Beans Blowin' in the Wind

It’s been awhile since I have posted. Life’s busy here and full of excitement. For the past week, we haven’t had electricity from 8am-5pm which makes working on the computer a challenge.

My mornings begin around 6:20 and I’m at the farm at 6:45. I never know what each day might have in store for me. Sometimes I spend most of the day on the farm while other days I’m in meetings, preparing for the arrival of 350 chicks, or working on the computer to keep everything on the farm organized. Salomon and I are working on having the farm act as a business. We are going to “sell” produce to the village’s kitchen (no money will actually be exchanged) so that we can see how much we are producing. I like the flexibility of my days. In the evenings, I try to spend time with my family. My days feel like camp days…with each day feeling like a week and a week feeling like a day.

I’m learning so much here…both skills and dos and don’ts of Rwanda. I just learned that in Rwandan culture shoes don’t go on the carpet…this was after many times of walking on the carpet. Also, do not ask someone how many cows they own. This is the equivalent of asking someone how much money that they make and seen as rude.

Some of my favorite interactions on the farm are with the 5 females that work on the farm. Sometimes I wish that I knew what they were thinking. They enjoying laughing at me or better than that, laughing with me. They are teaching me so many skills. I learned the process of getting the beans ready. First you harvest the beans, you then lay them out in the sun to dry, after that you pile them up and beat them with a stick (my hand is covered with blisters from this step), and the last step (and my favorite part) is separating the beans from the dirt and left over dry plant pieces. The girls taught me how to separate. You put the mix in a basket and hold it with your hands at belt level. With your feet together and a flick of the wrist the beans go up in the air. The wind lifts the dirt and residue away. I’m so glad that they’re patient with me. I spent hours this week doing this…and it’s the best workout…maybe I’ll make a video…Get in Shape, Become a Farmer! I see it as the next craze in the states!

On Friday, I began to teach English to the farm workers. There were able 25 people. It was very nerve racking…for those of you who know me well, know my own difficulties with English. (My sister was proofreading my application for this position and called me up. She asked about my English abilities. I asked her why. Apparently on the application, I marked my English ability as poor. She thought it was a joke to see if she actually read it.) I wish there was another English speaker there not just for the help but to have a good laugh after my class. I have various levels from knowing nothing to able to understand most everything that I say. At the end of the class I asked if anyone has any questions. I don’t think they understood. I was asking if there were any English questions but they thought questions in general. I began to get questions about money and time on the farm. I decided to have a time for English and a time for a farm meeting.

The weekend was spent in Kigali and it was lots of fun! I’m really enjoying meeting people. All the foreigners that I meet here are all doing such cool and fascinating things. On the plane I made this incredible woman who has been living in Rwanda for over a year and teaches how to teach English. She has traveled the world and wrote a few books. In the airport she introduced me to people that she works with. I met up with them this past weekend and I’m excited for friends outside the village. They took me to a bar that a Rwandan friend owns. We were the only foreigners there. The area that it’s in is very lively and happening place late at night. Mara and I met this guy who’s a dentist and is starting clinics in Rwanda. We had a great conversation with him and he might even build one of his clinics by the village! Mara and I played an ultimate frisbee game at the local sports complex with some Rwandan teenagers…the game was great and encourages us to start a teen at the village.

Tu bishv’at (the b-day of trees) was this weekend. We had some kids over on Friday night to celebrate with us. I got to eat a new tree fruit…jackfruit! It’s so slimy and delicious!