Lessons on How to Eat Bread

As much as I enjoy being around everyone in the village, it's very important for me to have friends outside of the village. Kigali is an hour away...I do have friends there but it's far and I can only get there about 2 times a month. Rubona is the closest village with place to buy things. It reminds me of a South Georgia flea market with no paved roads and bicycles instead of cars. On Tuesday and Friday center of Rubona is bustling with people buying goods at the market and the other days it looks like a ghost town expect for the bike shop and local bar where you're always sure to find people. It's hard to describe...it's like no place I've ever seenbefore. I'm going to take pictures and give a tour of Rubona. I have come to love the little village.

We had a sick mother cow on the farm because she had a hard labor. There was a vet that came to check on her. One day the vet brought someone that was learning to be a vet. He's just a year older than me and we became friends. He was one of the only English speakers and helped to fill me in on what was happening with the cow. I enjoyed speaking with him and we made plans for me to visit him at his home in Rubona.

Last weekend I visited him and I really enjoyed meeting his family. There house is behind the market and next to the bicycle parking lot. He lives with his aunt, uncle, and their family of 4 children. There's also another boy that lives with them who is 21 and speaks english very well. He told me that his family is very poor and came to live with this family because the mother love Jesus. This was his words and I found it funny the way that he said it. I think it's wonderful how giving this family is to him. I stayed at there home for a few hours and enjoyed speaking with them. I even got delicious bread and fanta. It was so awkward when they brought out the bread. 3 pieces of bread were brought out and 1 fork. I took a piece of bread and then the mama through tranlation asked why I didn't wash my hands. I didn't know what to say or do...I finally said that I had washed them at home. Everyone else was using their hands, why couldn't I? The father came in a little later and I learned that he's a farmer and grows many things. When I heard this through translation, I said oh that's cool, he's a farmer just like me! I think they were very surprised and laughed. We decided that we'd visit each others farm. They asked about computers and wondered if I would teach them, we made plans to have a lesson the next weekend.

I arrived at their home on Saturday for a computer lesson...how do you teach computers to someone who has never used one? We started with the basics on turning it off and on. I'm a tough teacher and even gave them homework. They have to study the different keys, where they are located, and their function. I realized after that I would even have a problem with this assignment. I was even given the delicious bread again and banana juice (it was my first time having it...and it was tasty!) After the week before, I was not sure how to eat the bread. The mama finally brought out a small bag that I was to use as a glove to eat the bread. Out of the 2 other people, one used his hands and the other used a fork. The different ways to eat the bread made me laugh.

I really enjoy my time with the family and look forward to seeing them again soon! I have many families in Rwanda...that's one of the wonderful things about this country, you always have family around. At school I studied child and family development and one of my classes was on families. In the class we tried to define what a family is and I think this country is making me redefine what is family.