I'm In Rwanda...

I’m currently sitting in Agahozo Shalom’s Kigali house (located in the capital city and about an hour from the village). I just sent a text message to Mara saying…I’m in Rwanda?!?!? I’ve been saying this to her ever since I arrived in Rwanda in a excited, unbelievable kind of way. It’s so hard still to believe that I’m actually here. It’s definitely a lot different from anywhere that I have ever been to before.

I want to give the highlights from the past few days. On Saturday, all the first year kids went on a picnic at a local lake. It took us 2 hours to walk there. Along the way, we walked through the local village. I got (as did the other volunteers this day and everyday that we venture out of the village) lots of stares and shouts of mazungo (white person…also translated as conquerer)…..

I began to get very tired and went to sleep here. I’m picking up the writing on the ride back to the village packed in a van with all of the teachers. In order to meet up with the van, I had to take a moto ride from the house. It was my first moto ride. I’ve been hearing lots of stories from the other volunteers about these rides on the back of the motos which are motor bike taxis. As I road down the street, the sun was rising up ahead. It was beautiful watching the sun come up for my first moto experience.

….Now I’m going to pick up where I left off from the night before. The walk was lots of fun. I walked with some of the girls that are in my family. We talked about life and we taught each other words. When we got there, Mara and I introduced some of the kids to frisbee. We’re excited to teach it at the school. Some of the kids sat around while others played cards or sports. A highlight of the picnic was going on a boat ride on the lake. I watched as the first group got in the boat and was amazed they actually made it back. The boat sat so low in the water. I also took part in the ride when it was my family’s turn. For many of the kids, this was their first time on a boat. There were many shouts of excitement throughout the entire ride. When it rains here, it pours. I experiences this on the walk back to the village.

I spent the rest of the weekend in Kigali. Mara showed me around so I have a better sense of where everything is located. We went to one of the markets. It was so overwhelming. There were many teenage boys that tried to show us around the market and find things that we needed. I even ran into some people that I met in the airport when I arrived. We exchanged numbers and I’m looking forward to hanging out with them.

Chaim Peri, the director of the village in Israel that Agahozo Shalom is modeled after, arrived from Israel and road back with us to the village. He spoke to the kids. He’s a very inspirational. He spoke to the staff about the idea that it takes a village to raise a child and took funny stories about his experiences.

I’m in Rwanda?!?!? On Monday morning, I worked in the field with the workers doing as they kept saying, cultivating the land. We were clearing some land to be able to plant more. There were many funny interactions. There are 30 workers. They tried out all their English with me. One even told me that I work just as hard as the men in a surprised way. Later in the afternoon, I asked one of the Rwandan counselors about what the workers must be thinking seeing me out in the field with them.

On Tuesday Salomon and I began collecting information to create a plan for the farm. We talked with the head of the kitchen about what and how many vegetables he buys every week. In the afternoon, I road into Kigali to meet with the man who is helping us with the chickens. The ride into Kigali was crazy and a little stressful. All the teachers packed into the van. I was to meet with the man at 6 and at 6:30 we were still dropping off the teachers. The only big frustration that I have so far is the language barrier.

This is an overview of what my days have been like. I'll write a post soon about my feelings and thoughts here.