Miss Shannon in Rwanda

"I Don't Enjoy..."

2009-12-07T16:09:00.005+02:00

I took pictures of my house to post..but it's taking so long to upload each picture so I'm doing it a little at a time. In the mean-time, please allow yourself to cordially laugh at some of my recent mishaps, entitled "I Don't Enjoy...":

BEING COLD AND WET. I went on a two night trip to Lake Kivu this past weekend, and I got caught in the rain on the way back from the beach in Gisenyi...I was so close to reaching the place I was staying, but I was soaked and my books in my bag were getting wet too. So, I stopped in a tiny little shop to wait it out. I couldn't even try to use the few words I know to converse with the people in there cause the rain was so loud on the sheet metal roof. Eventually I got back to my room and thought a hot shower would be nice. water was off..so the lady said she'd bring water...I was a little disappointed cause I take bucket showers at my house and I was looking forward to a shower shower. Guess what she brought? Cold water. A bucket of cold water. So then I got sick.

THE EFFECTS OF WINDING BUS RIDES. Last time I took a bus ride was coming back from Ruhengeri (Musanze) a few weeks ago when I went for a hike with a few friends. On the bus ride home, the lady next to me kept handing me her phone and bag so she could puke into her fabric. In addition, the lady in front of me got sick and it was dripping under the seat towards my feet...SO, on the way back from Gisenyi..we had almost reached Kigali City..I saw the big billboard that is on the turn to go to town...and the lady next to me puked. This time it got on me. It was down my leg, on the side of my foot, and my shoe. SICK. And this time, unlike the last trip, it smelled. Also--on the way back from Gitarama (Rubavu) a little girl got sick and puked..we had to pull over and the mom wiped fabric all over to "clean" it up.

BEING CULTURALLY INSENSITIVE. I went to visit Jeremy's family in the village (Mwishishiro) this Sunday. Jeremy is our houseboy. We didn't eat anything out of the ordinary, just ground nuts, pineapple, and bananas-but the big kind. Then, they wanted to offer me milk. In Rwanda milk is a big deal. I can't remember the exact ceremony, but its used somehow in a wedding to show they will always be blessed with milk in their home. SO, since their cows are literally right there in the courtyard of their house, I was nervous about the quality and pasteurization. I said I did not have thirst. (keep in mind I don't speak kinyarwanda well so its already been slightly awkward). Then I said it was ok, just a little.
I prepared for the worst: in my mind the worst would be very thick, warm milk with a strange taste since the milk here has a weird taste anyways. I was wrong. They began pouring. It was thick alright, with lumps...lots and lots of lumps. To my surprise it was cool..so I just prayed for the grace to handle this cup of milk, filled to the brim against my wishes. I know that His grace is sufficient, but the amount I was given at this moment just didn't amount to enough. The milk was a kind of sour I'd never experienced before. Sour, lumpy milk. I took a small sip. I took another sip. And then I took my final sip. Regarding the fact that it would be disrespectful not to take their milk, it'd be worse if I started gagging..and of course I realize that this milk could make me very very ill. So, I told the brother, who speaks some English, that I've never had this milk before and my stomach is not strong and that I'm very sorry. He translated and I heard him telling them my stomach was small..so maybe that is nicer to hear or something. Their family was so sweet though...they gave me pineapples, bananas, and a clay vase. Jeremy's sister-in-law really wanted to give me eggs, but they don't have any there, hahaha. And before we left they wanted to sing me a song and pray...it was wonderful overall.

Hope you mildly enjoyed reading of my misfortune. I should emphasize that I have an incredible amount to share that I DO enjoy :) As you can see from the stories...I went to Gisenyi on a short but wonderfully relaxing trip. While I was on the beach I went water skiing!! In Rwanda! That is pretty astonishing. The boat wasn't incredibly fast, and I had to pay $10 just to go for a short loop...but that is better than $2/min like he started with!
Also, I had a great time visiting Jeremy's family. We walked along the road and then through the footpaths across a couple hills for about an hour to get to his house. It was absolutely gorgeous there! And his family was so gracious.

That's all for now..but the house pics are coming!

Reba ku Murugo Iwacu

2009-12-02T16:02:00.023+02:00

I'm finally getting to that house tour! I keep wishing I had the rooms all set up and looking great before showing pictures...but I just picked up my camera and did it so I could finally put them up.
You can't see much of the actual house because we have a ton of trees! but, of course that's one of the best features of the house :)

The next one in my tour is of a gray concrete building and you can see Jeremy and our laundry line. This is basically our backyard..I didn't get a good pic of what its set up like but the next one is coming in through the backdoor. (I usually come in this way bc my room is just to the right of the kitchen.)

Alright, so as you come in the back door, you will be in our kitchen! We have a big fridge this year, and a stove/oven, and we finally got that table made so we'd have some "counter" space to set things on.

There is not a lot of space in our kitchen, but you can be assured it's no problem for my genius roommates who know how to cook! And they're awesome because they share!

Coming up next we have a picture of our pantry...which is AMAZING. When we moved in we didn't have the cabinets, but they were built within the first month and pretty much changed our lives...I don't know if it showed up in the picture, but the pantry is where our water filter is kept, and I just wanted to give a shout out to the Dolingers for giving it us because our agacupa collection was more ridiculous than you can imagine.

Alright--we've reached my bedroom!

This is of course where I spend a lot of my time...
It's hard to give a great tour through pics. My room is quite small, but I'm working hard to organize and have a place for everything. I keep thinking how ridiculous it is that I have my own bedroom first of all, and then I still don't have enough room because I own so many things...I think simplifying is a very difficult discipline. (mom, you can vouch for my improvement since the days I had a "collection" for everything!)

Here is a bathroom. The toilet was installed for us when we moved in because before it was one of those floor hole thingies...

And here is our lovely kitchen table! Sorry I didn't set it up cute for the picture. Shannon B and I sewed placemats with african fabric over the summer, and they are SO awesome on this table :)

This is my bathroom, and I share with Marissa. We fill up that red bucket about half way (with warm water :) so it's not bad) and dump cups over our heads.

Almost finished with our tour...next is the living room. It is pretty amazing. It's big and Cady and I bought a TV!! We only get one channel and its usually not in English, but I like it. To have other channels is possible, and its not that much per month for the subscription, but the set up cost is like $3-400 so its a no-go.

And we've reached the most exciting place!! this little door is off to the side of the back door. It has a padlock on it, so I figured it was storage from our landlord....well, to my surprise, it was a little room!! So, it's going to be turned into a little prayer room/office :)
We do have another little sitting area that separates the 2 sides of the house, but I didn't even take a picture because we don't have anything in there except junk we don't know where to put. Also, please notice the lamp in this photo (as well as in my bedroom). I have been searching for lamps for almost a year and I finally came across these-perfect!! I still have a lot of work to do to set up this little room and make it amazing..but it will be :)

Overdose- two in one day!

2009-10-26T17:58:00.003+02:00

In an effort to keep my goal of shorter blogs, I’m posting 2 :)
I just can’t seem to get the goal of blogging more often to come to fruition.

KWISHURI- Students are back at school after it being shut down all of last week. “Why? Swine Flue.” (In the words of my principal). Yes, swine flu has entered the country of Rwanda, and we had a few cases among students here. While school was shut down by the Minister of Health, there was a testing site on campus so families could come in and find out who had swine flu. (I had a cold so I was a bit dramatic and went to get tested- came back negative :) )
In other school news, I’m supposed to hire and train 4 reading tutors in the next 3 weeks…pray for applicants.

MURUGO- I’m reading God Work by Randy Harris right now, and I just want to say how elementary school teachers and librarians can tell you that reading a book is like traveling to another place/time- it’s true! I spend the 15 minute Silent Sustained Reading time we have at school and I literally feel like I’m in Abilene, Texas. He’s not really describing the surroundings, so it isn’t quite a visualizing thing…it is more of a mindset. The thoughts I’m having and experiences I’m relating it to make me feel like I’m in a class at ACU again…it is such a “homey” feeling.

NDUMIWE! I’m shocked because I found something incredible. We have a small bedroom on our house we didn’t know about!! When I get around to the picture tour of our house it will for sure be included. I LOVE special “areas”…I’m kind of a spatial person…and I haven’t found any exceptional places in our house yet (especially because I can’t hang up the hammock! uhhh). So, you can imagine that after living in a house for a month I was quite surprised and elated to find this wonderful little room :)

UMUGABO- I’m still pretending that Alpha is my boyfriend, despite the fact that he doesn’t even know my name. He pantomimed for me to call him, so I’m sure it’s love. Now, if I can only track down his digits…

KURIRIMBE- I’ve partially joined an Anglican choir. For anyone who knows me, this is really ridiculous. My accomplice, ishumi Cady, is a full-fledged robe-wearing member. I’m what I consider a participant. We go to practices on Friday, bible study and practice on Saturday, and then early for service on Sunday…and honestly this doesn’t feel like too much commitment- it is the best part of the week! I don’t want to get up in front of the church and sing…so I offered to be a part-time power point slide clicker.

A Few Firsts

2009-10-26T17:46:00.002+02:00

I’m going to write this first so that I hold myself to it- I’m going to take a picture tour of our house and post it. (I’ve been waiting until the house looks ready and we situate rooms how they will be, but I’ve just gotta go ahead and do it.)

I wrote an email to some of my friends listing some “firsts” I’ve had since being in Rwanda…so I’m going to include a couple of them here:

-Its my first time to have my own office

-I taught teachers for the first time a few weeks ago. Definitely there were mistakes made-like the fact that I covered way too much in way too short of time using way too complicated terminology and talking way too fast for people who don't
know English that well. But in other aspects it was successful. The electricity went out right before we were about to start and I was SO upset, but then it came back on and I was able to use the powerpoint I had spent a week putting together. Bonus first: using a chalkboard!

-A few weeks ago was "Teacher's Week" so we had soda and cake as a faculty.
They requested that the teacher who had served the longest and the newest teacher be the ones to cut the cake. So, that meant me! I've never cut a cake for an event before. Also, there weren't any cameras or anything, so it felt like we were trying to "create a moment" or something when it really wasn't a big deal. It felt good though- I felt like a part of the team.

-Not last and not least, I have had official quote from the head of the school that he will "make it a point" to introduce me to the First Lady :) That's probably the highest "First" there could be right!(She's on our school board and a very influential person in thecountry!)

-Another incredibly entertaining first is that I was on TV! (Ok- once in elementary school my figure skating was on the public access channel, but that doesn’t count.) A Rwandan won Tusker Project Fame, which is like American Idol for East Africa…and my friend and I went to the welcoming at the airport and a short performance. We were interviewed on Rwanda TV and East Africa TV and Contact FM Radio! Plus, I ended up in a music video too. It is so hilarious. The students and teachers and all my friends keep talking about seeing us on TV...So embarrassing, but fun too!
I also bought a second hand tiny TV with rabbit ears for $100, but it doesn’t work. And all that for only one channel!

That’s my news for now! Please pray for the right reading teaching assistants to turn up and for patience too.

A Whole New World

2009-10-06T17:48:00.005+02:00

I figure 3 weeks isn't as long as I went last year...so this still counts as improvement!
I'm back in Kigali. Everything is the same, but everything has changed! On one hand, I really feel at home being back in this city. And on the other hand, I'm working at a new school, living in a new house, and starting over with getting used to things that are different.

I'm so happy to be living a less "muzungu" life this year. I'm able to interact so much more with Rwandan people and culture every day! Of course it makes a difference that I work with very very few American colleagues or students. But besides that, let me give an example by contrasting how I get to and from school each day.

Last year: my friend and I shared a car. We drove out of our gate, passing only minimal people in our unpopulated neighborhood. 8 minutes later we arrived at school, greeted the guards, and went to our classrooms.

This year: I walk up a steep dirt hill, pass a few small shops (too early for the PRECIOUS babies to be out! They run up and hug me every time!), pass a church building where people are singing, and as I turn the corner the bike taxis at the top of the hill start raising their hands and patting their seats. I walk up, checking my list of taxi #s (So I switch who I use) and call out the # of the day in kinyarwanda. I then hop on and ride about 5 minutes to "Sonatube" where I greet the MTN airtime salesman who is always standing on the corner in a ripped up yellow jump suit. (His name is Innocent). Then, I get on a bus! I usually read over Kinyarwanda notes or chat with another teacher for the approx 20 min ride to school.

Our house in Kicukiro is great. You might not think it after reading these descriptions: electricity goes out more often, bucket showers are about all I'm getting, it is basically a cockroach hotel, my bedroom is actually the "help's" room, and worst of all it is terribly far from the main road. However, it is wonderful. (I'm finally experiencing culture shock, and this is most definitely the "honeymoon" phase!)

Of course with so much going on, there is always more to tell...but for now I'll just ask for prayers because tomorrow I'm teaching a session on reading to primary school teachers. I was kind of thrown this job, or "opportunity", last week and have found it very challenging to attempt to teach "Reading"(vague!) to teachers coming from many backgrounds and that I barely know.

Miracle at Woodbury Lakes

2009-09-13T01:18:00.005+02:00

I'm going to write a story of little to no significance. But, I like it. You may think, "Of everything that happened this entire summer, is this really that important?" And trust me, it's not. I just feel like writing it...and I do what I want.

During the past year in Rwanda I've desperately wanted two(ish) things: 1) a pair of wedges 2) a hammock. While it might be expected for me to tell the glorious story of searching for months in every market of Rwanda and Uganda for wedges...nope. [although thanks to my patient brother at the outlet mall and a clearance in Maryland, I will be returning to KGL with 2 pairs of wedges :)]

So here is my story:
When I went to San Antonio, I kept my eyes peeled for a hammock. I can't buy a hammock with a frame or a stand or with wooden rods because, of course, it couldn't be transported easily. I literally took notes on hammocks I saw at Whole Earth, Dick's, and even Bass Pro. Of the "post-less" hammocks I found most were somewhere in the neighborhood of $45 and of significant weight and size. I kept my notes just in my notepad so I'd know what options I had found. I was looking for the perfect hammock...and I was getting discouraged.
Fast forward >>> to Minnesota, mid-summer. I was running a few errands, one of which was looking for a bowl...I had checked a few places and decided to just stop into Kirkland's Home since I was passing by. It turns out they didn't sell bowls there. And, to be honest, I was kind of overwhelmed with how decorative all this house decor was. So I just kept mingling and headed towards the door. When what should my wondering eyes should appear?! A little sign that said "SALE"...and BEHOLD...the sale item was- you guessed it- a HAMMOCK! They were thickly woven cloth and came in a cloth sack complete with a metal hook-thingy to hang it from 2 trees! The sale was a serious deal: only $15! Can you imagine my unutterable surprise when I looked down and saw not only the perfect design, perfect price, but also that the colors were the same as the Rwandan flag?!?! It couldn't be more perfect. Nothing short of a miracle.

Roommates: Start scouting our sturdy vegetation...

Chigari On My Mind

2009-09-07T20:32:00.000+02:00

I’ve been learning so much in Okotoks with the teachers of early reading intervention. I’m trying to soak up everything while I’m here so I can implement/tweak an effective model once I’m familiar with the students in Kigali.
I’ve been staying at a teacher’s house from the school I’m interning at, and I feel like an addition to the family…and besides the welcoming at this B&B, everyone I’ve met in Canada has been so friendly and helpful. Not a bad place to be, eh?

My mind has been on Kigali so much recently. And I’m looking forward to getting back and settling in again. (Thanks to my great roommates Emily and Marissa, I’ll already have a house to move into late Sept!)
This summer I’ve been so thankful for the precious time I’ve had with family and friends. No number of emails or calls could be traded for being in the presence of someone...although that is not news to anyone. It is a special thing when someone cares to make extra effort to spend time together, and especially when we can pick right back up where we left off even after missing over a year of each other’s lives. You don’t realize how important ya’ll are to me!

A few things I’d like to prioritize:
Being on top of my job: I want to do an excellent job at what I’m doing, so work will be top priority for where my time and energy goes!
Improved blogging: shorter and more consistently! **
Studying Kinyarwanda: (nzashaka umwarimu) If you understand than maybe it could be you! I’d like to spend a lot more time listening/hearing the language. I’d like to use concrete experiences too like going to the market and cooking a meal with someone.
Building friendships: It is too easy to get busy…so it will take intentionality about inviting people over, making plans, and being available for spending time together.
Concentration during prayer: Actually…shout out to Dr. Hood because I was frustrated that my mind kept wandering the other night and I remembered what she tells her Kindergarten Sunday school class, “Get your body ready to pray”…and what a HUGE difference!
Exercise: It seems to take much more effort to make time to exercise in Rwanda…especially when it gets dark so early in the evening…but I’m going to discipline myself somehow!
Getting sleep! This may be the most difficult task of them all...
Nyugwe forest: I think this is top on my list for places I want to go in Rwanda. I’ll be sure to let you know when it happens :)

I’m going to leave the list at that…because remember how one of them is more concise blogs? And I still have to make sure to mention that prayers have been answered for my roommate Cady- and she left for Rwanda today!! Praise God, this was a miracle!

time flies!

2009-08-20T21:44:00.004+02:00

It’s a pretty rainy day here in Minnesota…and I’ve been making lists, reading, and organizing in preparation for the upcoming year. (and drinking Rwanda coffee from Starbucks!) Before leaving Rwanda for the summer, I decided to take a new job at Green Hills Academy.
Green Hills is a school that was started by the First Lady just after the genocide. It is a Rwandan school that hosts nursery through senior 6 (high school) and has around 1500 students. Although GHA is a leading school in terms of the educational options for Rwandans, I will also say that there is room for improvement in educational instruction and, of course, resources. The faculty at GHA recognizes their influence and actively seeks ways to improve what they offer, which is why I am so excited to be a part of beginning a new special program at Green Hills-something that Rwanda hasn’t seen before! (I’ve been told that this will be a first for the country.)

My position at Green Hills is Early Intervention Teacher. My job will be very challenging, but there is strong and positive purpose behind it that will keep me going through difficulties. When talking many many months ago about how to put our passions to use in Rwanda, I shared with a few close friends that I wish I knew how to get involved somewhere to just help kids learn to read because that is something that I care about. Well, now I have the opportunity! When I return to Kigali in September, I will be setting up an intervention program for struggling readers in the early primary grades.

I want to thank all those who have supported me as I’ve been teaching in Rwanda. Your prayers and encouragement have meant so much to me. Also, you know how God has a funny way of reminding us that He is able to do more than we could ever ask or imagine? Well, my excuse in telling Him “no” last Spring about going to Rwanda (which I did for a few months) was that I was worried about finances. But, as you older and wiser friends could have told me before- when God calls, He also provides. So, it is almost humorous to me that as I start this new endeavor, with a year and a half ahead of me, I will continue to be supported through the gifts He provided last year. (this year is similar to last year in that I am working a paid position that covers the majority of my living expenses-just to clarify).

I will be heading back to Kigali in mid-September, and here are a few special prayer requests:
-pray for my great friend Cady who is awaiting treatment of a rare tumor here in the States before she can return to teach in Rwanda
-pray for the people I will hire and train to be the reading tutors because they will be the most influential part of the success of the program
-pray for my own spiritual development in Rwanda and that I will pursue Christ and His presence…and that I would listen to Him better.

Kigali yumugi, Agashya, and Kwishuri

2009-05-26T16:09:00.006+02:00

In an effort to make this entry readable, I’ve choosing to break up the stories into categories. Kigali City, Adventure, and School.

Kigali City
Life in Kigali seems to change climates often, but is always a good time.
Recently, my friend Cady was talking with our friend who presents on Voice of Africa radio. The station would like to have more programs in English. Well, we speak English. So- now we have a radio show. Cady is the host, and I’m the co-host of The Melting Pot. One of our other friends came up with a great idea that our show should bring in foreign people that live in Kigali and interview them about how they see Rwanda. So far we’ve had four shows with the following guests: a former VSO volunteer from England, a friend who works for International Justice Mission from Washington DC, a german volunteer who works with people with disabilities and a teacher from the US, and two german volunteers who work with street children through Scripture Union(one who had previously done an internship with psychotherapy).
Even with just the few guests we’ve had, it has been interesting to learn more about people and organizations that are here in Rwanda. There is a web address where you can listen to the radio show, but I’m not exactly sure how it works.
When we return in August we hope to expand our listening audience, as well as gain sponsorship from local businesses.

I’ve mentioned before that some of my closest friends are in a band here in Rwanda. They are often asked by different authorities to perform at certain functions. We traveled to Butare with them for a public event for the youth against taking drugs that was put on by the national police. This past weekend at the small stadium there was another concert they performed at that is promoting HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. Two of the specific campaigns are against ‘Sugar Mommies/Sugar Daddys’ and cross-generational sex. The majority of the crowd was secondary students brought in on buses to the stadium. There were several speeches given and even a short drama. Although we couldn’t understand most of what was presented in Kinyarwanda, we did leave home with bracelets that say sinigurisha which means ‘I don’t sell myself’.

Adventure
A few weekends ago, my roommates and a few other friends traveled to Musanze (formerly Ruhengeri) to trek mountain gorillas. It is seriously a dream life that we had a Friday off from school and just went to the Virunga Mountains and hung out about 5 meters away from Silverback Mountain Gorillas that are only found in this small part of the world. I stayed an extra day and relaxed at a lodge that overlooks two beautiful lakes with islands and hills…I took some gorgeous pictures- but of course they just can’t do justice to what it looked like in real life…it was like a fairy tale or something…

School
I try to jot down quotes from my students as often as possible. A few weeks ago an amazingly profound discussion took place while the kids were writing friendly letters.
It went something like this:
S1- Yea, you can write to God but it’s not like you can send it to Him in the mail…
S2- You don’t have to send it in the mail. When you’re writing it’s like he can just read it.
S1- That’s true. But you can pray and it can be like sending it to Him and He can do a miracle.
S2- Yea, He can do a miracle. But sometimes He saves it. He can save it cause He knows when you really need it.

I was so impressed by the depth of their understanding. They know that the Lord hears our prayers; they trust that He listens to us. They believe that God is able to do a miracle because of prayer! But—even more than that…S2 says that God sometimes does not give us the miracle-- even though He is able. And He knows when we will really need a miracle! I was so touched by their faith in that discussion.

One of the great things about teaching where I do is that the opportunities for guest speakers and field trips are unique to this place.
At the beginning of the year as we were studying plants, we had 2 people who work with coffee farmers in the villages come and teach us about how plants grow, the importance of the soil, and the importance of keeping the plants healthy.
Later, during our unit on rocks and minerals, a father from South Africa who is here with a mining company was able to bring in labeled rock samples and teach us about the rocks and minerals found in Rwanda that could potentially offer jobs to thousands of people.
While studying how we use the Earth’s resources, our class took a trip about 4 minutes down the road to Living Water International, which is a company that provides clean water (and evangelism) all over the world by digging wells where people don’t have access to water.
We also went to one of the well sites and let all the kindergarten and first grade students try pumping the well. Just recently, we learned about writing friendly letters and it was also just after Earth Day when we went to Cards From Africa. (I think I wrote about this place in a very early blog entry.) Our students got to see how paper is made from scraps collected in town (recycling! and they LOVED touching the pulp!) and beautifully designed paper cards being made by orphans who take care of younger siblings.
As I look back on some of these experiences, I can’t help but be enamored by the richness of these learning opportunities.

Umunsi Mwiza!

2009-03-28T17:49:00.004+02:00

I've been writing my blog update for the past two weeks. I wanted to write about starting the new semester, traveling to Burundi with a band, celebrating the 100th day of school, reaching the 6 months mark, language lessons, having a birthday, spending the weekend in Kibuye, and a slew of other distinctive events.

But now, I've realized if I keep trying to clump together 3 months of my time in Rwanda into a blog, I won't get a chance to tell you about the wonderful smaller moments. Like, for instance, this Saturday. It is 3 in the afternoon central African time, and I have had a lovely day so far. I slept in (thats what I do on Sats, especially Umuganda), and made coffee right after getting up. I joined two of my roommates ritual of watching TV episodes, and we had some good laughs. After getting a bit of washing done (finally), I joined them again. Well, last night we had a few friends over to watch the movie Mamma Mia, and had brought our mattress from the spare room out to make the tile floor a place for seating. The mattress is still here. Someone had the absolutely BRILLIANT idea of building a fort in our living room. And you know what? We did. In about 5 minutes flat. We can accomplish a lot when we get determined. But, then we decided we could expand. So, I brought my mattress down, and we brought in the rest of the chairs from the table, connected extra sheets to the light fixture in the middle of the room, and... Viola!

Next surprise for the day is that Jess and I went for a jog! We knew it was 2pm and super hot, but something just came over us. It was a great run through Kibagabaga's finest dirt roads. On the way back we were looking over across the hills (we can see about half the city...gorgeous), and we could see it raining in the distance. It was the most magnificent sound to hear it pouring rain about 10 minutes drive away. And of course, it came. We heard it approaching on our left, and it just kept landing closer and closer to us. There were a few houses on the left side of the road that suddenly started sounding like a huge rainstick had just been turned over. And a few seconds later the hugest drops of rain I've ever seen were falling right around us. And then it poured. We just kept running and smiling. I think our neighbors think we're nuts. And mostly we are.

So now my lunch is warming in the oven, I've taken the best luke warm shower, and I'm laying in the fort (still to be named) with a candle, listening to music a great friend sent from the States. :) Does it get any better than this?

slideshow

2009-01-22T11:17:00.005+02:00

this is our next CD album cover
This elephant just walked right past our car ...so amazing!
Leaving the Serengeti! (it was chilly that morning and the top was off the vehicle)
Yes, that is a real live lioness just laying in the Africa grassland...we watched her crouch down and move towards a herd of zebras and wildebeests for about an hour!

This is just the regular state of this group...
eating dinner the first night at the camping site on the rim of the Ngorongoro crater

hippos!!!
the baboon that snuck in and stole our bananas right out of our vehicle!!
Liz, Cady, Jess, Me, and Marissa, all ready to leave on safari!
Rwandan Christmas tree decorating at its finest.
Shannon and I celebrating Christmas!
Shannon and Cady
When Shannon arrived in Kigali!!
the december crew...me, Yvan, Raoul, Cady, Skizzy, Jenny, and Patrick...(Yvan and Skizzy might be in Minnesota for school next year)
This is Albert!
Ladies night out!
I'm all ready for my first conferences :)
Kimironko Market
Cady and I peeking through the corn growing outside our gate!!
Shannon and I at Bourbon!
Cady, me, Serge, and Liz
N'Dolis, the best supermarket around
This is the place I buy my electricty...its prepay, so I get a code and punch it into the meter

2009-01-13T19:54:00.000+02:00

I went on a SAFARI!!
So, I never thought I’d say, “When I was on safari in the Serengeti….” but here I am about to tell you about the coolest way to spend a holiday. Jessica and Marissa had been traveling around through Uganda and Kenya and we planned to meet up in Tanzania. Liz, Cady, and I flew into Kilimanjaro International Airport and took a taxi to Moshi, where we stayed with a friend of a friend who is volunteering at Amani Children’s Home. Walking out of her gate on a clear day is a straight shot of Mt. Kilimanjaro! Already in Moshi we were getting a feel for how different Tanzania was from Rwanda. (They are neighboring countries.) We went on to Arusha, where we planned to see the tribunal trials for the Rwandan Genocide. The UN designated Arusha as a neutral place to hold these trials, and we hear that since a lot of time has gone by, they are currently hosting trials for people who were key figures in the genocide. Our trusty Lonely Planet guide said they were held Mon-Thurs, which did not turn out so trustworthy. The next trial would be Jan 5, the day we left Tanzania. So, we didn’t get to see a trial, or even get a tour of the courtroom. That will be top of the list if I ever find myself in Tanzania again.

We stayed at Arusha Backpackers, which was a great scene. We spent New Years in Arusha before safari. There is no ball dropping in Tanzania, in case you weren’t aware. I didn’t exactly know what you do for New Years if there isn’t a ball drop, but we managed to celebrate accordingly. We had champagne, ate dinner, and went to a restaurant garden party that was a small but fun crowd.
Safari was AMAZING! Despite our car troubles (like having to push it to get started multiple times), we were able to see the Ngorongoro Crater, spend the night at a campsite on the rim and then travel through the Serengeti during the wildebeest migration! We saw at least 40 different animals (I was keeping a list), including the ‘Big 5’. The only thing we feel like we missed out on was seeing a wild animal attack…we did watch a lioness prowl through the grass towards a group a zebras and wildebeests, but they spotted her and went in the other direction….bummer.
It was a blast to be able to experience the safari trip with my good friends. And we were quite a sight too…it is not every day that a group of 5 girls our age are lucky enough to be traveling on a safari through the Serengeti together!

School starts again on Wednesday! There are some things I’m really looking forward to about this semester. We have two new administrators at KICS that will be an enormous asset. One of the ways my class will benefit is that Miss Emily will come twice a week so that we have can two guided reading groups going on at once. I’m also looking forward to finally getting curriculum for reading that will help me so much in connecting reading instruction. Another exciting endeavor is that we will be going on a few field trips! I’ve been learning about some neat places that will give tours and some even have hands-on participation too. So, although it’s hard to go back to a full time job after a long vacation, I’m still hopeful that this semester will be great.

Holiday was so much fun! I have made new friendships, spent time with people, explored new places in Kigali, been stress-free, traveled, and celebrated. I’ve also thought about home a lot and my life when I return to the US. I don’t know what that season will bring or where I will be or how I will be changed. Of course, we learn from every season of our lives in different ways, but I’m thinking my experience in Rwanda has got to be something more than that. I don’t want to go home and think, “I know I was learning a lot in Africa, and I think it has made me who I am today.” I want to be able to say more specifically what in my heart has changed, my worldview, my motivations and aspirations, and a few lessons I’ve been taught during this season.

December part kabiri

2008-12-28T13:42:00.002+02:00

So now I’m continuing from the last post and just jumping right back to Christmas. The Christmas season is not a big deal here. Some people will go to church on Christmas and have a nice meal, and that is the most celebrating most families have. The expat community (expat= someone not from this country) really makes efforts to make it feel like Christmas time. We had get togethers to eat cookies and sing Christmas songs, and we even had a party at our house for the first time! On Christmas Eve, CCR (my church) had a kids’ party in the afternoon and then a candlelight service that was very nice in the evening. It felt strange to not have gone our Christmas shopping at all…and hearing “busy sidewalks” in the song Silver Bells cracked me up because we don’t even have many sidewalks. It did, however, feel like Christmas when Shannon brought 2 suitcases full for me!!!! I had composed a list of requests and sent her some money to purchase things and bring them over for me. Some wonderful people also donated things as well! So, I really got spoiled this Christmas. In fact, when I’m finished typing, I’m going to go make coffee and drink it was hazelnut creamer!!! I got great things for school, food and candy, toiletries, and some new clothes too! One of my favorite things was that a few people saw Shan before she left and sent notes and gifts with her 

It was pretty unreal to have someone from my life in the states come to my new stomping grounds. I just wondered all the time how she perceived things. Spending time walking and talking with someone is the best…it makes me think about how often times I find myself reading about God or talking about Jesus with someone else—but how much sweeter would it be if I was just walking and talking to Him. Maybe the physical presence is a bit different, but I still think that’s what I need to be seeking.

Ok- there is SO much I could keep babbling about…so I’m just going to share 2 things…what I did on Christmas day and what my plans are for this week.
- Christmas Eve I went to the children’s Christmas party at my church, and in the evening we had a candle light service with singing and scripture reading and candles. It felt like Valley to me. On Christmas Day, I had the best plans in the world, but they didn’t end up working out. Our friends were going to take us to an orphanage to hand out candy and talk with the people, but since we hadn’t been before and the office was closed we couldn’t sign in. That was quite the disappointment. But, we did have a lovely day. After running to Bourbon to use internet (not unusual), I rested at home for a bit and then went to Kimironko market to pick up some fruits. I looked for shoes too, but not luck. We brought our fruit over to Joe and Phoebe’s house, where there had been lots of preparations going on for an enormous Christmas dinner. There were 9 of us in total, from at least 5 countries, so we sort of brought together many of our traditions (like a party favor called a xmas cracker) and had a wonderful meal together. It just felt homey to be sharing a big meal and enjoying the company of other people, even if it wasn’t our actual families. Plus- while I was there I was the lucky recipient of overseas phone calls of which I was passed around and got to hear everyone’s voices. That was quite the highlight.
After dinner, Cady and I went to our friend Jenny’s house. We hung around and chatted with some of our friends. Since school has been out, we've hung out with our friends Yvan and Skizzy pretty regularly. They didn’t really do anything at all to celebrate Christmas which is hard for me to fathom. Even after all we’d been doing for the past week or two to get in the Christmas spirit, it was still lacking a lot of the festivity I’m used to…so there is a big contrast in cultures.
-Plans for this week…I’m going to Tanzania!! I wouldn’t have been able to point it out on a map several months ago, but now it’s next door and happened to just call my name! Jess and Marissa left last week and bused through Uganda and Kenya and they will be meeting us in Tanzania. Liz and Cady and I are leaving tomorrow morning! We don’t have all the details planned; we just know what we want to see and an idea of what to do when we get there.

Thanks for keeping up…I don’t know how to set these to get comments…but feel free to email me 

December part rimwe

2008-12-28T13:36:00.002+02:00

As promised…I’ve got some more updates to share.
The end of the semester seemed to come quickly after Thanksgiving break. Although report card time is not as stressful for primary school teachers, I was still feeling the crunch at the end of the term. It was fun to talk about Christmas coming with some many cultures in my room. Each of my kids has had a different experience with “Father Christmas” or other traditions. I was not prepared to answer them when they asked, “Is Santa a real person?” or even how to respond to, “I think Santa and God must be cousins.” One of the best parts of the end of the semester was having parent teacher conferences. I don’t have a chance to talk to parents very often, and it was fun to show them what their child has done in class and to compliment their work.

The best part of my Christmas season was that my wonderful friend Shannon Buchanan came to visit!!! It felt so unreal that I was going to the airport to pick her up- but there she was! It was incredible to have someone so important in my life be able to experience parts of my new life with me. I got to show her my classroom and all our favorite places to hang out. We went for a long walk to the market- which is definitely a sight to see. It was actually emotional to take communion with her at my church here and to worship with her.

Also, our ACU friend, Serge, is from Rwanda and was here visiting at the same time. (I’ll be going to his relative’s wedding wearing traditional dress tonight!) On Sunday of Shannon’s stay here, Serge was gracious enough to take us to two genocide memorial sites. Nyamata and Ntarama are just two of the churches that people sought refuge in during the war. Of course they thought no one could kill inside a church, so they went there to be safe. On our way we crossed over a river that was famous for having bodies dumped in it during the war.

Nyamata was the first, and it was an open church building with rows of benches. Every bench was covered by stacks of clothing that was found on the people killed inside this church. It also had a case of skulls and two underground places (I don’t know what to call them). We walked down the steps and it was cool because we were underground and there were just caskets right there on the shelves. We were told that each one had many skulls inside, not full bodies. The next underground place had some caskets and then also just whole shelves filled with skulls. They weren’t in a case or anything- we were just standing inches away from people’s skulls. I just couldn’t stay down there, so I walked back out. It is strange because for me to walk away may be seen as a sign of respect or contemplation or understanding of the tragedy if I were at something like this at home. But here, people have had to see many dead bodies and limbs and then it just seems like we ‘can’t stomach it.’ So, after all they’ve seen and experienced, it seems like I should be able to handle just seeing some neat rows of skulls.

Ntarama was definitely an experience. This church was the place where Serge and his grandmother went to seek refuge. He said that if the faces were on all the skulls (there was another shelf of skulls) that he would recognize every one. There were clothes hanging on the walls, and a stack of foam mattresses people had brought with them. There was a shelf of items like cups and bowls and a shelf with only shoes on it. Serge showed us the place he sat with his grandmother when they came. He told us that he heard them coming and then when they attacked, his grandmother died, and he ran out the door and headed for the bush. He was being shot at as he ran away, and he was just 8 years old. While he was telling us the story, he was standing by the bench he had been at, which is just a few steps from the doorway. The doorway doesn’t actually have a door, its just an opening. And inside the church didn’t have any lights except for the sun coming in the windows. So to see Serge standing there in the dark church, with this bright doorway next to him that he escaped from was really remarkable. Although the church itself was not much larger than maybe the size of a school classroom in the states, there were around 5,000 people who were on the compound who were killed that day.

I have more to write about, but I think this might be a good place to break it up into two entries.

Blast From the Past

2008-12-21T22:46:00.004+02:00

I am SO far behind in blogging, because things are happening every day here and I haven't written in a month!
I've decided I'll try to write extra blogs this week, and by the end of the week you'll get to hear about my friend Shannon's visit here!! (she is here right now and it is sooo wonderful!)

In fact, I should just begin with what I did on Thanksgiving. I left at 5am Thursday morning on a bus called a Jaguar headed to Kampala, Uganda. I just won't write a detailed description because this blog shouldn't be 8 pages long. We arrived in Kampala and met a guy from a church there we were connected to who helped us go exchange money and hop on a little van to get to Jinja. We got in pretty late at night, but were starving, so we went to a restaurant- that had CHICKEN! it was pretty good, not like a good chicken breast in the states though. It was pretty tiny.
We ate a lot since it really was Thanksgiving.

The next morning we walked down the road to the rafting site, had breakfast and loaded up on the back of a large truck with the rest of the rafters. People were there from all over and for all different reasons. I was surprised with how many Europeans were just traveling Africa. Rafting was a blast!! I couldn't believe that I WAS REALLY ON THE NILE RIVER…that is just someone else's life ya know. The rapids
were pretty great, but there was quite a bit of time to relax as we floated down the river to the next rapid. We had fresh pineapple on our boats for lunch that was sweeter than it is in Rwanda…I loved that. And despite my doxycycline malaria medicine causing severe reaction from the sun, I think I reapplied sunscreen often enough because I really didn't get too burnt.

Saturday was an adventure. I feel bad not trying to explain it to you…but I just can't, so I'll just say that Kampala gave me crazy culture shock that made me nervous to go back to the States. If I was so surprised in Kampala, then I'm literally going to have a panic attack when I arrive back home. There were stores and a food court and a movie theater! (with 2 screens) It was just really weird the things I would notice. We ran into some guys we had rafted with and were able to show them around Kigali since they were heading to Rwanda to see the mountain gorillas. I loved the feeling of showing someone around Kigali, because it made me realize how acclimated I've become!

Later this week, you can expect updates that will come in relatively sequential order containing:
-concerts and thoughts on being a white
-the first semester of school coming to a close
-christmas season in rwanda
-plans for travel
-Shannon B's visit

~Narakabuze~

2008-11-26T19:14:00.001+02:00

I live in Africa! I am still pinching myself.
In the past few weeks-- I’ve gotten new (American) students in my class, celebrated our second unit of Writer’s Workshop, spent a day at Lake Muhazi, had an awesome International Fall Festival at KICS, stayed at home during peaceful protests for Rose Kabuye, started learning more Kinyarwanda, got a new boyfriend, went to the US Embassy (like stepping into America!), started a study on Daniel, exercised (ok, ok, only twice), and by the way I was just joking about the new boyfriend—haha! I was hoping that would trick someone :)
And a BIG STORY is about to occur this weekend! We have Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving break (murakoze pilgrims) and I’m going to Uganda and rafting the NILE! It will be a very different Turkey day than I’ve ever experienced. There will be no turkey, no family, no phone calls, no pie, no football, no comfy sweater, and no stuffing myself and taking an afternoon nap.
So, here is a meager attempt to count my blessings and name them one by one.
In no particular order, I am thankful for:
- my Hope and my Refuge
- that smell is linked to memory
- Angella, Duncan, Ella Jade, Haruki, Jade, Joel, and Jordan
- my roommates: Jess, Cady, and Marissa
- new friendships
- my family (miss you!)
- email updates from friends every day of the week :)
- calls from the states (except I ran out of Skype credit for Nov)
- the internet
- Lola (the corolla)
- prayers of brothers and sisters from all over the country
- having a camera
- the sunrises
- the sunsets
- the gorgeous hills
- the presentation of coffee
- my banana leaf chair
- projectors
- fruit salad
- Albert and Odette
- worship and bible studies here
- praising at CCR
- perfect weather
- ice cream at Bourbon
- Torero feeling like America
- laughter
- Cady’s Game, simply for entertainment
- Shannon B planning to come to Rwanda!
- a chance to live thoughtfully
- my health
- diversity
- crafts and artistic expression
- the way my favorite pen writes
- having a great education
- trees
- the five senses
- every hug I can get
- chocolate
- God’s patience and grace
- singing
- money (unusual to say, but true)
- hospitality of others
- people who are like family to me
- tears
- organization
- sugar
- Scripture’s effect
- cool winds

This list is nowhere near exhaustive…but I just wanted to sit down for a minute and remember what I have to be thankful for.

~~Be joyful always. Pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.~~

A little language lesson: Narakabuze= I miss you. And it is very true.

the world is watching

2008-11-05T20:55:00.002+02:00

Today was a big day. This morning I woke up at 4am to go to the US Embassy. They showed CNN on a big screen while we watching the electoral votes stream in. (did you see that hologram person?!) Besides the fact that I ate amazing breakfast foods I think I'll be craving for months to come...it was an amazing experience to be in a foreign country during our election. I was in a room with many Americans, watching our country's history happen, heard a short speech from the US Ambassador, and I was seeing it all through the lens of living here for nearly 3 months.

When I arrived at school this morning I could hear all the buzz around the courtyard where students sit. I heard 2nd graders telling each other that Obama is the US president, and I heard kindergarten students asking their teacher if she had "heard the news?" My students knew who the candidates were (and I teach first grade)and many older students came on 3 hours of sleep. Today I realized how much the world really is watching. What "muzungus" do is important to people across the world.
Tonight at worship we were told by a Rwandan friend how amazing it was to see our election on TV. He said that we should pray for America tonight and thank God for the elections. He said that to them an election without a single violent act is a miracle, and he is thankful that America is an example to his country. (Their local elections in October were very peaceful by the way.) They want to learn how to be a democracy from the way we do it. In fact, it is embarrassing that people who have never stepped foot in the USA know more about our government and this year's campaign than I do. It is almost painful when people asked if I already voted and I have to shamefully tell them I just didn't get an absentee ballot. (Their percentages of voters for even local elections are in the 90s)
What I realized today is that the perspective of the rest of the world really matters. They see the prosperity of America, and they want to be like us. Most know our music, some know our celebrities, they mandate our language (wow- ask me later), and they are making efforts to model government and social institutions like ours. While there are many areas of our culture(greed, materialism, self-absorption..just to name a few)that make me cringe, hearing others who are looking to America to help improve their countries is something that makes me very patriotic. And while I don't pretend to know very much about politics, I know that I appreciate being an American citizen.

On another topic entirely, I am feeling more and more settled in my life here. I am getting the hang of teaching first grade, making a few friends, and loving the church. I know my way around quite a few parts of the city, can speak a couple phrases in the language, and can appreciate some cultural differences as well. It is really hard to believe that there is little less than a month remaining in our fall semester!

Thank you for your continued prayers. I have been reaffirmed again and again that this is where the Lord has called me for this season of my life, and I eagerly await learning more about His purpose for this time.

"Others can walk. We must run"

2008-10-27T19:04:00.003+02:00

I have a lot of amazing things to share about the past…so I'm going to feel like I'm only scratching the surface. Here goes!

I went to my first Rwandan wedding last Sunday and it was quite interesting…all in Kinyarwanda so I understood very little. My roommates and I stuck out because we were white, and in the middle of the ceremony, the guy taking pictures just walked across the aisles to get a good angle to snap a shot of us…it was hilarious. We showed up an hour late for the ceremony and it was still going on for 1.5 hours before we moved locations. The families took pictures, only we didn't know, so we followed the cars going that way and ended up sitting in the parking lot watching them take pictures for over an hour. Then we followed them to the reception where there were traditional Rwandan dancers and all sorts of interesting and entertaining aspects of their wedding! The funniest thing was that the father of the groom gives a drink to everyone as an acceptance of the bride into their family- so there were fantas served all around. The best part was for sure the dancing, and the worst part was that Thacienne (bride) did not smile once…and in fact looked really upset the entire wedding. We were at the wedding from 2pm to about 8:30pm or so and it was still loooooooong before the end of it all! Besides- they don't feed you, and there is no dance floor, so I don't know how they convince so many people to attend weddings here! They must actually go to celebrate the union…hahaha.

Funny story- Someone here wants to put together a Christmas party sort of program and was asking around for Christmas movies to get ideas from. So, the pastor at my friend Alyssa's church was asking her for one…and she was saying that the Wheeler's probably had a couple, but they aren't going to be about Jesus. The pastor was completely confused….how could there be Christmas movies that weren't about Jesus?? She had to try to explain that in America there are other Christmas things that the movies would be about….he just could not comprehend how you could have something to do with Christmas that wasn't about Jesus.

We turned in progress reports this Friday! I'm 25% through with the school year!!! CRAZY. I love my kids.

A few families that are missionaries in Togo came here for another survey trip. They are feeling very called to move to Rwanda, which seemed crazy because there are far less organizations and aid in Togo than here, but they are going to move here in 2 ½ years. I can't really explain without writing a ton about how neat it is to meet people like them. They studied for 7 months in France to learn French, then got to Togo and learned the language they'd be working with for the first 2 years, have planted 18 churches, and much more. Their lives are just incredibly led by the Lord. I wish I had all day to just talk about what it is like to know so many people who are following God's calling in all different ways…my views of Christianity and of the Lord's Kingdom are being so stretched all the time.

I am a 5K completer!! I ran a 5K today…mind you I have not exercised since the summer…at all….and I finished! We had a few unbearable hills, but that is inevitable here in Rwanda…as well as an altitude problem as well. But it felt so great! The church put it together and we all ran before service! There is a quote by the President, "Others can walk. We must run" about how Rwanda really has to work quickly to catch up with the rest of the world…and our sermon series has been about leadership and faith, so it was a really neat experience.

I really think I need to be a runner. And I think I need to do art. And I think I need to garden or build or sew or cook. One of those for sure. Oh- and read. But I just don't have as much time as I want for these things…

I've made new friends! I even went and hung out with them without my other roommates around… which is so good for me. I was always busy in college, but I also had a lot of alone time. Here it is seldom.

I met people this week who have just gotten to Kigali so now I actually feel like I belong and live here because I get to teach other people where to find places and how to get around and places to see. That's really cool. (also driving a car makes me feel like I actually live here too!)

I wish I could explain to you some of the people who are a part of my life here. I know many missionaries who have dedicated their lives in different foreign countries and sacrificed so much for God's call, I know well known Rwandans, notable Americans, embassy workers from different countries, marines, people in government, so so so so many people who are here with NGOs (which is like a non-profit organization) some from Food for the Hungry International, Living Water, International Justice Mission, Compassion International, Peace Corps, VSO, coffee and other agriculture ministries and so on, Rwandans with miraculous testimonies, and many more inspiring people. It is amazing to just share in life with people who I see as extremely influential. Sometimes I can get confused and think that moving to Africa to teach is a "big" thing...but I'm reminded how small I really am when I am with people from all over the world.

If this blog isn't long enough for ya, just let me know and I think I could write a few more pages worth and email it to you. hahaha! I don't blame you if you skimmed to the end.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”

Where the streets have no name...

2008-10-18T09:09:00.002+02:00

Muraho again! I am writing as a woman who has lived in Africa for 2 months! Last night my friends and I went to celebrate at a restaurant called Heaven. The owners train and employ people from villages or difficult backgrounds and everything (tables, placemats, menus, etc) is handmade in Rwanda.

I have had a wonderful and exciting week with my class! We continued learning about addition sentences and are moving into subtraction, focused on 'sh' and 'ay' in our spelling and reading, learned about mammals and reptiles and birds, etc in science, finished our book called The Very Strong Readers about a school of fish (tied in with science) and what they do to be stronger readers. We also had our first Writer's Workshop celebration to conclude the first unit. That was precious! They got so excited over getting a juice box! We led elementary chapel this Wednesday as well...so that was excellent reading practice for our parts. They were great!

Probably the best school story is this:
As a background, my students get stickers on a chart and are rewarded when they get to 25 stickers. (they get to have shoes off afternoon, stay after school for 20 minutes, or get 2 stickers, or a few others) And I also give tables tallies on the white board for different things. So, we're in line and Saadou just raises his hand and says, "Getting stickers is not the most important thing and even getting a compliment is not the most important thing. The important thing is learning." I was pretty thrilled he said that and encouraged the class that learning really is the important thing. But then Jade took it another step further. She said, "Getting tallies and stickers are not important. God loving us is the most important." and then they were all in agreement talking about how stickers and tallies are not important. So Jade spoke for her whole table and said, "You can rub (erase) our tallies, we don't need them because we have God."

I have an adorable and thoughtful class!

In other news...I now am a part of too many bible studies and have to decide which to continue with and which to let continue without me so that I might have time to find another ministry. (I'm wanting to find a program for teaching kids to read that don't have the opportunity to go to school...but I'm not sure yet) So, help me in prayer over that! I like all the groups for different reasons, but 5 is just really too many in my opinion.

So after being here for 2 months- yay!- some things are starting to feel normal, and its even hard to decide what to tell everyone.

Oh yea---I got a car!! I don't know if I'm supposed to share this, but I just will...the school is able to help my friend and I by loaning us money for a car. We just pay monthly payments and when we sell it again at the end of our stay we'll just pay the rest to the school and get some money back too! (cars don't depreciate hardly at all here). Our lives have drastically changed in the past 5 days. We are able to get more than one thing done in a day!! But it is sad too because our taxi driver Pete was so reliable to pick us up from school, and the children on our walk to meet the taxi every morning don't see us coming and run up, and we don't say muramutse (goodmorning) to everyone we used to see....and all the taxis and motos we know...its just sort of sad, but also an incredible blessing!!

My battery is about to die and I don't have my adapter with me...so I must go ahead and post and add more soon!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! I couldn't be here without you :)

Lake Kivu Uno

2008-10-04T14:11:00.005+02:00

It was quite awhile ago, but September 15th was a holiday from school because it was voting, so my roommates and I went on a vacation with the Jenkins for a night on Lake Kivu! The pictures were hard to choose from to share on the blog, but I'll try to give you a glimpse of how beautiful is was!

Just For KICS

2008-09-30T13:47:00.004+02:00

I’ve officially passed the one month mark! A week ago yesterday I had been a Rwandan resident for a month. The internet provider has been down almost every evening now for close to a week, and our router blew because of a power surge at home…so that is why it has been so long. In fact, I’m typing on a Word document to have saved for the next time I can get the internet. Getting the internet set up at our home was literally a miracle! You know, one of my friends who has lived in

Africa

said her blogs started about ideas and dreams and culture, and soon a friend told her they had digressed to the weather and what she ate that day. While I don’t want to neglect sharing about my experiences in a way that has a little depth…I should mention as a warning for the coming months that what I get to eat can truly feel like the event of the day. But, lucky for my regular readers, I’ll always have a class- and that means I’ll always have at least a story to tell.

First of all, I hope you paid close attention to the title of this entry. I know it may sounds cheesy- but I’m pretty proud of that play on words. (for those of you who may not know, KICS stands for Kigali International Community School) Now, I’ve been thinking of how to make the most of using that title…and that definitely means including many pictures. I’ve been attempting a good class picture- and it has been difficult. But I think I’m ready to just upload what I’ve got. I have a small class of only 7 students…and I’ve also taken more pictures of my classroom. When I first arrived I took pictures of the transformation of the room from day to day during my week of preparation…but then I never quite felt like it was ready for the “after” picture. So, I kept putting it off. Then I realized that it will never look like the most perfect first grade classroom I could ever envision, so I better start snapping away anyways. Since uploading takes here I'm only including one "before" picture.

Last year this room was used for 4th grade...the desks are so high and they are set up in rows.

Progress- I've lowered the desks, set them up in tables, and am now sorting through K and 1 books and curriculum, and put up a bulletin board

This is what my room looks like now...that is the alphabet chart with phonic pictures that the class made up on the wall, we have a calendar area with small rugs, the bookcase, and word wall

This is from the other corner of the room- my textbook shelf and my desk in the corner

This is the white board- it is white paint on the wall with plastic covering to use as a wipe away surface. The best thing in this picture is the pocket chart! I love it!

Thats all for now because my internet code is about to run out again- and I don't want to wait for pictures to load again! More soon...and please feel free to email me :) I love keeping updated on the small details of your lives as well!

Jambo First Graders!

2008-09-07T18:39:00.003+02:00

I made it through my first week as a first grade teacher :) And, despite very minimal time for preparation and the trials of settling into a new home and route to school...I believe it went quite well. I'm eager to have a wonderful class picture to share with you...but the ones I've taken have had closed eyes or are not including my new student, so I think I'm going to wait for a better picture before I hastily post one that won't give quite the right impression.
Many of you know me and you may understand to a degree what my organization and planning preferences are like. Now, I'm not a total overachiever or detailed planner...but I am a someone who likes to have control and order and lists. Planning each day the night before it happened is not my preference whatsoever. But, when you're in a whole new world, you're in a new world ya know? So I survived- the kids have gotten the procedures pretty down- we've had some good writing and reading going on- we've learned some Swahili together- everyone got 100 on their first spelling test- and overall we had a wonderful week! I love my precious kids. It has been so encouraging to hear from parents at how pleased they are with the school and the good things they've heard from their students. And, on Thursday night I went to Bourbon and worked on planning...and one of my students came in with his family. When he came around the corner he jumped and squealed all excited!! It was seriously the best reaction you could ever get for someone seeing you...and I know I made all the high school teachers jealous that they weren't teaching the cute ones :) The title of this blog says Jambo (which is Swahili for hello) and although Swahili is not regularly spoken by any of my students, it is a prominent language of the surrounding countries in Africa and my students have really been excited about learning it! After just one Swahili lesson from Ms. Miriam (a 1/2 day preschool teacher), my kids were already greeting each other by saying "Jambo!" I had one student ask for me to write down all the words from a Swahili book so she could take it home...so here is a lesson for you: Asanti= thank you, Chakula= food, and Watoto= children. We're only reading a few letters a day, but once we read "W' from the Swahili Alphabet book I'm going to start addressing the class as "Watoto".
Saturday came and my roommates and I had a very productive day! One stayed home to be there for the plumber and welder/locksmith. The other 3 of us went to town and bought so many things we really needed. More food, a water filter, hangers, plates, rags, kitchen supplies, sheets, rugs, and so much more. We also had our first game of truth or dare last night...which was incredibly bonding --haha! I have been so blessed by the relationships I have with these girls. It is so encouraging to live with people who are honest about what they are all going through (we all have our days!) and who are there to pray with, talk to, and laugh with.
I wrote in an email today that this week hass been extremely exciting, reassuring, chaotic, stressful, fun, challenging, and emotionally difficult. Although it has been the most exciting time here in Kigali (moving into a house, finally meeting my kids, and starting school) it has also been difficult and tearful. I have been missing home, my deepest and strongest friendships, my family being a phone call away, and the comforts of the world I'm so used to. The Lord has a way of showing me what I need to see/hear at just the right time...and so after feeling so close to tears many times this week, I was encouraged at church today in an incredible way. I decided that even with so much to do for this week, that I would attend a "beginner's class" to become a member at Christ's Church Rwanda. Hearing about the history and the vision of the ministry here (CCR is strongly affiliated with KICS) was very meaningful to me. I was reminded of how important this school is for the people in this community and what an influential group of people they are. There is a vision to engage the systems in place in Rwanda in order to have lasting transformational impact on the area...and it was essential for me to hear from a particular person in the meeting today who is Rwandan and a godly believer who has finally found a place that's vision has potential to make an immense difference for the people of Rwanda. The initial engagement of leaders in the Kigali community in the community of believers is essential for effective growth and development of faith in this region--and it is really exciting to be a part of it! (I wish I was better at explaining, but it would take 4 hours like the meeting today :) so just trust me that God is leading the believers here in amazing ways)
I will be posting again soon, and hoping to send an email this week. There are always stories, and always more thoughts to share...however, there is always more to be done in preparing for class- and because of the day I've had today, it has stacked up way beyond my expectations. So, I'm going to get busy and hopefully be efficient and productive tonight. As always, thanks for reading and remembering me in your thoughts and prayers. My requests for prayer today would be for endurance, relief of worry, and times of solitude and renewal. Thank you!

Kibagaga= Residence

2008-08-27T22:41:00.003+02:00

I have an amazing story to tell about answered prayer! But before I do, I want to post a few pictures. (Please note that they took over 20 minutes to load)

The first is me with a "surprised" face when peeling the 'conjoined twins' bananas! These little bananas are delicious and so sweet- so you can only imagine how fun it is to get a bunch that has two bananas joined at the peel! There are really two full sized mini bananas in there :)

While walking downtown, we occasionally pass a store with a mannequin. There are not many, but when we have seen them they have all been white. The first one we saw was a white man with fake eyelashes and makeup on! This woman was just too hilarious and Jess and I wanted to be like her. Of course there were many people down the sidewalk who watched us take this one!

We passed a grandma and this baby on the street and I could not help but get a closer look. This is pretty much a brand new baby. I wasn't sure what to expect because a very young child started crying when it looked at me just a few days ago...but this baby just grinned the biggest grin I've ever seen!! Isn't it so beautiful!

After asking several people, following a hand drawn map, finding a translator, and then being personally directed- we had finally found the fabric hall. There are tons of piles of fabric people are selling and Marissa and I were being very indecisive...but we purchased fabric and will be having clothing made soon! My first skirt was plain purple- and it turned out great except that she measured me over my jeans so it is a little too large. but with all the carbs I've been eating...

Last but not least to add to this post--the Album Cover pic. We were waiting outside a house to see if we could see it. (This is the one we thought was ours, but it fell through yesterday) Someone said they thought the way we were standing could make a great CD cover, so we tried to get serious faces and snapped it. I'm learning the djembe drum for the band.

Alright---now for the really good stuff. Now, there is of course many stories I could tell or thoughts I could share (one of which is that after discussing the cost of toilet paper we decided to start minimizing the # of squares used, and later tonight I noticed that there are no squares on the toilet paper here...just a bit of info for enjoyment)...Instead I am going to tell you about our housing.
The house we thought we had didn't work out. As you may have gathered from other posts, this has been a difficult process. We thought we had a house in Kimihurura, and the other group thought they were ready to sign a contract too...but yesterday we were told that both fell through. Our reason was that the owner called our friend Charles (who is Rwandan and speaks Kinyarwanda) and told him they found someone to pay 200 more dollars a month than the original price...which is not true, he is just trying to make more money. So, that house is out. We were so discouraged. As you can imagine, there are many anxieties we are feeling as we attempt to get ready for the school year starting Monday. And even though living with a family is wonderful, we are anticipating moving into our house and getting settled. Well, we just slumped into my classroom and prayed about it. We were pretty close to tears...ok I had a couple. We prayed and said that we were trusting that if God sent us all the way here that He would provide for us to do what we were called here to do. We prayed for the ability to prepare our classrooms and for the gifts of being excellent teachers. Then while praying for housing, I was really reluctant to be trusting because so many places have not worked out. So, sort of unbelieving I just prayed that the landlord of the house we were going to look at that afternoon would just be a Christian or something so that they would treat us just like any other human and not just charge more because we are white. It was a pretty random thought, but I am so glad I prayed that specifically!
I was the only one able to go with the Headmaster to see the house, and it is in a neighborhood called Kibagabaga. Which, in case you're not familiar with the area, is extremely close to the school! Most every place is 10-15 min from school, but this house is just 7 mins away. The house is in good condition, has brand new kitchen cabinets (most don't even have any), brand new gas stove and refridgerator (Big Deal!), the right number of bedrooms, a small balcony with a great view, and is right in the budget we were hoping for. Now, there is no way I was about to get my hopes up, but I knew if by some miracle it actually went through, that this house would be great for us. So, Charles called the landlord. This is what he reported-- The landlord is out of the country, but left responsibility of the property to a relative. The relative was talking with Charles and said that we could move in this weekend. And then Charles told the woman that we were teachers (definitely the Spirit leading him to mention that detail) and she said- Oh, my kids go to KICS! AMAZING. She promised to hold the house for us, ask her relative if he could lower the price (he didn't, but it is still ok), and we are meeting her tomorrow to sign contracts and can move in on Friday! I don't know if there is a way I could possibly express to you how drastically different this interaction was than all the others. It was a miracle, and a specific answer to prayer.
Keep in mind---this WONDERFUL place to live came with an 'office', which the owner decided to provide a bed for...which means we have a room for any visitors that might want to come :) --this means you-- just let me know if you want to see Kigali!
I'll take pictures of the classroom once its finished, and our house too, and then you'll get to see where I'll be spending most of my time. I must go to bed now...it is almost midnight and I haven't stayed up this late since I was back in the States.

How do you see Rwanda?

2008-08-25T22:32:00.001+02:00

This is the question I am asked by many local people, and it is a hard one to answer truthfully. I see the beautiful people, kind hearts, many hills (its dry season, but they will be green), precious children, fun fabrics, God’s work within the country, astounding vision for change, great mini bananas, and incredible ex-pat friends. (Although I usually answer a simple: Oh, I love it. It is beautiful!) But, I also see the extremely bumpy dirt roads, insane drivers, the 2 hour long waits for ordering a meal, walking 10 minutes to catch a taxi (paying for a taxi), inconsistent internet, people always shouting ‘muzungu!’ and charging more because I’m white, lack of soap in restrooms, and probably the hardest thing is little to no control over time-which I’m a bit OCD about. Now, if you are reading this- don’t think I am not loving it! I just have a certain realism about my thinking that takes me right through the ‘honeymoon’ stage of being in a new country and right into the practicalities of living here for awhile.

For an example of an awesome experience so far, I will share with you about Movie Night. Apparently it started 2 years ago with 3 people. This past Sunday night there were closer to 15 people in an apartment across from the school. People there are all ex-pats from all over the world! I can’t remember everyone- but I think there was someone from Ireland, US, New Zealand, England, West Africa, Rwanda, and probably others. Just hearing all the different accents was fun! Besides the fact that I was able to meet some neat people, the movie we watched was “adorably bizarre” and I loved it! My expectations for a movie called ‘Son of Rambo’ were not all positive, but it turned out to be a great (and slightly odd) movie. I recommend you watching it.

The next event I want to share was the 2008 Crazy Fashion Show, in which four high school girls went to the market to put on a fashion show. They could spend 5000 or less (which is less than 10 US dollars) and they kept all their purchases a secret. Four of the new teachers went to a house and served as the judges for the contest. We judged on Thrift (least money spent), Creativity/Originality, Color/Accessory, and Wearability. Each of the four won in a specific category, and we had an overall winner who was awarded a trophy made from clothing used in last year’s Crazy Fashion Show. If this is any indication of how cool all the kids are- I’m excited. Anyone who knows me knows that costumes and/or crazy clothes are a passion of mine!

My First Official Day at Work occurred today (Monday), which happens to also be my half birthday. Thanks for the email birthday greetings mom! I am 22.5 today. (I bought ice cream at Bourbon and grabbed 5 spoons to share with friends in celebration) Well, anyways, today was our first work day up at the school. We had in-service/team building in the morning, school provided lunch, and then we had the rest of the afternoon to work on our classrooms. I kept thinking about all my sweet new teacher friends back in the states (Adrienne and Emily- for sure you two) who began their first day of school today- how exciting! I wish I could hear all about it!! Back in Rwanda, I have one week to organize my room, make materials, look at curriculum, buy items for the room, and have everything ready. Although it can be hard to work with the anticipation of materials and not their actual presence, I still feel that I accomplished at least a little bit so far. My classroom is the orange room…pictures of the transformation process to come. Last Friday I at least had help to lower the desks and I rearranged the classroom to try to designate a space for different areas. Today I was given smaller chairs, put up text books in the bookcase, found posters and other supplies, started on a welcome poster, and browsed through some of last year’s materials. As freaked out as I am about started the school year- I think everything is going to be ok, and I am really looking forward to it!

Another great thing is that we Found a House! After all of the trouble we have had in trying to find a place, we finally think we have a home to look forward too! The headmaster was able to take pictures and draw layouts of two houses that we were not able to go to. We chose one and are looking forward to negotiating a contract tomorrow* (*=hopefully). For now, as all the teachers are currently waiting on housing, we have been split up to stay with different families. I have the privilege of staying with the Jenkins family and their wonderful and sweet cook, Topista. Today we ate pancakes and watermelon for breakfast- it was awesome after a week with stale toast. Tomorrow I look forward to getting more supplies organized in my classroom and getting a handle on the plan for the first week of school- there are a lot of things I’d like to accomplish! As always, thanks for reading and don’t forget to keep in touch and remember me in your prayers. I imagine I will have great need for patience, rest, and encouragement. Thanks!

Yesterday in Africa

2008-08-20T19:29:00.007+02:00

I finally came back to add highlights of my first several days in Kigali. In my first email I highlighted a few wonderful aspects of Rwandan people, told how wonderful the school is, and about the beautiful country! (if you'd like that email just send one to shannon.lair@gmail.com to let me know)

Yesterday was probably my favorite day so far--so I'm just going to write about my first Tuesday in East Africa...
First, other teachers and I made our deposits into the bank accounts we set up Monday and had coffee at the hotel next door to where we are staying. Then we jumped on the bus that has taken us around and went to the Kigali genocide memorial. I learned much more about how the ethnic division began and was able to listen to personal stories and see many pictures. After walking through the hall with pictures, videos, quotes, etc., you entire an area with 3 rooms. One is a room with clothing and artifacts and a screen playing interviews of survivors. The same survivors are shown talking more in the next room: the picture room. The whole room just has walls of pictures that family members have submitted of victims. The last room is the most horrifying- the bone room. There were glass cases- 2 filled with leg bones and 2 filled with skulls. Most of the skulls had obvious damage and broken bone from machetes or clubs. The upstairs of the memorial had information on several other genocides worldwide, most of which I was surprised I had never heard of. The last room had blown up pictures of a few children and plaques saying things like their favorite food, personality characteristic, or best friend. That was incredibly sad. The name of the room said something about the children who should have been the future.

The next culture experience I had was going to the market! I don't know if you knew this...but white people do not go unnoticed in public. Everyone is saying "muzungu, muzungu". The open air market was awesome...so many fruits, vegetables, flowers, beans, flour, and further down there were household items, clothes, etc. I bought tangerines and mini-bananas!

Now for the 2 best places ever! There was a place where women are brought in from villages to learn to be master weavers so they can work for profit to support their families. The company hires them, trains them, purchases their work, and then sells to Macy's! We walked in and looked around the room at tons of women sitting on the floor weaving. I felt strange just looking in on them, and said "so we can just do this.." thinking that staring at them was a little intrusive. Well, Amanda (previous teacher and our personal tour guide) thought I meant learn to weave--so we did! I sat down with a lady named Arizee and she must have been very good because others took their work to her to measure up. She was so sweet! We could barely communicate, but smiled and laughed a lot. She taught me some tricks, too.
The second of the wonderful places from yesterday is called Cards From Africa. Child heads of households (teenagers who take care of their siblings because their parents have died) make homemade papers of all colors and varieties and then follow a design to make cards. The materials they have are minimal..they use scraps of paper from businesses and in a dark concrete room they use pulp, water, and a screen to make paper, flatten in down, and let it dry. The card designs are all different, and they sit and cut out every little piece of the picture from colored paper. They are so awesome! And it provides and income for these teenagers to provide for their little brothers and sisters to have medical care, food, and schooling.

To top off my night of cultural experiences, we ate at La Fiesta. That's right- Mexican food! haha...an african american from DC owns the place, a rwandan woman in a mexican outfit waited on us, and the music playing was french and country! Pretty unique place!

Now, just to keep my blog honest- I will tell you that many things have been difficult thus far. Culture shock is definitely real, and I'm already feelin it! As you would probably guess, there isn't a lot of convenience. The line at the bank is about 100 people long (and I'm being serious, my number was literally over 100 numbers away from who had just been called up!). At the MTN center there were no lines--just people clumping trying to get ahead. Finding a house has been very difficult..we've spent 2 full days and our principal has spent more trying to see houses. We have a contact, who knows a guy, who knows the landlord. So- we drive there. (there are no addresses so we are pointed there) and when we pull up we knock on the gate and wait for someone to open it. Many times it takes several phone calls for this. Then, after we see the house, the price changes by a few hundred a month because they have seen that we are white people....and that would be the easiest of the house-hunting situations. I could go on, but for now I'll spare you the inconveniences and just mention that I'm going to try to upload pictures with this blog! Wish me luck! And email me anytime :)

We made it!

2008-08-16T22:13:00.002+02:00

I am officially in my new city! Kigali is beautiful, just like all the pictures I've seen. I'm sitting in the middle of the courtyard of our school building using the wireless connection because for some reason we couldn't connect in a coffee shop. If it weren't after 10pm here, and if I had taken my camera with me, then I'd definitely have a picture of the view from the school uploaded right away! I'm glad we came here at night because the school sits on top of a hill that overlooks a lot of the city and the lights everywhere looks really neat.
I left Minneapolis on August 14th at 6:45pm, spent the night in DC, got up and flew out of Dulles at 10am and landed here in Kigali just before noon today! I've got to go, but wanted everyone to know I made it safely and will be writing some of the highlights very soon.
Shannon

2 Weeks Notice

2008-08-02T03:54:00.000+02:00

Here’s the news: since July I’ve met my first Rwandan friend, packed up my life and moved out of my house in Abilene, said ‘see ya later’ to incredibly influential people in my life, crammed my brother’s storage unit full in San Antonio, made the 2 day journey to Brunswick, GA with the best grandparents anyone could have and their ever more endearing dog, Molly, and continued bumping up and down the roller coaster of thoughts about shipping off to Africa.

At the same time that I am getting increasingly anxious about leaving my favorite people and chapters in life I can never return to, I am also receiving more affirmation and excitement about the new place I’ll be. When I first accepted the teaching position at KICS, I hardly knew anything at all about the country or the school. All I knew was that God had planned for me to be there. The more information I have, the more I see that Rwanda is an inspiring place and KICS is fulfilling an exceptional vision.

I won’t go into details about every little thing, because I could write pages and pages that would be too long to keep your attention…but I want to see what pops in my head tonight that I should share.

One thing is that where I am going is a safe place. So go ahead and let out a sigh of relief if you were worried about me. Next, a little about the school…Kigali International Community School, KICS, was started by a few families who were looking for a better educational option for their children. The school is run like American schools and has adopted Texas State standards. Last year the school had grown to 91 students and this year it has doubled to 180 students! I will be teaching a class of 15 first graders- they will be my first classroom of children ever and I cannot wait to meet them and see their precious faces! The school moved from meeting in a house to a brand new school building that has been sitting vacant for a couple of years. The government of Rwanda, as part of the 2020 Vision they have set for their country, built a “Model Community” in Kigali that includes everything they want for their country in the year 2020. This community has apartments to live in, nice green grass, paved roads, a town hall, a church, and a school. And guess what?! God gave KICS the school building that is a part of the country’s vision for the future (which I think is just amazing).

Now, living in Kigali should be comfortable, although there will be quite a bit of change to get used to. Certain foods that I’m accustomed to, like chicken and chocolate and sonic drinks, will not be available. I’ll be hand washing my clothes, and will not have access to ATMs. English will be spoken in school and church, but I’ll also want to communicate with people that speak kinyarwanda. However, the school has wireless internet, coffee will be plentiful, and the equatorial location makes for wonderfully temperate weather year round and delicious fruits (my favorite food group).

Just sharing this small amount of information seems to have already filled up about 2 pages, so I think I’ll wait to post again soon.

Travel Itinerary:

I will be flying on the 14^th of August from Minneapolis to D.C. The next day, I will fly to Ethiopia and then to Kigali, Rwanda. I will arrive on August 16^th after, I believe, a total of close to 20 hours of flying time. Good thing I have plenty I want to read and a new found interest in sudoku!

If you want to receive email updates while I’m gone, please email me at shannon.lair@gmail.com and let me know :)

I hear the grass is greener...

2008-07-07T22:31:00.001+02:00

...on the other side of the world! I have been blessed with the opportunity to be a first grade teacher at Kigali International Community School in Rwanda! I've heard that Rwanda is called the Land of a Thousand Hills and that because of how green the terrain is it has also been called the Land of Eternal Spring. I'm looking forward to working with other Christians, meeting children of many nations, joining a great church, making new friends, and being pulled and stretched out of my comfortable world and into the Lord's growing kingdom in Africa.
So, I followed the next logical step of creating a blog to share with family and friends. I will try to post updates as well as send email newsletters and keep up with everyone through facebook and skype as well. I'm just getting started with this blog, and I plan to post more information about the school and the country soon.
Please pray for for God to use me and grow me mightily in Kigali. Please pray that the Lord will bless me with the ability to be an excellent teacher for each student in my classroom. Please also pray for the families and church members I will meet. My desire is to bring glory to Jesus by following his example in the way I live and teach in Kigali. I will also need prayers of comfort and courage as I travel so far away from family and friends. I appreciate your prayers and have faith that God is going to be providing for me in all ways as He leads me. Thank you!