I was going to wait awhile before updating again but I’ve received some letters and emails with questions about my situation at site and I think it’s most convenient for everyone if I answer them here.
Some of you asked me what amenities I have at site. I have to admit that my situation is pretty luxurious as far as Peace Corps Rwanda goes. I have electricity in my house most of the time which allows me to charge my phone and computer on a regular basis and to read at night without having to use a kerosene lamp or a candle. It also means I can cook with electricity if I want to and I do have a hotplate that I use for quick-cooking things like rice but I don’t like to use it too often because it ends up costing a lot if I do. I do most of my cooking on a charcoal stove called an imbabura. It’s messy and a bit of a hassle but since matches cost next to nothing and charcoal is less than two dollars for a big bag it’s by far the most cost-effective way to cook. I do not have running water in my house so I have to fetch water from the rain tankard next door. I keep my water for cooking and dishwashing in jerry cans and my water for bathing in a big bucket in my bathroom. I do not heat my bathing water. Cold bucket baths are a great way to wake up quickly and most days I wake up before sunrise so I need all the help I can get.
A few of you also asked if I have access to television or other media. The answer is yes and no. I live next door to a convent and the nuns own a television, so when I have dinner with them I get to watch one of two Rwandan TV stations. One has news and the other has music videos and that’s it. I have sporadic internet access via a thumb drive modem that uses the same network as my cell phone and I’ve been using that for email, blogging and occasionally reading the news, but it costs per amount of data sent so I can’t download or upload things very cheaply. My shortwave radio works quite well here but it only picks up local stations. Occasionally I can pick up French radio stations and very occasionally I get the BBC, but it’s almost inaudible with all the static. I do not have a way to access movies or music other than what I have on my computer. If there’s a movie theater in Kigali (I’m pretty sure there is) I have no idea where it is or what kind of movies are shown there. Chances are I’ll be two years behind in movies and music when I come back to the States, but those are fun things to catch up on so it doesn’t worry me too much.
I think someone asked me in an email about the local wildlife. Truth be told, there aren’t a lot of exciting animals at my site. Most of the more exotic faunda - monkeys, gorillas, that kind of thing - inhabit the far west and north, but I’m right in the center of the country. My neighbors own things like goats and cows and chickens and there are lots of colorful little birds and beetles but that’s about it. Oh, and there are tons of honeybees. They like to come in under my door at night and crawl into bed with me which is a little unnerving, but since they’re by far the most dangerous animal in my immediate vicinity I consider myself lucky.
Things are still going well at site, but I’m realizing I have a lot to learn yet. There’s a phrase in Kinyarwanda that people use to describe gradual progress - buhoro buhoro. It means “slowly, slowly.” So, buhoro buhoro I am getting to know my community and the people who live in it. Yesterday my colleague Anonce showed me a small village adjacent to Gihara where people make pottery. They had everything from giant clay pots for storing traditional sorghum beer to tiny ceramic gorillas to sell to tourists. We hiked to the edge of town where we could see out over a vast green valley with a river running through. She told me that some day she will take me down into the valley to see the crocodiles in the river. She also told me that sugarcane groves grow on the riverbanks and promised that she will find me some raw sugarcane so I can see what it tastes like. I told her I feel lucky to know her, which is true.
I haven’t organized an English club yet largely because I found out that another teacher has been assigned to help me but I don’t know who he is. I asked my dean of studies who gave me a physical description, so now my mission is to hang out in the teacher’s lounge until I see him. I’m kind of glad I can’t get started right away because it means I can focus on teaching and getting to know my students. I’ve been trying to learn their names but I’m having quite a lot of trouble because I have almost ninety students in total and about six of them are named Jean Claude. Another six are all named Clementine. Another dozen never say anything in class so when I run into them in town they have to remind me that I’m their teacher, which is thoroughly embarrassing. But I’ll get to know them eventually.
I’m impatient to get started on a project or several so I can start giving back to this community that has been so good to me, but whenever I start to wonder, “Why am I not organizing English classes for the nurses at the health center? Why am I not tutoring the other teachers at my school? Why haven’t I written the midterm exam yet?” I am reminded in some way or other that I’m still incredibly new to this place and that I need to take the time to find my way around. Buhoro buhoro, nzabimenya.
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