Hey, sorry about the grumpy tone of my last post. I guess I should not blog when I am tired. Sometimes it feels like a chore to blog, so I have decided to only do it when I feel compelled, not obligated. That is probably why I have not blogged in a good long while. This might be my last blog post for a while, because this friday, I leave for Rome. My cousin Dan-O will meet me there and we plan on an adventure, though the details have yet to coalesce. I looked into couchsurfing to find a free place to stay in Rome and the two people I felt comfortable requesting their couches both turned me down rather quickly. Oh well. I find it odd that my colleagues will return home in a few days. Though I miss home, I cannot imagine being there quite yet at least.
Today is my last Saturday in Rwanda. Every time I remember that, it floors me; I cannot believe how the time has passed. Sometimes in the semester, the days could not pass fast enough, but now on the tail end of my semester, I realize how short four months really is. It has gone by in a flash and I have seen a lot, too much to recount or even to recall with looking at my fastidious journal.
School is winding up and the second half of the semester actually required some academic know-how and time commitment, which made me happy. Life on permanent vacation quickly becomes mundane. I enjoy having work to do when I like the work. I have realized this semester that physical work is something I really enjoy and relish. There is nothing so peaceful and simple as working with a hoe barefoot. We started a small garden at our house. I terraced it to protect against the rain so now it looks like a wedding cake.
This Easter, we had a big feast at our house. Everyone could invite guests, provided they cooked a dish per guest. I invited the neighbor kids with whom I play soccer and I made a huge fruit salad. They showed up early in anticipation. Right before dinner, a street musician showed up at the gate. He had played me a song four weeks before right in front of our gate and I gave him a bunch of bananas in return. He has a nasally voice and a homemade, out of tune guitar. Together, he manages to sound decently good. Randomly, he showed up at our gate on Easter afternoon and began to play me another song. I do not know whether he was expecting more bananas or what, but I invited him in. He ended up entertaining all of us with many more songs. Him and his brother then stayed for dinner. He has one eye. The guests packed into our living room around four long tables, friends I knew and friends I did not know, to share a meal together. It felt right to open up the table to even a stranger, much less our friends, like a formal recognition of the universal body of Christ and a sign of the diversity of the Kingdom. Maybe I am over-thinking it, but all in all, Easter went splendidly. For the first time, I looked past the superficial Easter celebrations to see how vitally important Easter is for Christians. The resurrection is a big deal theologically and ethically, don'tchaknow.
I like the rain here. We are in the middle of rainy season, which means that it rains at least once daily. The sun can be out in full force only for a drastic change to occur in a few minutes that sees the arrival of torrential rain blowing sideways. I took a shower in the rain today, freezing cold but it saved some water so I considered it worth it. I have started birdwatching again, though it might be more appropriate to say that I have started noticing the many birds around me, though I cannot successfully identify most. It is amazing how alive the world is when I actually take the time to open my eyes. I do not want to live with my eyes shut.
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