This last week and a half since I’ve
written can pretty easily be summed up as me beginning to grow into my life
here, although it has meant coming to terms with some things as well. Here are
a few similarities and differences to give you a sense:
Differences
·
Main method of transport
= walking; also many moto taxis (expensive by local standards though) and buses
(think 15-passenger vans with 20 people) – I often appreciate the time to
think and see new things, though the hills and slight altitude sometimes get
the best of me and my backpack with my heavy laptop!
·
Timing/scheduling is loose
– it is always a surprise to see how things work here at work regarding
schedules and times for things…the general rule seems to be that timing is
flexible. Ex. English class starts at 1:30pm but usually it’s closer to 2pm
and occasionally after. This is allowed, of course, because we aren’t a real
school and there is only 1 group of students and 1-2 subjects each
morning/afternoon. Once, though, I found class already in session at 1:35pm
when I arrived! Oops!
·
Indirect conversations – People
rarely directly say they want/need or don’t want anything, they make statements
and hope/assume the other person understands what they mean. (This is a
challenge for me; I’m used to being more clear and upfront about things!) ex.
A visitor at my home asks if I like bananas. I say “Yes” so he passes me the
plate of bananas and expects me to eat one. I figured he meant in general!
·
Walking out of the room
to answer your cell phone during class, a meeting, etc. is acceptable/normal
(not for students but adults)
Similarities
·
Sharing food – many fun
moments at work this past week or so…I’m being a good Mennonite and enjoying
sharing food with my coworkers! (one story to follow)
·
Community – playing
sports, laughing, sharing stories, prayer and worship (these all transcend
language and culture more than I can say and make me happy in small ways
everyday!)
·
English – there are a
surprising number of people who speak English here. I hardly have the occasion
to speak French (many who know French also know English and prefer to
practice/improve their English) so I’m pretty lucky that I don’t have to work
very hard to have basic conversations with people – I just have to make sure I
don’t speak as quickly as is my custom!!
·
Visiting friends is
practiced and enjoyed - This week Janelle and Yolanda (two young women with MCC
in Burundi) came to visit us MCCers in Kigali so we had a good time shopping, going
to a soccer game, splurging on meals out, swapping host family stories, and
talking in really fast English! Also, we had an art party at Ruth and Krystan’s
where everyone (including myself, somehow!) brought a piece of art related to
the theme: “grow”.
One overarching realization: I am an
outsider. Honestly I think I was (am?) hoping this weren’t the case! As much as
I can have meaningful conversations with people, share stories and laugh, I
will never be Rwandese! It can be good, though, since I can look from a new
angle, learn new things and have helpful exchanges with people here. I am reminded
of that as I venture downtown and get many people trying to sell me things at
once, or young men try to take my photo as I’m walking down the street. Grr.
At the same time, I am so blessed by
the people and life here. I am learning to stop and notice things, greet
everyone and ask how they are doing, not get frustrated when things don’t go
according to plan, and always keep God in the picture. I enjoy trying to live
and look at life differently, although my two highlights of the past week were
times that reminded me of life in the US.
#1. Ultimate Frisbee!!!!!! Thanks to the "Kigali life" internet group, I found out there are people who play
Ultimate Frisbee at a ‘sport club’ (i.e. place that has a pool, tennis courts
and a soccer field that you can pay a small fee to use…there aren’t any parks or free
public places for sports, aside from an occasional soccer field at a school).
So I went last Sunday and found a bunch of Rwandese young men, a few Rwandese young women, and a couple Americans and entered into one of the fastest games of
Ultimate Frisbee I’ve played recently! I am looking forward to the exercise and
a familiar sport – and possibly making some new friends.
#2. Sharing food! So one day last week
Jonas (director of Mwana Nshuti, and the one who has a desk abutting mine)
mentioned he hadn’t been home for lunch. Since it was probably 3pm, I figured
he was hungry so I offered him some of the peanuts and raisins I had in a Ziploc
bag in my desk. He seemed highly confused about the raisins so I yelled across
the room to Cecile to see if she knew what raisins were. She responded, “I love
raisins!” I promptly got up and brought her the bag of peanuts and raisins and
told her to take some. She was so happy! (Raisins are a bit pricey and only
available at “supermarkets”, where many Rwandese people probably don’t shop
much/ever) Jonas proceeded to eat some more raisins and invite the others who
were at work but not in the room to come try our food. I was certainly not
expecting such a response and chain of events when I offered the food – it was
so fun!!
This week I’m looking forward to
resuming language study (for various reasons we haven’t studied for 2 weeks),
celebrating some happy version of Halloween in English class, and hearing
Cecile preach at church on Sunday. We also have an MCC retreat from Nov 1-6
which I am really looking forward to! I’d appreciate your prayers for me to
know how to be helpful to the people I am living and working with, continuing
to develop my understanding of the language and culture, and knowing how to respond
to (or accept?) the struggles and unmet needs of individuals and even
large-scale things here. Friends Peace House is operating on a very small
budget since their donations and funding has been cut over the past few years,
so it is a struggle to know what will happen in the next year for this
organization.
I am happy, healthy and learning many
new things everyday…and I hope you are too!
Blessings!!
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