Regimen

     This feels odd to write but I have established a routine here in Kigali; my life is basically patterned instead of just a crazy roller coaster ride on an African expedition. I usually run in the morning, sometimes around Amahoro National Stadium, sometimes down into the nearby valley on the dirt roads. The kids I pass always beam their beautiful smiles at me and laugh as they greet me, as though they share a funny secret from the awkward, goofy looking muzungu that I am. It probably does not help that I have a funny accent when pronouncing kinyarwanda words. I find the whole situation quite funny. Then comes a nice outdoor shower and breakfast, which usually involves a decadent array of carbs and starches (like most every meal). They have this odd version of peanut butter here; they call it G-nut, it stands for ground nut. I prefer regular peanut butter because G-nut tastes really bland to me, unless you load the bread product with an ungodly amount of honey.
     We then hop onto a mutatu, the local buses which are usually packed to the brim, to get to our classes, which are held at PROCOM's headquarters in a residential area near the prison (gareza). I cannot believe how many people they manage to arrange in those vans. We have class for about four or five hours with a two hour lunch break and then head back towards our house in Remera, sometimes by way of Kimironko Market. Everytime I go in there the vendors accost me with offers for whatever they are selling, whether it be a pile of beans, flour, yards of fabric, or knock-off shirts and shoes. The afternoons and evenings are usually free. Tonight I trekked downtown for a little while. Tomorrow is reggae night at the Hotel des Milles Collines and the night after that will probably be taken up by an outdoor movie. Saturday is Umuganda, which is a public working day that happens towards the end of every month where everyone does some public service for the morning. I am hoping to get onto a ditch digging crew, just for the experience.
Also, Deuteronomy is a crazy and disturbing book of the Bible. We have been reading it for a class and I have had a hard reconciling my theistic conception (admittedly elementary) with the one presented in Deuteronomy. Help?

Stalking a Baboon and Chasing Zebras

Today is our one week anniversary of arriving in Rwanda and we just got back from safari in the Eastern Province. As the title suggests, I stalked a baboon and took a photo of him eating out of a pan, although he knew I was there the whole time; also, Devon, Blake and I spent a good half hour walking around the hills of Akagera National Park looking at animals and even chasing some zebras. We never got even close to them and it felt more like we were running WITH them as opposed to running AT them. The whole safari experience blew my mind, it felt quite surreal. Besides seeing the animals (like crocs, hippos, zebras, giraffes, baboons, etc.), the best part was just driving around the huge safari park because we were allowed to sit on the windows and have our torsos hanging out the sides of the cars. I got pretty sunburned but I consider it totally worth the slight pain. We also camped on the highest hill last night. Even though the ground was bumpy, I slept like a madman.
It is weird how leaving and coming back can make a place seem like home, even when we have only been living here for a short time. Also, this does not feel like school as of yet. I think we have had a total of four class sessions, and most of our days are spent exploring the city and getting to know each other. Two days ago, the two other guys (already mentioned) and I walked a ways away down to Kimironko Market, a local market that bustled with activity and was stocked full of random goods. I ended up buying a Ugandan watermelon. I gave it to Alphonse, one of guards here at the Go-ED house. We cannot communicate very well since he speaks kinyarwanda and swahili and I speak english and french, but we are friends. We have run together, which was great since we ran at the same fast pace. We have also kicked the soccer ball around a fair amount and a couple nights ago he taught us guys how to dance as they do in the Congo and as well as traditional Rwandan dance. Anyways, I have decided that when I blog I will try to focus on one aspect what we do here instead of trying encompass everything into a single blog post. After all, this is my life. I cannot convey it all to my family and friends and allow you to see the world through my eyes, as much as I wish I could. I have been posting pictures on facebook and will continue to do that as long as it works because our internet is too slow to allow pictures on this blog. Tura subira!

Nous sommes arrivés

Mwiriwe, this is just a note to say that I am in Rwanda, Kigali specifically. We have been here around four and a half days and it already feels like forever. The city is bustling and the language is tough, but graspable. I think I speak English now with a kinyarwanda accent, oddly enough. We have not had access to internet because our house's internet thingy is down. Right now, I am at Bourbon Coffee shop; I ordered a grilled vegetable sandwich. The internet will probably be working well tomorrow though. I like it here and ni meza (I am fine). Today we went to a genocide memorial; tomorrow we will go to another. Friday, we leave on safari for a couple of days. Yesterday, we went to a futbol match at the National Stadium, which is near our house (we walk everywhere around here, it is great!) and saw the semi-final of the U-17 African Cup of Nations match between Burkina Faso and Congo. The game was fun and went to penalty kicks, but the atmosphere provided the most lively entertainment. 

We live off a dirt road in the Remera neighborhood, an area teeming with the activity of botas and mutatus (crappy motorcycles taxis and public buses). I run every morning, which entails an early rising, usually before the roosters start sounding off. We have a porch out front where is quite nice to sit on, journal, and eat any meal of the day. We have two Rwandan women who cook for us, Aida and Shadia. Alphonse and Celestin are the house security guards and they run with us occasionally. Neither of them speak much English, and none of us are good with conversational kinyarwanda. That makes communication a joyful struggle that involves a lot of laughter and repetition of the word "Yego" which means yes. 

My teacher for my Peace and Reconciliation class is a Free Methodist pastor named Pastor Anastase. He knows the Seattle area quite well, and so the first day we chatted about Warm Beach, Tacoma, Mark Abbott, and Phyllis Sortor. He is quite connected in the Free Methodist world, but also is an expert of reconciliation and peace studies. It is amazing the forgiveness the Rwandan people have enacted and the resulting reconciliation that has been allowed to occur. So far, our classes have been at the Pastor's work, he heads an NGO named PHARP (Peace, Healing and Reconciliation Program). The first day we went there, we were introduced to the women who are learning sewing there at the center and then they sang for us a traditional African song of welcome. It was a call and response song, and the soloist not only could wail like a pro, but she danced as well. We experienced a similar sing-songy environment at the church we attended last Sunday, the Christian Life Assembly. We witnessed a baptismal program that was unlike any I had ever seen before. I wish my baptism had been like this. People who stayed to watch joyously joined their voices together welcoming those who experienced post-submersion renewal in the community of Christ. I felt privileged to behold the ceremony.  

On a random note, I drank my first and second sodas in like four years. I caved and decided to try a Coke since I remembered that coca-cola in foreign countries usually tastes way better. It was not worth it, but oh well. The place where I ordered the Coke is an Italian pizzeria called Sola Luna where every Monday night they hold a quiz night. A whole bunch of expats, embassy workers, and foreigners show up to socialize and test their knowledge of random political facts. If your team wins, the house pays for all of your table's food. So we went last Monday and got schooled. My team answered 8 out of 25 questions right. But, on the plus side, I did learn that George Bush was a cheerleader in high school, that the president of Libya, Gaddafi, has a bodyguard corps made up entirely of female virgins, and that US soldiers who landed on Normandy in WWII wrapped their gun barrels in condoms to waterproof them. Oh the things you can learn at an Italian pizzeria populated by expats. 

I will try to blog when I can, but frankly there are so many other things that appeal to me more than sitting on this computer and staring at the screen. I will probably have to force myself to do the whole blogging thing. Here are some pictures. Actually, it will not let me upload any photos now, so that will have to wait. Tura Subira.

Hmmm

My blog does not seem to be working. This is a test.

Imminence

I have had many things on my mind lately, especially getting some decent sleep, but for some reason all I can think about right now is that I will be putting on my chaco sandals within the next two days, without freezing my toes off. The thought of sandals makes me giddy.

Too Much Tea

I cannot sleep. I have tossed and turned in bed for four hours, failing to fall asleep. I blame it on the massive quantities of thai tea I drank as part of dinner tonight. One girl told me it had a lot of caffeine, but I offhandedly disregarded her claim. It turns out that she was utterly right. So I thought I might as well blog if I am awake and not really doing anything.
     Earlier today, actually yesterday since I am writing in the wee hours of the morning, cousins Jon and Levi dropped me off here at the Comfort Inn in Washington DC where I connected with my Go-ED group mates, most of whom are going to Rwanda with me. I think our Rwanda group has 17 students going on it. However, there is a smaller group of seven or eight girls going to Mekong, Thailand and they are here with us as we all get orientated together. So far, things are looking up, very much so. The people I have met are great and friendly, and I have even heard tell of an opportunity to go bungee-jumping sometime during the semester. Also, the first weekend we get to Rwanda we take off on safari
     I am tired of the cold and the snow, it wears on my bones especially since I only brought clothes suitable for warmer climates. I cannot wait to touch down in tropical Rwanda, although the long flights will certainly be harrowing. I had hoped that blogging and reading would make me tired. Unfortunately, that highly caffeinated tea must still be coursing through my system. An all-nighter it is.

Countdown (sick for the big sun)

 Although I had much time to prepare, both mentally and packing-wise, I feel as though the future has caught with me. I flew from Seattle to Baltimore, constituting the first leg of my epic which is to include a semester studying, living, breathing and walking around in Rwanda followed by a month traveling around Europe with my cousin Daniel Overholt, or Dan-O as I sometimes like to call him. As of now, we are planning on stopping and staying in Budapest, Istanbul, Greece, and parts of Italy, using the European trains like nobody's business. Pretty much the stuff of my dreams.

a sweet gigantic mobile

Currently, I am residing in the suburbs of Baltimore, staying with my cousin Jon, his wife Jackie, their son Levi, and our cousin Erin Gaughan who lives with them. Today, Jon and I visited two museums on the National Mall, the National Gallery of Art and the Natural History Museum. I left Seattle bright and early on the morning of monday the 11th to hang out here in Maryland until the 13th (tomorrow) when I will trek again, this time to Washington DC to finally meet up with my study abroad mates. We leave on Friday, after a day and a half of orientation, for Kigali! I find it odd that it is snowing right now here on the eastern seaboard, knowing that in my near future I will be harbored in the opposite climatic extreme, Rwandan heat.

Napolean

Though technically I have not left on my study abroad adventure, I already feel the sad reality of separation from both family and friends. However, that did not stop me from dancing like a maniac against Levi in a dance off, officiated by Jon and Jackie. Although I have trained with the best of the best of the best dance instructors like the right-honorable Michael Trapp, Levi pulled out some crazy moves and made it an intense competition. The judges said we tied. I know I was lucky to escape with a draw.

in the club

I recently joined a club, or maybe a (not-so) secret society. Polar bears are crazy in the head, especially human ones. I hope to continue and make this an icy, yet invigorating, New Year's tradition. It was almost like baptism, without the religious significance readily on hand. I was giddy for the next half an hour after the lakefront communal baptism service. (This has nothing to do with studying abroad with Go-ED, it is just the most interesting thing I have experienced in the last week). 

(Pre-submersion), nervous anticipation 

A mad and chilly dash

Post-Submersion, dry and alive