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.
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