The Hills Continued

Since day one of training, we’ve had a series of lecturers and guest speakers on various topics. Some spoke on the education system in Rwanda, and some spoke about the genocide and Rwanda’s history. Last week we had someone come from a Rwandan reconciliation organization and towards the end of his lecture he emphasized the importance of our presence in Rwanda as models of unity. He went on speaking of the great unity of America and how splendid it is because it has become a melting pot of people from every corner of the world and no matter what our descendents are we are all united because we are citizens of the good ol’ USA. I thought at that moment about how all of these things were so untrue. We are almost as divided as the Rwandans were 20 years ago. Race is the biggest problem today in America, more than anywhere else in the world. I think its unfortunate that outsiders fail to notice the divisions in the “free world”.

It’s crazy to think that I’ve been here in Rwanda for what will be a month this week. It seems like so much longer.. Everyone who knows me, knows that I get sick everywhere I go. I was a little worried before coming here that I would constantly get sick and that my body wouldn’t be able to adjust, but surprisingly my health has been nothing but great, minus the unknown bug bites I’m getting all over… I have on the other hand managed to injure myself repeatedly since the beginning of PST. I’ve realized how funny these injuries sound from having to explain them so many times…cut my big toe playing ping pong, bruised my right forearm so bad, half of it is purple and the best one of all, bruised my left eye opening my bottle of Primus (beer) against the table instead of looking for a bottle opener. I’m sure there will be many more to come.

Halloween in Rwanda
This time last year…I cant remember what I did last Halloween, Probably because I haven’t ever really celebrated it since maybe sophomore year of college. This year, I had the biggest and probably one of the best Halloweens ive had and it was in Rwanda, a country where most people don’t even know about the holiday. The only reason I even participated is because I am here with my American counterparts who all are constantly craving for an opportunity to embrace any part of American culture. I don’t have anything against Halloween, I just don’t care for it much. I ended dressing up as a DJ by default, because I actually was the dj for the party, which is part of why it was such a great night. It was a real challenge to manage the requests and still get to play what I wanted, but it was nice to be able to do something most of my close counterparts from home know I enjoy…play good music.
PST has been gradually getting more and more busy, leaving me very little time for rest and really being able to have my own time except for quick beers before dinner and by 9PM all I want to do is sleep. Up until now ive never really felt stressed or pressured, but the full days of lesson planning, language classes and teaching are becoming demanding.

Someone responded to my first blog asking how the Rwandan people have accepted ME and I will attempt to answer that in these next few lines.
I think my individual experience here is far different from the rest of the group. Of course everyone has his or her personal encounters and reflections but I think my background makes me stand apart from the rest in a specific way. The first reaction from the Rwandese people of me is that I am one of them and once they see I cant speak Kinyarwanda, they still think I am one of them but that I have lived in the US for a long time. Then when I say in Kinyarwanda that I am an American and was born there, they start to believe me, but then are still doubtful. Lastly, if Im with the person long enough I explain that my parents are Ethiopian and then they stop for a second, think about it and become very interested and generally happy.