I started out as a freshly graduated university student. I had never had a ‘real’ job before. Note: I don’t count being GS camp counselor, class grader, or lab researcher a ‘real’ job—they were way too cushy.
Although I had been lucky enough to have done some traveling before, I really was unprepared for coming to my first African country. In my mind I thought I packed myself up before to do my senior year of high school in Italy, I can do a year in Rwanda. I spent a summer working in London; I can do a year in Rwanda. HA. As much as I might have lived alone and far from my family, nothing had really prepared me for what I was going to go through—and I’m not sure that anything could have prepared me for it.
I was (am) a type A personality that likes to be in control. I like logic. I like set rules, schedules and plans (maybe that is why I was good at ChemE). As much as I thought I was flexible, I had never truly been tested.
All I knew about Rwanda was what I had read about in the various books before I came-and lets be honest not much of it was ‘good’.
I dreamed of meeting some nice ex-pat people, becoming great friends.
And most importantly I really thought I would only do it for a year (hence why I hadn’t really considered the Peace Corps because their commitment is longer).
Now look at me-
I’ve become hardened from dealing with different types of people in various situations (though I have yet to get full control over my crying). I totally feel comfortable getting on a bus for over 24 hours to get to my destination. I still like rules and logic, but I’m learning how to cope with all that logic and planning being flushed down the drain on a daily basis. I’ve learned so much not only about Rwanda, Africa, and the world by really following various news outlets [I admit I have become an even bigger news junkie than I was before I came, I realized before I was only a JV news junkie]. Based on my volunteer time I realized that my life style as a volunteer didn’t really mesh well with a lot of the big NGO ex-pat employees here and our experiences were much different, I actually got a long better with Africans and other volunteer types.
And probably the most important thing that I have become is married. In my first year I met a Ugandan guy and we stayed together and are now married and come October we will have been married for a year.
It’s strange to think back to senior year at UD and the following months at home, because surely when I thought about my time in Rwanda and what I hoped to accomplish I had not thought that this would be the path I would be on…but here I am.
Stay tuned in the next few months to read about my reflections about living here for 3 years and my thoughts about moving back to the US..
Friday, August 19, 2011
Resurrection of the Blog
I started this blog before I came to Rwanda in December 2008. In my first year of volunteering I had tried to update frequently, in my second year it gradually tailed off, and in my 3rd year I’ve done barely enough to qualify as blogging.
Many people say that in the beginning it is easier because you are doing something different and experiencing ‘new’ things that can always be blogged about, but as one stays in a place longer it can be difficult to blog about ‘every day’ events that aren’t unusual anymore.
Many times I have thought to revamp this and I write an entry but then I don’t have internet and I never upload the post. Not to mention I just got lazy. That is going to stop now.
After being a volunteer from Dec 2008 to May 2010 and then a paid-worker from June 2010 to now, my stay in Rwanda is finally coming to an end, or at least the end is in sight.
Just recently we actually purchased my return ticket (when I returned to Rwanda in December 2009 I came on a one-way ticket).
In the time I have been in Rwanda I have experienced a lot and grown. I want to take my remaining time to really reflect on what I have become and the ups and down of living here.
I won’t begin on the ups and downs of life here because that is going to have to take many posts and I’ll need to be more in the mood to dig into that can of worms. But for sure I can start on the “what have I become.”
Many people say that in the beginning it is easier because you are doing something different and experiencing ‘new’ things that can always be blogged about, but as one stays in a place longer it can be difficult to blog about ‘every day’ events that aren’t unusual anymore.
Many times I have thought to revamp this and I write an entry but then I don’t have internet and I never upload the post. Not to mention I just got lazy. That is going to stop now.
After being a volunteer from Dec 2008 to May 2010 and then a paid-worker from June 2010 to now, my stay in Rwanda is finally coming to an end, or at least the end is in sight.
Just recently we actually purchased my return ticket (when I returned to Rwanda in December 2009 I came on a one-way ticket).
In the time I have been in Rwanda I have experienced a lot and grown. I want to take my remaining time to really reflect on what I have become and the ups and down of living here.
I won’t begin on the ups and downs of life here because that is going to have to take many posts and I’ll need to be more in the mood to dig into that can of worms. But for sure I can start on the “what have I become.”
Friday, May 6, 2011
Find Us The Man U Game
This April marked the third genocide commemoration period that I have been in Rwanda. Every year they commemorate the Genocide. There is an official week of mourning and remembering, but for 3 months commemoration ceremonies are still held all over the country.
My first year I was here I attended a service with my Headmistress. It was interesting. I learned and experienced a lot being there, but it was not something that I really wanted to repeat again. I know how emotional I get and I didn’t care to put myself into that situation because I don’t want to take away from the Rwandans by being a spectacle (aka hysterically crying). The second year I went to Zanzibar (where I got engaged). This year we stayed in Rwanda the whole time. School is closed during this time (it is the break between first and second term).
During the first week Kigali takes on a very somber mode and most people don’t do much other than attend services and memorials. Also all TVs and Radios are tuned in to Rwanda TV, the national station. No entertainment is allowed. And I mean none. On the 6th day, which was a Saturday, Manchester United was playing. Maxon had told me that we wouldn’t be able to find a place to watch, but I really didn’t believe it. Well he was right. We went to bars, restaurants, and even fancy hotels, but none of them could play the game for us.
I realize the need to remember and commemorate, but at that time all we could think of was that we wanted to watch that game and we couldn’t.
So in case you hadn’t figured it out by now, but we are pretty big Manchester United fans. Every week we gotta watch. We got to the same place and sit with the same people. People even ‘know’ us there. For instance when I come in and Maxon is already seated sometimes I have difficulty finding him. Lucky for us workers of the sports bar will point him out to me. And last night just some random guy pointed to where he was..haha.. (This is good for me because a group of black men with shaved heads sure makes it difficult to pick out the head you want)
My first year I was here I attended a service with my Headmistress. It was interesting. I learned and experienced a lot being there, but it was not something that I really wanted to repeat again. I know how emotional I get and I didn’t care to put myself into that situation because I don’t want to take away from the Rwandans by being a spectacle (aka hysterically crying). The second year I went to Zanzibar (where I got engaged). This year we stayed in Rwanda the whole time. School is closed during this time (it is the break between first and second term).
During the first week Kigali takes on a very somber mode and most people don’t do much other than attend services and memorials. Also all TVs and Radios are tuned in to Rwanda TV, the national station. No entertainment is allowed. And I mean none. On the 6th day, which was a Saturday, Manchester United was playing. Maxon had told me that we wouldn’t be able to find a place to watch, but I really didn’t believe it. Well he was right. We went to bars, restaurants, and even fancy hotels, but none of them could play the game for us.
I realize the need to remember and commemorate, but at that time all we could think of was that we wanted to watch that game and we couldn’t.
So in case you hadn’t figured it out by now, but we are pretty big Manchester United fans. Every week we gotta watch. We got to the same place and sit with the same people. People even ‘know’ us there. For instance when I come in and Maxon is already seated sometimes I have difficulty finding him. Lucky for us workers of the sports bar will point him out to me. And last night just some random guy pointed to where he was..haha.. (This is good for me because a group of black men with shaved heads sure makes it difficult to pick out the head you want)
BALD
Maxon doesn’t have all his hair. It is very common here with a group of the men, even as teenagers. It ‘starts’ with just having big foreheads (that they are soo proud of)..
Well recently my nephew, who is a 12 yr-old, made this comment: He wondered how Maxon could be going bald, because being bald is for old people, and having children is what makes you old, and since we don’t have children he can’t be old.
Gotta love kids. They do have the best logic.
Well recently my nephew, who is a 12 yr-old, made this comment: He wondered how Maxon could be going bald, because being bald is for old people, and having children is what makes you old, and since we don’t have children he can’t be old.
Gotta love kids. They do have the best logic.
SAT Prep Class
Although the past six weeks did not have me teaching my normal night classes, I did take part in teaching a SAT Prep Class for some high school students of one of the private schools here.
Mostly I did prep work for the English section, but I did do one session for the math section. This was a lot of fun for me because it gave me the chance to interact with bright young students, compared to the adults that I normally teach. It was also neat to talk American universities with them and talk about where to go, what to major in, ect. It was also great because I overheard 3 girls talking about the show Vampire Diaries and then I mentioned that my husband and I watch it, well this made the girls crazy because they could not imagine that married couples would watch it..haha, what do they know.
Overall I think the prep course went well, but who knows until they take it, but it was interesting to see how over the weeks they did become more familiar with the types of questions (it was the first time they ever will have to take a multiple choice test).
And by this I mean that we had to teach 'basic' strategies for discarding some of the choice quickly, when to guess, when not to guess, ect.
It really took me back to high school..haha
Mostly I did prep work for the English section, but I did do one session for the math section. This was a lot of fun for me because it gave me the chance to interact with bright young students, compared to the adults that I normally teach. It was also neat to talk American universities with them and talk about where to go, what to major in, ect. It was also great because I overheard 3 girls talking about the show Vampire Diaries and then I mentioned that my husband and I watch it, well this made the girls crazy because they could not imagine that married couples would watch it..haha, what do they know.
Overall I think the prep course went well, but who knows until they take it, but it was interesting to see how over the weeks they did become more familiar with the types of questions (it was the first time they ever will have to take a multiple choice test).
And by this I mean that we had to teach 'basic' strategies for discarding some of the choice quickly, when to guess, when not to guess, ect.
It really took me back to high school..haha
Telenovela
Since I originally came to Rwanda I noticed that many Spanish (often Mexican) soap operas are very commonly played on various television stations.
My first year in Rwanda I was introduced to a show that is called Storms Over Paradise. After that came Hidden Passions, Shades of Sin, Don’t Mess with an Angle, just to name a few. I also realized that it wasn’t just me that was watching them. Many of the Rwandans and Ugandans watched, and not only did the women watch, the men enjoyed them very much too.
Recently one of the only channels in English (STVE2) started playing them too. For the last six weeks I was not working and therefore became glued to the TV. Not only did I decide at times to not leave my house in order to watch the next episode, but I even organized my cooking lunch and dinner times around my favorite ones. At the moment Sorteligio, Catalina y Sebastian, I am Your Master (Soy tu duena) and another one that I can’t remember the name of, are getting all my attention.
Strangely enough they are just too good to be true. I know they are so over the top, but somehow that is what makes them that much more appealing.
I think that the US needs to get on the bandwagon and start airing them dubbed..because I think a lot of Americans would enjoy them..haha
My first year in Rwanda I was introduced to a show that is called Storms Over Paradise. After that came Hidden Passions, Shades of Sin, Don’t Mess with an Angle, just to name a few. I also realized that it wasn’t just me that was watching them. Many of the Rwandans and Ugandans watched, and not only did the women watch, the men enjoyed them very much too.
Recently one of the only channels in English (STVE2) started playing them too. For the last six weeks I was not working and therefore became glued to the TV. Not only did I decide at times to not leave my house in order to watch the next episode, but I even organized my cooking lunch and dinner times around my favorite ones. At the moment Sorteligio, Catalina y Sebastian, I am Your Master (Soy tu duena) and another one that I can’t remember the name of, are getting all my attention.
Strangely enough they are just too good to be true. I know they are so over the top, but somehow that is what makes them that much more appealing.
I think that the US needs to get on the bandwagon and start airing them dubbed..because I think a lot of Americans would enjoy them..haha
Saturday, April 2, 2011
6 months
As of April 1st Maxon and I have been married 6 months!
yea for us:)
I had wanted to post this on FB yesterday but then I thought that many of my friends would think it was a joke, but its serious.
Who knew when I came to Rwanda that I would be here now?
Who knew when I graduated UD that I would be here now?
I for one sure didn't know, but with that said there is no other place I would rather be, and no other person I would rather share this with:)
yea for us:)
I had wanted to post this on FB yesterday but then I thought that many of my friends would think it was a joke, but its serious.
Who knew when I came to Rwanda that I would be here now?
Who knew when I graduated UD that I would be here now?
I for one sure didn't know, but with that said there is no other place I would rather be, and no other person I would rather share this with:)
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