Spaghetti in Rwanda?

     Finally the internet is being friendly and letting me update you on my week of seminar. Phew! So far the seminar has been really interesting. A few topics we've talked about are Rwandan history, Rwandan culture, the ASYV history, mission and philosophy, how to approach different scenarios with kids and how to be a role model. Beyond the content, what's really interesting is seeing how Rwandan culture really operates.
Even though i've been playing games on my iTouch the whole time (maybe I am ADD) the seminar has been really informative.    
     The seminar has been with the long-term volunteers, new Mamas and some returning counselors. The seminar is done in both English and Kinyarwanda. I've met some key people who will hopefully help clarify my role  in the Village. The most moving point in the seminar so far has been when Wilton, the Director of Formal Education, explained that not only will the incoming students have the chance to engage in tikkun halev (repairing the heart) but also the Mamas, most of which are survivors of the genocide. It was really powerful to watch Wilton explain the importance and power of the Village in conjunction with watching these strong survivors of genocide take in this message. It's really beautiful to think about people filled with love and hope helping to pass the message on to children with broken lives. I can't wait to see this in action!
     On a separate note, today for lunch we had spaghetti! I was so excited! Normally a meal is just beans, rice and potatoes but today we had a feast: cabbage salad, green beans, sweet potatoes, spaghetti and beans/eggplant stew and of course bananas. Delicious! I could do that all day, but apparently a meal like that only comes once a week.
     Tonight all of the volunteers are going to get together to hang out. We decided that every Wednesday we'd spend time together. I'm looking forward to it. It's about time I made some strong connections here and had a really supportive network. I can't even remember the last time I had to start totally anew. It'd definitely been a challenge for me to adjust to a new lifestyle, culture, peoples and language in addition to not having a strong support by my side. I know it takes time though...
     But enough about me, tell me about your lives!