It's over. I've left. Gone. Like I said before, the time I spent in Rwanda passed with such exceptional speed many (mainly me) were shocked by how quickly it came to a close. Last saturday I was sitting in the office, working on exams as usual, chatting to Chaka, wearing a skirt and writing about that weeks ridiculous amount of incidents. Today, I'm sitting in a country house in Scotland, wrapped in a thick fleece coat, drinking coffee and listening to City&Colour. I've come to realise that flying is a rather surreal experience to me theses days. It used to be something extremely exciting, something to look forward to. I still greatly enjoy flying, don;t get me wrong, and I still get a slight jump of the heart whenever I think about getting on a plane again, but it's become such a common occurrence that I no longer realise that I've been flying but that, whoa, I'm now in a different country.
You're going to have to pardon the ridonkulous length of this next post. I've updated my "Blog Interface" and so I now have a much larger post box, which makes a lot of rambling seem like very little.
So. What were the events of the last few days in Rwanda...
Well, it was my last Sunday in Rwanda so I thought it would be best to go to Mango Tree Church to say good-bye and be a good St John’s representative. I had been to two services at Mango Tree and two at St Etienne’s during my time so far. One of the things I love the most about African services is the music. There are like 5 different choirs that come out and sing songs of praise, welcome, deliverance etc. and one of the coolest things is the piano accompaniment. These brilliant people, usually one or two piano players, have never had formal lessons and don’t have any sheet music. BUT they simply find the correct note by ear (there are a few random notes played before they find it) and then they just break out into chords and rhythms. It’s beautiful. During the service I was invited to the front to bid farewell to the congregation etc. I was quite sad to say good-bye but it was nice to do it properly. I received gifts from the church, which was so touching. They gave me something for my family and something for the church.
After the service, I needed to leave quickly to get into town. I had a lunch planned with my wonderful Rwandan family (Winnie, Louis and Barny) but unfortunately, the service stretched on a little long AND the pastor and team invited me to stay for a drink and snack. It was so very kind of them so I sat down with them for a soda, banana, some cake and peanuts. Classic Rwandan snacks :) We chatted, took some pictures… Oh yes! Another point, my camera battery died. Oops. So I had to use my phone. Anyway, around 1pm, I was running an hour late and I hadn’t even left yet (we were supposed to meet at 12). So I quickly excused myself, jumped on a motorbike and sped off to find the restaurant. I had never heard of this place and I certainly didn’t know how to get there. Neither did the motorbike dude. Needless to say I got lost. I ended up walking around, calling Winnie and, in the end, had a lovely girl lead me to the place. Thanks Olivia!
Lunch was rushed, as Louis had to catch a flight. We dropped him off at the airport, said good-bye and headed home. I spent the rest of the evening helping Winnie out with her Visa Application for her UK visit. It took about 4 hours. Yes. Four. Hours. Well, it was quite a satisfying feeling to finish it though. Hopefully it will work out for her.
Monday was mainly spent preparing for the party. When was the party set for? Monday night. A little last minute I know but it all works out in the end [spoiler alert]. I had to ask Winnie if it would be possible to use her car. Luckily, it was. So Noel (the driver) took Chaka and me to the market in Kimironko. We got so much stuff! First stop, butchers for meat. Then to the main market for potatoes, onions, tomatoes, parsley, pineapples, passion fruits, avocados and a bunch of other seasoning stuff. I like markets! They’re so much fun. All the bustling and busyness. It’s great.
We only had this one great canvas bag to use for the shopping, and we piled EVERYTHING into it. There was a nice little man who was carrying it around for us while we were at the market. He also brought it to the car, luckily, because there was about 30 kilos of stuff in there. Ok. Maybe more like 20, or 25. Anyway, it was a lot. Chaka, Noel and I headed back to the school, stopping to buy cake and drinks on the way. When we got back to the school, our giant bag of stuff had tipped over and gotten caught between the seats, squishing some of the stuff on top. Mainly, bananas. Oops. Then when the men tried to extract the bag, the flimsy canvas straps, snapped. Oh dear. They were able to get it up to the kitchen, and I did a few things around school, including taking pictures with my kids.
I went up to the room to get ready after school, as I had said 5 pm was the start of the “party”. People didn’t really start arriving till 7. Ha. That’s Africa Time :) So dinner was INCREDIBLE. The food was so good and it was so nice to see so many people there. After food they did some talks and presented gifts and I said a few words and almost cried. You know, same ol’. Some of the people I had invited didn’t make it to the main dinner, but they were on their way so I told them to come up to my “house” so I could say bye to them. I even had a surprise visit from Special! The assistant pastor at Mango Tree Church. He is so sweet.
After everyone left, I still had to pack. So I packed. ALL OF IT. Booyah. It was rather late by the time I made it to bed, but I made it. The next morning I wanted to be at school earlier so I could spend as much time there as possible. Sleeping past midnight did not make that an easy task. I got to school around 7:15, which is pretty good, and I spent most of the morning handing out gifts and letters. I went to see my P4’s and the girls had all written me cards :) They’re so sweet! I was getting A LOT of pictures as I had hardly gotten any with me in them. It was like I’d never even been there… I took presents up to Winnie’s but she wasn’t in so I hid them, meaning to tell her which ones were for whom later.
My last lunch there was my favourite meal, chapatti and meat. Oh it was good. After school, lots of picture taking and byes etc. Chaka took me to see the school accountant, Leah, who has just had a baby. It was great to see her and the family and to say goodbye. The baby was so so sweet! She was just a few weeks old, already with beautiful curls covering her head. It was so good to see them but I was now running late. We rushed back and I ran to wash my hair and finish packing. STRESS. We were meaning to leave at 5 for the airport. I wanted to go to Winnie’s though to tell her about the presents. I didn’t get a chance though as we were running so late.
We got to the airport for around 5:30. Chaka, Claire and Eunice were with me. And Winnie of course. It was so hard to say goodbye to them. They prayed for me, I started to tear up, and then I went through the doors.
What an amazing 5 weeks it had been! I wasn’t sure what to expect when I left but I certainly enjoyed every minute of my time there, except the times when I was attacked by poisonous insects. But even those times gave me something I could take away with me. I loved the people, the language, the culture, the music, the food, the crazy traffic, the bustle of the markets, everything. I really hope I will get a chance to go back. And I will continue to have this country on my heart, to pray and hope for blessing as it grows and develops.
Prayer Requests:
- For the country of Rwanda: As Political and Economic development grows, that there would be no corruption in the leaders of the country, but that everything will work out for the good of the people and the country as a whole
- For Alpha Community Academy: For the staff and pupils, as the school grows. That the children will be blessed through the teachers and that the teachers will be blessed by the students
- For Mango Tree Church and Rubona Church: For financial and spiritual support as these wonderful churches grow
- For Louis, Winnie, Iggy, David and Barny: This wonderful family is my family too. Their ministry and work in Rwanda is an example to us all, that we should follow too.
Much love.
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Saturday, 1 October 2011
Onwards, ho!
Wow. did I mention that time passes quickly? Maybe not. But I have been thinking it for about 4 weeks now. And I think everyone else that I have met here is also thinking the same thing. Ok, wait. That just sounds egotistical. My bad. But what I mean is that it seems that a lotof the people are utterly shocked when I say I've only got 3 days left here. Yup. You have read correctly. 3 days. Wow.
So. What has been happening this week? Sunday was definitely a crazy day. I’ll try and keep this one shorter as last time it got REALLY long. The last bit to add to that week was that there were two rather large cockroaches that I witnessed the deaths of. The first one was stuck on its back outside and when I walked by it I realised it was being devoured by tons of ants. You go ants! Rid this world of those creatures. The second one was chilling outside my room when I got back. One of my house mate ladies was walking by so I called her over to see it. She casually started stamping on it with her barely clad feet and then picked up its remains with her BARE HANDS. She looked at me, laughed and said, “You fear?” When I just sort of feebly nodded she swung it in my face, laughed again and walked off.
Sunday I got up pretty early. I didn’t mean to but I woke up at 6:15 with this black thing hanging directly above my head. So I though I should probably get up and get rid of it before I even tried to get more sleep. Bit of a fail, I missed it and it fell onto my bed and swiftly crawled under my sheets. Hmm. So after pulling back all my sheets, shaking them off and finding nothing, it was time to start getting ready for church. Chaka, Claire and I headed up the hill to catch a bus and stopped on our way to get some breakfast at the little boutique shop place. It was yummy :) Hard boiled eggs, chapatti wraps and ginger tea. The men were interested to see how I would handle the ginger tea as apparently it’s quite strong and even the men “cry” when they drink it. I liked it though! It was very refreshing.
Claire headed off to her church and Chaka and I ended up waiting for a bus for too long. Bit of an adventure and we got to church almost an hour late but it was all good. It was a very good service at St Ettiene’s. I headed off to Remera afterwards to meet the Baby Class worker Cathy, an English lady, and her family. I got there like an hour early so I ended up walking around this convenience store for a good 40 minutes trying not to look suspicious. Cathy and her family arrived and I went off to their house for lunch. Great family, very lively and friendly. Had a wonderful meal, pizza and apple cake with custard, and it was kind of nice to have western food for a change. I stayed at Cathy’s the whole afternoon. She took me to her kids school, KICS, which was very nice and then dropped me off in Remera to meet a friend.
I had met this girl, Becca, at bible study. She was in Rwanda for 6 months as part of her college program. We went to this evening worship service called Heart of Worship. It was great to be involved in true heartfelt worship again. Very encouraging. I ended up taking the wrong bus back but luckily got off in time. I called Louis and asked if he could give me a ride home as I wasn’t too keen on taking public back by myself when it was so late. I sort of scared them as they weren’t sure why I had to call for a ride but it was fine.
Monday I actually spent most of my day in the office, helping to type up exams. I’ve been doing a lot of office work and I can actually almost type without looking at the keyboard at all now. I’m rather proud of myself. I was planning for a trip to Butare on Wednesday to see the National Museum and the Historic King’s Palace. I figured something out with Winnie and arranged to go with Justine. There was no water that night and there was still no water Tuesday morning. Blurgh. I had an early lesson so I taught and then went to Baby Class and helped out. Porridge was amazing on Tuesday. I don’t know what they put in it but it was incredible. Did more typing in the office and then headed back to the room to talk to the parents! And my Grandma :) It was nice. They were preparing to head down to Cambridge with Andrew. Oh so weird. Evening check: Still no water.
Wednesday Morning: Still no water. I had to take a “shower” with a wet wipe. But that’s just new experiences for you. I had to be up before 6am to get to Remera for 7. Hey, guess what? Nina, the not-a-morning-person person made it :) I got breakfast from the same little boutique by the main road. I met Justine and we headed to Butare. Not any problem getting tickets or anything and I fell asleep on the bus which was good. Got to catch up on the sleep I missed. Got to Butare around 10ish and we were dropped off literally right outside the museum. Nice.
The museum was interesting but it was just Justine and I walking around reading things. We headed up to the main part of town afterwards, got some lunch (which was really yummy) and then got a bus to Nyanza to see The King’s Palace. The King’s Palace is so cool! It’s the traditional hut and layout of the compound and it was amazing. I got to see the traditional cows and there was a new born calf which was 3 days old. So cute! We had arranged with the Nyanza bus company to be picked up directly from the KP place so that was convenient. We got back to Kigali and then went to Gishushu for bible study. Lots of people that night! Got home and… THERE WAS WATER! :D Everyone rejoice!
Thursday midterms started. So I just sat in the office and kept typing. I was invited to this hang out dinner thing at a restaurant called Mama Africa. So I went in the evening. It was raining and muddy and the guy who invited me gave me a lift on his bike so I was soaked by the time I got there. But it was good fun! I met LOTS of new people as it was the birthday of one of the girls so many showed up. I got a ride back on the motorbike again and because I didn’t put my foot on the foot rest, I melted the bottom of my shoe off on the exhaust pipe. Oops. Oh well.
The next day, I had been signed up to go with the little kids (Middle Class, Top Class and Primary 1) to this children’s fun park called Bambinos. We weren’t leaving till 9 so I got to sleep in :) Whoo! Bambino’s was fun but tiring. After I got back to school, I did more typing but I had to leave around 3:30 to meet a couple called Nicholas and Elsie at 4. Elsie runs a craft store and its all made by widows of the genocide. They’re such a great family. Hazel introduced me to them when I first got here and I hadn’t seen them since so they invited me for dinner.
There was a bit of confusion while I was waiting to meet Elsie because there are too many petrol stations of the same name around that area but we finally found each other. I went with her to her Bible Study with the ladies who work in her shop. I bought a couple of things and then headed to her house for dinner. WOW they have a nice place. I met her two younger kids, Juliet and Jamie and had a great evening with them. I didn’t get home till 10pm. I went to bed and slept in this morning for the first time in awhile. I think my bed is giving me scoliosis though. It’s not exactly flat…
So, today I was hoping to go to Gisenyi with staff and friends but no one was really available so I had to cancel it. I’ve been in the office again. Typing up tests etc. I was planning on going into town to do some things but I think it’s too late now. Tomorrow is church and I have some things to do in town. Monday is my last day at school and I’m planning a small party for the teachers. Then Tuesday I’ll probably be in school for some of the time, and then I leave in the evening. It has been such an amazing time here and I am truly going to miss this country and these people. There is no doubt about it, I am coming back.
P.S. I fail at keeping these things short.
So. What has been happening this week? Sunday was definitely a crazy day. I’ll try and keep this one shorter as last time it got REALLY long. The last bit to add to that week was that there were two rather large cockroaches that I witnessed the deaths of. The first one was stuck on its back outside and when I walked by it I realised it was being devoured by tons of ants. You go ants! Rid this world of those creatures. The second one was chilling outside my room when I got back. One of my house mate ladies was walking by so I called her over to see it. She casually started stamping on it with her barely clad feet and then picked up its remains with her BARE HANDS. She looked at me, laughed and said, “You fear?” When I just sort of feebly nodded she swung it in my face, laughed again and walked off.
Sunday I got up pretty early. I didn’t mean to but I woke up at 6:15 with this black thing hanging directly above my head. So I though I should probably get up and get rid of it before I even tried to get more sleep. Bit of a fail, I missed it and it fell onto my bed and swiftly crawled under my sheets. Hmm. So after pulling back all my sheets, shaking them off and finding nothing, it was time to start getting ready for church. Chaka, Claire and I headed up the hill to catch a bus and stopped on our way to get some breakfast at the little boutique shop place. It was yummy :) Hard boiled eggs, chapatti wraps and ginger tea. The men were interested to see how I would handle the ginger tea as apparently it’s quite strong and even the men “cry” when they drink it. I liked it though! It was very refreshing.
Claire headed off to her church and Chaka and I ended up waiting for a bus for too long. Bit of an adventure and we got to church almost an hour late but it was all good. It was a very good service at St Ettiene’s. I headed off to Remera afterwards to meet the Baby Class worker Cathy, an English lady, and her family. I got there like an hour early so I ended up walking around this convenience store for a good 40 minutes trying not to look suspicious. Cathy and her family arrived and I went off to their house for lunch. Great family, very lively and friendly. Had a wonderful meal, pizza and apple cake with custard, and it was kind of nice to have western food for a change. I stayed at Cathy’s the whole afternoon. She took me to her kids school, KICS, which was very nice and then dropped me off in Remera to meet a friend.
I had met this girl, Becca, at bible study. She was in Rwanda for 6 months as part of her college program. We went to this evening worship service called Heart of Worship. It was great to be involved in true heartfelt worship again. Very encouraging. I ended up taking the wrong bus back but luckily got off in time. I called Louis and asked if he could give me a ride home as I wasn’t too keen on taking public back by myself when it was so late. I sort of scared them as they weren’t sure why I had to call for a ride but it was fine.
Monday I actually spent most of my day in the office, helping to type up exams. I’ve been doing a lot of office work and I can actually almost type without looking at the keyboard at all now. I’m rather proud of myself. I was planning for a trip to Butare on Wednesday to see the National Museum and the Historic King’s Palace. I figured something out with Winnie and arranged to go with Justine. There was no water that night and there was still no water Tuesday morning. Blurgh. I had an early lesson so I taught and then went to Baby Class and helped out. Porridge was amazing on Tuesday. I don’t know what they put in it but it was incredible. Did more typing in the office and then headed back to the room to talk to the parents! And my Grandma :) It was nice. They were preparing to head down to Cambridge with Andrew. Oh so weird. Evening check: Still no water.
Wednesday Morning: Still no water. I had to take a “shower” with a wet wipe. But that’s just new experiences for you. I had to be up before 6am to get to Remera for 7. Hey, guess what? Nina, the not-a-morning-person person made it :) I got breakfast from the same little boutique by the main road. I met Justine and we headed to Butare. Not any problem getting tickets or anything and I fell asleep on the bus which was good. Got to catch up on the sleep I missed. Got to Butare around 10ish and we were dropped off literally right outside the museum. Nice.
The museum was interesting but it was just Justine and I walking around reading things. We headed up to the main part of town afterwards, got some lunch (which was really yummy) and then got a bus to Nyanza to see The King’s Palace. The King’s Palace is so cool! It’s the traditional hut and layout of the compound and it was amazing. I got to see the traditional cows and there was a new born calf which was 3 days old. So cute! We had arranged with the Nyanza bus company to be picked up directly from the KP place so that was convenient. We got back to Kigali and then went to Gishushu for bible study. Lots of people that night! Got home and… THERE WAS WATER! :D Everyone rejoice!
Thursday midterms started. So I just sat in the office and kept typing. I was invited to this hang out dinner thing at a restaurant called Mama Africa. So I went in the evening. It was raining and muddy and the guy who invited me gave me a lift on his bike so I was soaked by the time I got there. But it was good fun! I met LOTS of new people as it was the birthday of one of the girls so many showed up. I got a ride back on the motorbike again and because I didn’t put my foot on the foot rest, I melted the bottom of my shoe off on the exhaust pipe. Oops. Oh well.
The next day, I had been signed up to go with the little kids (Middle Class, Top Class and Primary 1) to this children’s fun park called Bambinos. We weren’t leaving till 9 so I got to sleep in :) Whoo! Bambino’s was fun but tiring. After I got back to school, I did more typing but I had to leave around 3:30 to meet a couple called Nicholas and Elsie at 4. Elsie runs a craft store and its all made by widows of the genocide. They’re such a great family. Hazel introduced me to them when I first got here and I hadn’t seen them since so they invited me for dinner.
There was a bit of confusion while I was waiting to meet Elsie because there are too many petrol stations of the same name around that area but we finally found each other. I went with her to her Bible Study with the ladies who work in her shop. I bought a couple of things and then headed to her house for dinner. WOW they have a nice place. I met her two younger kids, Juliet and Jamie and had a great evening with them. I didn’t get home till 10pm. I went to bed and slept in this morning for the first time in awhile. I think my bed is giving me scoliosis though. It’s not exactly flat…
So, today I was hoping to go to Gisenyi with staff and friends but no one was really available so I had to cancel it. I’ve been in the office again. Typing up tests etc. I was planning on going into town to do some things but I think it’s too late now. Tomorrow is church and I have some things to do in town. Monday is my last day at school and I’m planning a small party for the teachers. Then Tuesday I’ll probably be in school for some of the time, and then I leave in the evening. It has been such an amazing time here and I am truly going to miss this country and these people. There is no doubt about it, I am coming back.
P.S. I fail at keeping these things short.