This week has been nice because my home here has begun to feel like home! Certainly I miss many people and things from Chicago and Pennsylvania, but walking the road to and from language study or Ruth and Krystan’s house and my home now feels quite natural. Thus I would describe this past week as a week of “Yes I can!”…there are many things I am now able to do, and sometimes I have been able to show people here that, since I live here now, I can do the same things they do. It’s been rewarding, entertaining and possibly enlightening to everyone involved!

What things have I done, you might ask?

·         Dishes and laundry at my home

·         Formulate many simple phrases, sentences and questions in Kinyarwanda beyond just the basic greetings

·         Walk home alone in the evening after it’s dark

·         Participate in umuganda – a communal “work day” one Saturday each month (see following photos)

laundry day! (handwashing isn't really that bad!!)

Simparinka, my host father, on the way to umuganda. It's a "bring your own tools" kind of event, and he learned the word "shovel" out of it :)

Making cement for the school. At first I helped carry water in jerrycans with the other women.

Make a line! They moved cinderblocks from a pile to the building. When I wanted to join in the fun the line was no longer in existence so I carried the cinderblock on my shoulder. It certainly turned some heads and drew many comments when the mzungu walked the path with a cinderblock! (After 3 I was tired, though, so I had to stop!)

Some highlights of my week (aka God sightings) have been:

1.    Going up to Mwana Nshuti to Augustin’s English class- the girls are so sweet and we had some good laughs and interactions together

2.    Visiting the Mother Teresa orphanage and getting huge smiles from the young children as I hugged them and spun them around

3.    Seeing my host mother’s face when she walked in and discovered me doing the big pile of dishes

4.    Having some good conversations with my host father about what we dream for our future, what we see as important, young people and church today, etc.

There are so many more things that I could write about but I will leave you with that. Thanks for reading and praying…this week I’d just ask for prayers for continuing to build relationships with my host family and others here and a productive final week of intensive language learning and orientation in Kigali (work starts next week!).

Umunsi mwiza! Have a good day!

A Snapshot of My Life

Hello! Greetings from Kigali! 

My life right now is quite simple and uncharacteristically un-busy. Normally I have many things to do and can't remember the last time I didn't have a calendar with a schedule written out! haha...I don't know if I will have one all year (and I will be a teacher!)...planning ahead isn't "African." It seems I will be adjusting to a quieter life; many times I have already had to tell myself it's okay not to be doing anything more than sitting and reading or watching TV with my host family.

Not too much new or exciting has happened this past week, so I will write about a few things that occupy my time/thoughts more than others and then leave you with a few photos!

1. Celebrity Status

I think now I realize why celebrities are escorted door-to-door and have security guards with them. My walk to and from where I live, especially at lunchtime when all the children are outside, makes me feel a bit like a celebrity (and sometimes the Pied Piper!!). First one observant child cries out "Mzungu! Mzungu!" Then, quickly, they all come running, extending their hands to me. Many greet me in English, since in school they learn English...although often this means I get "Good morning (teacher)" even in the afternoon! Some bold children try a fancy handshake done among friends, others a hug, and a few timid ones change their mind halfway through once I get close to them and back away slowly. Sometimes this attention bothers me, but often it makes me laugh. Certainly I get to practice my Kinyarwanda greetings and "witwande?" (What's your name?) 

I hope one day to teach all the children in my neighborhood my name, shock people with my Kinyarwanda, and possibly not be seen as an outsider in this place. Who knows...one day, perhaps!

2. Kinyarwanda learning

Even to someone who loves learning a new language and trying to discover patterns and rules (ME!), Kinyarwanda poses some challenges. I have learned many things in just one week of language learning, but the more I learn, the more I realize how confusing and different this language is! All I can say is, there are 10 classes of nouns and the class of the noun you use determines the prefix for the verb, possessive, and adjective. So that's 2-6 verb prefixes, 2 possessive prefixes and 2 adjective prefixes per class...times 10 classes (plus probably more for other tenses than the present, negation, etc...we haven't gotten that far yet!). It's a good challenge for me and my memorizing capabilities! 

Me, Gaudence, Simparinka (Augustin), and Vestine outside our home

The road near to my home - bumpy by car, slippery/muddy when it rains . Most houses have these walls around them, although some people have really small houses without walls who are obviously quite poor.

A view of downtown from the genocide museum. There are a few tall buildings, some under construction.
(The genocide museum was slightly difficult for me, since it is always overwhelming to
see/read/hear about and now I am in the city where so many atrocities happened. I hope I will
be able to process it and possibly discuss it with people more in the coming weeks.)

Need any fruits, veggies, beans or flour? Come here to the Kimorongo Market in Kigali! The one by my house is much smaller than this one so we took an expedition to this one to see the selection of shoes, clothes, fabric, "traditional" souvenirs, kitchenware, food, etc. I was impressed and not too overwhelmed, it was great!

Umm...mattress delivery?? There are some random  loads carried on the roads here
but this is one of the most surprising ones I've seen!!

It's probably hard for everyone who moves to a new place and doesn't really know anyone. It's basically the first time for me (aside from college), and to top it off I'm in a new culture. However, Ruth and Krystan have been great at taking us places (numerous delicious places to eat, a pool, the genocide museum) and introducing us to people. Other highlights have been a Bible study, an evening of music, and going up to Mwana Nshuti to play soccer with the girls. Communication was difficult, but I was able to use 2 words a lot ("hano" - here, i.e. pass me the ball!, and "yego" - yes, used for any good thing our team did). And tomorrow I will have no lack of socializing since my host family will be hosting a graduation party for my host mother's younger brother who just graduated from university. African party #1...here I come!!

Thanks for reading! I appreciate your comments, emails and prayers. If you have questions or things you want to hear more about, please ask!

my new home!!

Driving into/around Kigali revealed a beautiful, organized, relatively “modern” (Western) looking city. This, I will admit, made me feel comfortable since it somewhat familiar looking, although there is a part of me that enjoyed the simplicity and laid-back life in the village of Burkina Faso. Since my home is off one of the big roads, down a bumpy dirt road where no whites live so I am expecting to get a full experience of life in Africa (more specifically, Kicukiro).

-highlights:

• ·         meeting my host family! (they have already hosted Americans)
• ·         conversations (in French!) with Felix about cultural practices of dating, marriage, etc.
• ·         spending time with Ruth and Krystan (MCC workers in Kigali, 10-15 minutes from my house) and their adorable 13-month old daughter, Misha, who smiles and laughs 80% of the day!
• ·         Mwana Nshuti visit #1 (that’s where I’ll be working!)
• ·         not getting lost on my first solo adventure in town (and getting ice cream at Bourbon Coffee)
• ·         being able to have a very basic conversation and form a few sentences after just one morning of Kinyarwanda lessons (thank goodness we have 3 weeks of practice, because this language looks complicated! I am definitely excited about trying to learn it, though, since my students only speak Kinyarwanda)
• ·         making a friendship bracelet with my host sister, Vestine (age 23)

-challenges:

• ·         adjusting to my status here and my assumed “power” (needing to politely let my host family know they can go to bed at 9pm by making up an excuse to go to my bedroom…otherwise we’d probably sit there until midnight if I didn’t leave; being asked to make a speech in a room of adults when I don’t even know what is going on; strangers staring at me and children coming up shyly and wanting to shake my hand)
• ·         free time (I have more down time than I know what to do with! I’m used to being busy, and now I don’t know the city or have people to go visit yet…)
• ·         Thinking about teaching since I don’t speak Kinyarwanda and figuring out scheduling with the part-time English teacher, Augustin (no idea how we’ll approach this whole teaching thing yet…)
• ·         Wondering who my friends will be…

-other musings:

• ·         “God knows all languages” – this is what the Coordinator of Friends Peace House said before he prayed and I liked it!
• ·         Kigali is an interesting mix of “poverty” and “privilege” (for lack of better words). For example, my house looks very nice but there is no running water inside (just a sink outside). There are probably other examples of this and I will maybe do a better job explaining it later… I guess it comes down to cultures having different priorities/necessities. 

fancy dinner on my first night in Kigali at Bourbon Coffee (chicken sandwich and ice cream!) - people pictured are (L-R) Felix (Burundian MCC worker), Janelle, Krystan, Misha (baby), Ruth, Paul (MCCer in Buja)

The girls at Mwana Nshuti (the morning group) - my future students!

My home!

Overall, I am doing well. The adjusting/learning process is underway and I have 3 weeks of language study and continued Kigali orientation before work officially starts. Thanks for your prayers, emails and comments!

-Bethany

P.S. I have a mailing address now and can easily (and cheaply!) receive mail and packages.

Bethany Blackwood
BP 4678 
Kigali, 
RWANDA