An Abundance of New Experiences

Good day to you! I am finally posting on this blog after spending a week in Rwanda. I was hoping to post something before I left to let you all know what I would be doing and prayer requests etc. However, I (being me) left everything to the last minute, so I was not able to write anything. And then when I got here, the Rwandan internet did not like blogger. Plus it was all in French which I am far from fluent in so I had a few problems getting started. BUT, here we are, and we can now begin.

So. What were my expectations coming out to Africa. Well, it is my first time on this continent I am sad to say, but I seem to be fitting in quite nicely. Not the looks side of course. I stand out like a very white thumb. But culturally, I am not having as many problems as I thought I would. Praise God! I think the parentals from the east and the west, and the growing up in Turkey has been greatly beneficial. To be quite honest, Kigali (capital city of Rwanda) reminds me of Istanbul 20 years ago. You know, before all the buildings took over the landscape and pollution set in. There are all these great little stores and shops and local family businesses, not to mention horrific driving as no traffic rules are obeyed. Its great! And the people are so wonderful! They all want to talk to you and find out who you are etc. I would say they are even friendlier than the Turks! Believe it or not... The young boys on the street also practice all their limited enlgish on you and there are quite a few people begging. I had my first public transport experience today and it was also a reminder of mini-buses and dolmuses of Istanbul in the 90s. One difference though, they have motorbike taxis. And I got to ride one home. It was, AWESOME.

I honestly did not know what I would be doing in the school here so it was a bit of a blind leap as I set out to start the lessons on Monday. Wait, back track. I got here on Thursday night and was completely shattered. Winnie (the Pastor and founder of this school and whose care I am under) told me to take Friday off and just chill. So I woke up late and then went into the town with Hazel. It was a really good way to kick things off as I was able to see the city and get a better feeling of this country. It really is a wonderful country :) So Friday I spent in town, getting money changed and getting a sim card, doing some basic shopping and seeing THE Hotel Rwanda. It was quite sobering to be honest. Hazel then took me to this craft store run by her good friend Elsie. All the crafts are made by the victims of 1994, the widows left behind. I bought WAY too much and used up my money :P But it was good to help out her business and they were great quality bags etc.

Saturday was a lazy day as Winnie and Louis and Hazel were at a wedding, so I just stayed home with Winnie’s youngest, Barnabus (Barny). Sunday I went to the Mango Tree Church. It is such a beautiful church and I LOVED being there. The worship and the fellowship is so so alive and wonderful. I met some great people and really enjoyed myself :)

Monday was the beginning of classes. School here starts at 7. 7 AM. Killer. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten up so early except for flights etc. The impression Winnie gave me was that I would be helping the kids with their English composition, by practicing writing letters etc. But when I talked to the Director of Studies, Emmanuel Asiimwe, and my co-English teacher, Eunice, Eunice showed me the text book we would be using and so I already have lessons planned out, technically. At 10:30am the kids have their morning break and breakfast is provided for them. It is African porridge, which is this WONDERFUL concoction of a bunch of different grains and its sweet and yummy and filling, perfection. So at break, Eunice showed me the lessons in the book but she didn’t make it clear that we do one page a day, she pointed out like 6 different pages. So I went to start teaching and rushed through to finish off the 6 sections, only to find out after, that I had pretty much covered the lessons for the week. Oops. So that was a bit of a fail, but luckily we have managed to pull different sections together and kill time in various ways during class.
So, this week has been good! I have actually been quite enjoying teaching, which surprised me as I never thought that I would be a good teacher. I have close to no patience and conveying knowledge to others was never a strong point for me. However, the classes have been pretty fun and getting to know the staff has been great! I have been teaching Primary 3 and 4 English and helping out in the nursery (Baby Class. How sweet is that?! One of the teachers is called Mama Peace. She is awesome, just like her name.)
So yes. Lots of things have been happening and I have had some minor freak out sessions due to insects and tiredness, stress etc., but all in all, it has been great :)

Prayer requests:
- That the teaching continues to go well and that I would be able to handle the 6 am wake up call
- That the kids would be learning something and that I would be able to bless them in some way
- That the insects and such would LEAVE ME ALONE. And that I would stay healthy.
- For the teaching and admin and cleaning/cooking etc. staff here
- For the Mango tree church and their continued steady growth

Ok. There you go :) It got long. But it has been a week. And this isn’t even HALF of it.
Blessings.