I know many of you have been asking me to start a blog. It's funny. Even though I was a journalism major, I never had the slightest desire to start a blog. I guess that was partly because I didn't have anything too interesting to say and partly because, when you're a journalism major, a blog feels a little like an extra homework assignment. However, now that I am so far away, I wanted to have a site where my friends and family can go to see what I am up to. Also, I want everyone who was generous enough to donate to know what I am doing thanks to their donations.
I guess I can just start at the beginning. The flights went pretty well. My last American meal was Wendy's from the airport. A toddler screamed off and on throughout our entire flight from D.C. to Ethiopia. Our plane stopped in Rome and then finally landed in Ethiopia. We saw the sun set, rise, and set again all in one airplane.
We had a long layover in Ethiopia. Kyle and I met a Sudanese woman in the airport and we all ate dinner together. While at our gate, we met two Americans who have been living in Rwanda. They were very nice and we are going to meet up with them for dinner soon.
Our flight was about an hour and a half late, but any time Kyle or I tried to ask one of the flight attendants if our flight was delayed (and for how much longer) they would say "No. Is on time. Not delayed" even though it was already 40 minutes after we were supposed to board. That's Africa time for you!
From Ethiopia, Kyle and I and most of the other passengers were under the impression that we were going to Rwanda. Not so! We stopped in Uganda where we stayed on the plane but our luggage did not.
After finally arriving in Rwanda at 2 in the morning, we discovered that no one's luggage was there. All of our bags were taken off in Uganda. We stayed until about 3:15 signing up our names and information so we could get our bags back. We got them back a day later, thankfully.
Finally, we were taken to Centre des Jeunes where we will be living for the next year of our life. Although extremely modest by American standards, everyone keeps telling me that I got the very best bedroom. I will post pictures soon. There was already a mosquito net in my room (Malaria is a problem in this area). Also, a lizard lives in my shower. I can see clearly how many graces God has given me because we have lizards at my house in Texas and I always flip out if I see one outside. With this little guy, I was able to stay calm, but after repeatedly trying and failing to remove him, I "decided" by default to let him stay. I want to name him but haven't thought too much about names. Let me know any suggestions.
I began going to classes to meet my students the next day. They all just kept staring at me. In my first class, I experienced the first of what would happen many times throughout my first week. One of the little girls tried to sneakily stroke my leg while I wasn't looking. I could not figure out what she was doing. Finally it dawned on me: I'm white! I am so strange looking to her. She wanted to see what my skin felt like. I asked her if she wanted to touch my skin again and offered my arm. About 10 kids jumped at the opportunity to touch and pinch my arm. The kids always pinch my skin if they can touch it. I think they like to see how it changes colors when pinched or want to test the elasticity? I'm not totally sure why they do that.
I absolutely love the kids. They are so warm, beautiful, funny, and charming. Yesterday two little boys came over to our back porch and played checkers and Uno with us for a few hours. They cheat worse than I do! Finally one of them took pity on me and showed me how to cheat their way. After that I won two games in a row.
The kids' clothing is very dirty and sometimes falling apart. I took about 2 hours yesterday to sew up the pants of one of the Uno playing boys. His pants were ripped straight down the leg seams. I had to sew up almost the whole length of the leg. He was so excited for his "new" pants. The other boy had all mismatched and missing buttons on his shirt. Many of the kids only have one or two shirts. I had some extra buttons and they were the same as some of the ones he had, so I offered to match all the buttons and he was so excited!
The animals around our site are pretty interesting. Today a loose cow walked beside me for a while as I walked to teach class. I also saw some animals in the distance and asked one of the missionaries if those were stray dogs. He told me that they weren't dogs, but were stray goats!
My French skills are actually improving very quickly. It seems that when faced with not talking much or speaking a language I don't know, I do the latter. It helps that Rwandans speak a sort of broken French. I am an expert in not speaking French properly, so that really helps. However, quite often when I am trying to say something, no one has any idea what I'm saying. I'm getting used to the confused facial expressions.
Being a white(ish) woman in Rwanda can cause some interesting situations. Wherever I go, people stop and stare. Every single day at least 30 people cannot stop themselves from yelling out "Mzungu" at me! Mzungu is a kind of a rude, but playful word in Kinyarwandan for "white person." So here is my blog. The country of Rwanda through a Mzungu's eyes.
I will try to update often, but I can't make any guarantees on how often. Please keep me in your prayers.
Mary Help of Christians, Pray for us!
