any negative feelings and we’re already searching for secondary

projects. I felt grounded and prepared for anything that my upcoming

week of teaching would present.

School is going really well (biragenda neza!) and amazingly, our first

term is almost over. I taught my favorite English class today and

since it is international women’s week, I wrote a short text called

“An admirable young lady” about my sister! Women’s equality was a hot

discussion topic today and I plan to devote a blog to that soon

enough. During teachers’ English training, we discussed what we are

most afraid of. I introduced the topic with my fear of spiders but my

colleagues followed with things like death, war, illness and hunger. I

have so much growing up to do. I gave my 11th grade students an

assignment called “A Series of Unfortunate Events” using phrasal verbs

and I received several stories about sexual assaults. This culture is

so complex, troubled.

On a lighter note, my male colleague asked if women menstruate in

America. I couldn’t help but giggle. My male colleagues… delights… and

tricksters. This was today’s conversation:

-So, your fiancé lives in America? But you don’t have anyone in Rwanda

like me, for example.

-Yes, that is true.

-Would you accept the idea of having an American girl marry a black man?

-Yes, I would accept the idea.

-Ah! So you accept!

-NO I said I accept the idea. I can only have one fiancé.

-Why?

-Because my fiancé and I are honest.

- But how do you KNOW he’s honest? … and so on.

I’m introducing more “task-based learning” activities in the classroom

but especially in teacher English training. It’s more fun for

everyone. Today I taught them how to make tomato soup, which was a

challenging and enjoyable lesson but at the end, the men told me, “but

we cannot make this.” I assumed they were referring to the Rwandan

belief that men cannot cook but actually, the problem was much

simpler. Rwandans cannot put milk in soup. How outrageous, milk in

soup! My colleagues are still shocked to hear that I shop at the

market and cook local food for myself. They cannot imagine what a

muzungu would eat here so I will have to cook them a meal or two. My

only hesitations are that they may not appreciate my one-pot meals and

I only have 3 forks.

I’m trying to keep my blogs short, entertaining and themed. This one

was kind of a rambler but I hope you enjoyed. Next month is genocide

commemoration month so be prepared for some light reading… Thank you

for you emails. They are so special to me.