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| My English class. |
Today officially marks my one-month of being in Rwanda. And quite a
journey this has been so far (like getting sick two times!). I’ve had to adjust
to many new things; a new culture, peoples, food, schedule, weather, etc. A few
of the things that took some time and will continue to take some time getting
used to are a lack of toilet paper, cold showers, doing my laundry by hand and
sleep. Let me break it down for you:
1.
Lack of Toilet Paper: Apparently, this
is something that I’m going to need to start getting used to. I haven’t run out
of toilet paper yet but I have to ration what I have. In my house we are given
1 roll a month per person. In the dining hall there is no toilet paper to be
found. It’s pretty amazing how much toilet paper I’m used to using back at home
and how far 1 little piece goes around here. I’m getting used to it, but I fear
the day when I run out.
2.
Cold Showers: At first, I thought that
taking cold showers would be miserable. Don’t get me wrong…sometimes it is. But
I’ve learned that the key is to plan your showers around either the afternoon,
when it is hottest out, or after going on a walk, when I’m sweaty (By the way,
when I say cold shower, I mean cold shower!). It’s also important to come up
with a showering schedule. And here goes: Wet my hair and body for 5 seconds
and turn off the water. Put on shampoo. Turn on water for enough time to get
the shampoo out and immediately turn off water. Condition hair, soap body and
wash face. Turn on the water for just enough time to get all conditioner and
soap off of hair and body. Shower done! The whole process should take
approximately 4 minutes. I thought I showered quickly at home, but showering
here has proven that those 15 minutes of shower at home are pure luxury! But
now that I’ve gotten a system down, I think that this whole showering thing is
going to work out just fine.
3.
Laundry by hand: Before I tried to do my
laundry by hand, everyone around me told me to pay a woman to come to my house
and clean my laundry for me. While the option seemed quite appealing, I opted
to try the chore myself. After one load of not so clean laundry, I’ve acquired
more thoughtful techniques. Soaking my clothing in detergent and water
overnight seems to do the trick. And because the sun is so strong here, the
laundry seems to dry very quickly. After my second load, the thought went
through my mind that maybe I’ll try to do my laundry by hand back at home.
However, I’m sure that after a year of doing my laundry by hand, I won’t be so
excited by this timely chore, especially when I have easy access to a washer
and drier.
4.
Sleep: Sleep is something I’m still
struggling with. If you know me, you know that I LOVE sleeping. Because of the
light and noise, I can’t sleep past 6:30 AM on any given morning. When I try
and nap, I can only get in about 40 minutes of shuteye. I have a feeling I’m
going to have to get over my love of sleep and just embrace the tiredness. Not
liking that idea much…
Now, after a month, I think that I’m beginning to settle in more
comfortably. This week was a very easy week. On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday we
had 3 hours each of intensive English. Despite my fear of working with the
beginners level, it was pretty easy and fun. The kids took in every piece of
English we gave them and really tried to push themselves to learn. I even had
two Mamas join the class to learn themselves. Not only was it nice to see the
kids progress over only three short days, it was nice to meet more kids from
the first-year class.
One girl in particular, Yvette, I connected to strongly. Yvette is a
really sweet, smart and loving girl. I noticed her the first day because she
dressed like a tomboy (which is very uncommon here as gendered clothing is very
clearly defined) and wore a “Johnny Napp” shirt. I kept spotting her everywhere
but never got to meet her. So I was excited when I found out she was in my
class. She started out the week very shy, not speaking and rarely
participating. I figured out very quickly that she does very well when she is
called on in a silly manner and people make jokes. So in no time, she was
actively participating and giggling throughout class. Today, during our break,
as I was leaving, Yvette ran after me. Without talking she opened her notebook
and inside was a post-it note with something written on it. It read as follows
“Hello. My name is Yvette. I want to tell you that because it is very nice to
meet you and I love you. Please do not tell anyone in the Village.” I was
totally blown away! She was not only using her knowledge of greetings that I
had taught her during the week, but she was truly opening up to me. I told her
that I am happy that we are friends and hugged her. She was very happy! For the
rest of the class she kept smiling at me and giggling.
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| Me and Yvette. |
At lunch, Yvette and Noella insisted on sitting next to me. It was so
sweet to be sitting next to two incredible young women who have made such an
effort to use their English to open up and who have strongly connected to me.
Throughout the entire meal they kept giving me compliments. I forgot how
warming and motivating it can be to be surrounded by youth who truly look up to
and are inspired by you. I couldn’t help but smile the entire meal. The meal
ended with Yvette and I making up a secret handshake and her telling me her
story in broken English. She told me about her family and some pain that she
has experienced in her past. For someone who couldn’t speak a word of English
four days ago, this was really impressive! I even got a nickname from Yvette
and some of her friends, Mugwaneza, which means beautiful personality!
Only a month in the Village and already some of the girls are confiding
in me. It is such an incredible feeling to be loved by these youth that have so
much to offer. I hope that I can continue to make myself accessible. Because
I’m here for the kids and I’m nothing but ecstatic and honored to be able to
spend this year at Agahozo Shalom.
To top off the already incredible day, I got to eat lots of pasta! They
ran out of rice midway through dinner so they brought out spaghetti, and lots
of it! Since so many people know about my love for pasta, people starting
screaming my name and ran to get me some spaghetti. I think I’m fitting in here
just fine!
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