My flight left Rwanda for Ethiopia, Rome, Washington DC, Los Angeles and finally, Maui.  Yes, Maui.  I have decided to end my Peace Corps experience and come home. 

As our initial training began to wrap up and final site placements grew near, we all felt the pressure to commit to housing for the next year and to staying in Rwanda for the duration.  I decided that, although I loved my time there, staying for an additional two years didn’t seem appealing.  Days are filled with lots of down time and I found myself becoming super antsy and anxious.  A big part of Peace Corps’ mission is to build sustainable development.   It is crucial to integrate into the community, observe the lives of the people there, and to think of ways to leave a lasting legacy of service.  Unfortunately for me, I felt a little stir crazy and found myself thinking about home a lot.  So, I am now in Maui with my family and look forward to moving back to San Francisco in the fall.  I do not regret my experience with the Peace Corps.  It is a great organization and I am thankful they gave me this opportunity.  In my short time I have learned so much about myself, and Rwanda, a wonderful country.  I met many fun and fascinating people and if I had to do it all over again, I would do it in a heartbeat.  

So last Saturday a few of us decided, hey, it's Saturday night, let's do something fun.  So, since the whole town was shut down for the Genocide commemoration week, we decided to go to a hotel, buy some beers and a bottle of J&B Whiskey and drink at our house.  In the back of our house is a big charcoal pit where all the food is prepared.  So we sipped on our beers, and filled our mugs up with whiskey and sat around the charcoal pit waiting for our oil to get hot.  We thought it would be a great activity to fry up some home made french fries to compliment our slight alcohol buzz.  We were all reminiscing how easy it was to get late night food back home, just stumble up to any place open, tell them you want french fries, hand them your money, and two minutes later, hot fries.  This is not the case in Rwanda.  We first started by getting the potatoes out of the dirt and washing them. Then we had to bleach them for 45 minutes followed by peeling.  Next we cut them into small wedges, and finally dropped them into our frying pan of hot oil.  This pretty much took all night, but damn those french fries were good! So we have all decided that beer whiskey and some hot french fries is basically the best Saturday night we're going to get!

Last week we had a talent show.  And although I left my tap shoes and my Spanish Web behind in the states, I decided to do a song and dance to one of my favorite artists; Miley Cyrus’ Party in the USA.  Four other girls joined me as we changed the original words to words that fit in with our experiences here in Rwanda.  Here is a brief key of words before I tell you all the song: KGL- Kigali International Airport Chocos- these weird hiking sandals that all of us volunteers seem to have 80 pds- Our weight limit distributed between two bags A Thousand Hills- What Rwanda is known for Condom sign- There are tons of Condom bilboards around this country Yawe song- A very popular song here (pronounced yaw-way) Yego- means yes in Kinyarwanda (the native language)Muzungus- White people Blue Bar- our favorite (and pretty much only) bar in Nyanza Primus- the local brew Crocs- see chocos Mupemba- Head of Peace Corps (also known as Mup- pronounced moop)   I hoped off the plane at KGL With my chocos and my 80 pds, Welcome to the land of a thousand hills Not gonna fit in, Jumped in the bus for the first time Looked to my right and I saw a condom sign, This is all so crazy I guess I’m not that lazy,

My tummy’s hurting and I’m feeling kinda homesick Too much pressure and I’m nervous, That’s when the driver man turned on the radio And the Yowe song was on And the Yowe song was on And the Yowe song was on!  (Chorus) So I put my hands up they’re playing my song The butterflies fly a way, Nodding my head like Yego Moving my hips like Yego So I put my hands up they’re playing my song You know I’m gonna be ok, Yaaaaaa it’s a party in Rwanda Yaaaaaa it’s a party in Rwanda   Went to the Blue bar to buy a Primus Everybody’s looking at me now, Like who’s that chick that’s rocking crocks She’s gotta be from out of town, It’s not hard with my friends all around me Everyday is Peace Corps party Cuz all I see are bright colors, I guess I got the memo

My tummy’s hurting and I’m feeling kinda nervous Too much pressure and I’m nervous, That’s when the driver man turned on the radio And the Yowe song was on And the Yowe song was on And the Yowe song was on(Chorus) So I put my hands up they’re playing my song The butteflies fly a way Nodding my head like Yego Moving my hips like Yego So I put my hands up they’re playing my song You know I’m gonna be okay Yaaaaa it’s a party in Rwanda Yaaaaa it’s a party in Rwanda

I feel like hoping on a flight Back to my hometown tonight Mupemba stops me every time The DJ plays my song and I feel alright(Chorus) So I put my hands up they’re playing my song The butterflies fly away Nodding my head like Yego Moving my hips like Yego So I put my hands up they’re playing my song You know I’m gonna be ok, Yaaaaa it’s a party in Rwanda Yaaaaa it’s a party in Rwanda!    

Today is Easter and I went with a group of other Volunteers to a Pentecost Church service, which sounded like a nice thing to do on Easter Sunday.  But what I didn’t know is that the Pentecost church service is 3 hours long, followed by a half an hour auction.  I had a traditional outfit made (skirt and a top) out of this very obnoxiously bright lime green and orange fabric.  I swear, when I bought the fabric, it was not the bright…  So I looked slightly ridiculous, but everyone seemed to really love my outfit.  I was even chosen to stand up in the middle of church to say “Maramustse” (Good Morning) I think all because of my outfit.

The Pentecost Church service was different than Catholic Church because there is much more singing and dancing, and not as many scriptures, so at least, it was a little entertaining.  After 3 hours, I tried to dart to the door to make my escape, but had to stay for the auction.  This auction was a fundraiser to raise money for the church, so in my mind, im thinking of different items to be auctioned off (spa packages, a date with someone, a free meal somewhere) and then a very well fed goat was led in to the alter and people started bidding like crazy!  After the goat was auctioned off, a white rabbit was next.  Good thing I was not in charge of this auction, because what we want in America, is much different than what they want here, so I made a mental note in case I ever get assigned to organize a auction…

We all spent the last week at our actual sites to meet our communities and village leaders before we actually get there in May.  Everyone seemed very nervous to be by themselves for the first time and a little overwhelmed to be meeting and staying with their whole village for the first time.  I, on the other hand, was not nervous because I was going to be staying with a current PCV along with 3 other trainees that are placed in Kigali as well.  We were assigned different tasks, such as meet the head of your village, meet the Mayor, go to the health clinic ect, which was all impossible for everyone placed in Kigali, so for us, it was not such a scary situation.

We arrived in Kigali and met everyone in the organization (EDC) and in order to welcome us, we all went out to a happy hour (yes, one of the pluses of being in a city.  I would like to see anyone in the rural villages try to go to a happy hour!) The president of the company made it clear that he was going to pay for our drinks, so I ordered a glass of wine.  EVERYONE else ordered beer, so I felt very awkward sipping on my wine.  Now I know to just order beer no matter what because they kept telling me that everyone drinks beer, and if you get invited for drinks with someone, the correct thing to do is to order beer, so I felt extremely awkward, but now I know! No wine!  We were all very tired, so the volunteers left a little early to get some shut eye. The next few days were filled with meeting organizations that we will be working with, talking with Melanie (a French lady who started EDC) about what we would like to be doing, and we sat in on a class that was teaching different Business and Finance Modules (things we will be eventually teaching.)  A big plus about being in the city is the amount of English that is spoken (thank god.)  Learning Kinyarwanda is still important, but for the most port, all our counterparts speak English really well, which makes everything so much easier. One of the highlights from our Kigali trip was going to the Market.  This Market was way bigger than the Market here in Nyanza.  It is an outdoor market filled with venders selling everything from spices and flour to pots and pans, to shoes and souvenirs.  We walked through the souvenir section and I noticed this drum that I kind of liked.  So I picked it up to look at it, and immediately the seller came to me and started shouting 6,000! I put it down because a.) I didn’t really want a drum right now, and b.) 6,000 was pretty expensive- even though the exchange rate is 500:1.  So I walked away because I really wasn’t interested, and he followed me around saying “sister, sister, how much how much?” I tried my best to ignore him and keep walking, but he was a relentless salesmen and so I finally turned to him and said 2,000 hoping he would scoff at me and walk away.  He then lowered the price to 4,000 and I kept walking, and finally he said OK! 2,000.  So just like that, I turned around and bought the drum.  So for the rest of my visit, I had to awkwardly carry around my drum.   

The last Saturday of every month is called “Umuganda” here in Rwanda. Umuganda is when everyone in the community is assigned some type of community service to accomplish during the day. So, as our first Umuganda, we walked for about 2 hours to a huge open field that is going to be cultivated for Cassava that the whole village would share. Once we got to the field I was shocked to see how many people showed up and how hard everyone was working, all for free too! This field was on a hill (everything is so hilly here) and was covered with men and women of all ages hoeing the hard ground to prepare for planting. I would estimate over 600 people there working away. Our group of thirty Umuzungus made quite the scene. Of course none of us had our own hoes, so we felt a little helpless, but workers would give us their hoes just for entertainment, I believe. They would first let us try to do it ourselves and laugh, then take the hoe back and show us how it’s really done, and give it back. When we were catching on, they were very excited for us! I’m telling you though, if you worked out on the farm all day, you would most definitely be RIPPED, because I “hoed” for about 10 minutes straight and was SO tired! It’s tough work, but now I know how to hoe! (for all you sick people, get your head out of the gutter…)

It was really fun to see how many people came to work so hard on their Saturday. The energy was very high; if you were not hoing, then you were singing, clapping or dancing. Umuganda went from 7am-noon. At noon we were all dead tired and all I could think about was taking a bucket bath. Everyone got together and the head of the Umuganda announced every village that had come to participate. They had also marked off how much land was hoed (I am so not a farmer, is there a correct way to say land after it had been hoed? Doesn’t sound right, someone throw me a bone here…) and even after 5 vigorous hours of working in the sun, everyone was cheering and clapping and very excited to see how much we had accomplished. When I first heard about Umuganda, I was thinking of myself walking around, and if I saw a weed growing, I would pick it. This was definitely not the case because it was serious work! I am assuming next month we will begin to plant the Casava at the field, but I am not sure. I have a picture of myself amongst sweaty, hard working Rwandans hoeing, it’s pretty comical, I hope I can upload it soon! So that was my first experience at Umuganda!

Last night we had a big ceremony to announce our placements and organizations we will be working with for the next two years.  With chalk we drew a huge country of Rwanda divided up in the different sectors with stars were everyone will be.  Then Mup announced all of our sites, and we walked to the star on the map where we will be living.  It was really fun to see where everyone will be.  My site is…drum roll please…Kigali! Yes, that’s right, I am placed in the capital city of Rwanda. I was immediately disappointed with my placement.  My Peace Corps visions of myself dressed in traditional Rwandan clothes fetching my water and picking fresh vegetables from my garden in the middle of a rural village were immediately slashed and replaced with a familiar vision of myself living in a big city.  A big reason why I wanted to join the Peace Corps was to get away from the city environment and experience the rural world first hand, so being placed in the very busy city of Kigali was not what I had imagined.  There are 9 volunteers in the Kigali district, so we will all be really close to each other.  So needless to say, last night, everyone who was placed in Kigali was a little disappointed.  However, this morning we got our job descriptions, which really changes my whole opinion of living in the big city. 

            I will be working with 3 other volunteers with the International NGO (Non Government Organization), Education Development Center (EDC).  This non-profit educational research and management organization is based in Boston and has over 335 projects in 50 different countries.  The EDC is funded by USAID and we will be focusing on the Rwanda Youth Program (RYP—I know, there are way too many acronym’s!)  We will be providing 12,500 youth, ages 14-24 in Rwanda’s capital city of Kigali with market-relevant life and work readiness training and support.  I will be providing training in English and health relate topics, such as HIV/AIDS prevention, family planning ect as well as linking the participating youth to jobs, return to school and or business start up opportunities.  I will also be working with the youth in teaching them the importance of saving money and how to obtain small business loans.  So in short, it looks like I will be mentoring youth in a whole bunch of ways!             I am very excited about my job description.  I was worried I was going to be placed in a health center or doing Micro financing with small business around Rwanda.  I really wanted to work with youth and I think being in Kigali, I will have access to a lot of different ages and ranges in social classes so I will be able to reach out to an eclectic group of kids.  I have had so many positive mentors in my life who have really shaped me and influenced who I am today, so I am excited to be that person for kids here.  No I will not have the typical “Peace Corps” experience without running water or electricity, but I do have 104 weekends in which I will definitely be visiting all my friends around the country!  I will also have a lot of visitors because according to the current PCV’s, everyone seems to go to Kigali at least once a month to pick up mail, go to the movies, or go to a restaurant, so it looks like I will never be lonely!   Next week we will be staying in our new sites for a week to get a taste of what our sites are like.  We will be moving to site sometime in May after training.  I think I will be living in an apartment by myself, which will be nice.  I am already excited to start decorating and cooking in my own place!  For site visit, I am staying with a current volunteer who has been living in Kigali for a year, so she will be a good resource for me.  I will keep you all posted!

So yesterday was my 24th birthday, and what a great day that was!  March 20th was also another volunteers, Devin’s, birthday, and three other volunteers had birthdays during the last week, so we all decided to have a big birthday bash on Saturday to celebrate all the March birthdays. 

We all woke up around 6:30am to catch the 7am bus to the Nyungwe Forest National Park, which is in the southwest of Rwanda.  The bus drive was about three and half hours to get there.  Something I have learned here is that all the roads here are super windy because of all the hills, so I was happy to be able to sit in the front of the bus to avoid motion sickness (just BARELY made it!)  The ride was beautiful there, lots of green and lush hills, and fields of tea leaves or rice.  It is much more green and jungley than I would have accepted, but then again, we are in the peak of the “rainy” season, so maybe everything is so bright green because of the random downpours.  Anyway, we finally got to the park around 11am and we were all very excited to get off the bus.  The Peace Corps had negotiated a price for the volunteers to pay only $35 US dollars (still expensive considering we get paid $37,000 FRW/about $70 US dollars for three weeks, so about $2 US dollars a day) but they had forgot the letter clarifying the negotiated price, so they wanted the normal admission rate ($60 US) from all of us.  Of course none of us could afford their price, and there was no negotiating with them, so sadly, we hoped back into the car to return back home to Nyanza L  I was super bummed about it, but the truth is, we will all be here for two years, and were promised a trip back, so we will go at some point.  Also, it started POURING rain right when we left, so we will just have to pick a better day.  All in all though, it was really fun actually to get out of the city of Nyanza and explore the countryside and more rural areas.  So all was not lost. When we got back we had all decided we were going to cook a big “Mexican” feast and then go to the Boomerang bar to continue the birthday celebrations.  We are usually left on our own for the weekend to cook, so we cooked up some rice, beans, maize, guacamole, salsa and grated some cheese.  There are these flat breads here that are called “chipotis “ (sp?) that we used for tortillas and piled on the ingredients to make a DECLICIOIUS burrito! I am so excited that Rwanda has all the essentials to make a decent burrito, so I most definitely will not go starving ever!  In fact, as I type I am snacking on some gauc that I just made; we have an avocado tree in our backyard, I went to the market earlier and bough a pepper, two tomatoes and an onion, and used my old tin oatmeal can to mix everything together, really good!  Oh ya, we also had also bought some Pringles at the “Muzungu” (white people) supermarket in Butare on our way back from the Park, so we feasted on burritos, Pringles and No Bake chocolate, peanut butter and coconut cookies.  It. Was. Awesome.  After our feast, we had a few rounds of birthday shots, and then left for the Boomerang.  We had a room all to ourselves (which Devin’s mom sent her a “hip hip hooray” sign that we hung up on the wall to make it a little more festive.) There was a DJ and some beer so needless to say we danced the night away! Well ok, until our 10pm curfew that is…  We tried to bring some “American Culture” to Rwanda by constructing a beer bong, but we were able to find a suitable garden hose, but not so successful at finding a funnel, so our attempt was unsuccessful.  But all and all, what a fun birthday in Rwanda! 

Today I met Serphina, my sister here,  to go to Church.  She is Catholic just like I am, so I didn’t really mind going to church with her.  In Rwanda, Christianity is huge, so I wasn’t too surprised how many people were at church.  Church lasted about an hour and forty five minutes; forty five minutes of just praying at the end.  It was hard to pay attention because the mass was in Kinywarwanda, but it was cool to see that the exact same thing happens in churches all over the world.  There was a big picture of the Pope on the wall, and I kind of laughed and remember my time in Rome when I met the Pope and wanted to ask him to join us at Oktoberfest (haha Kathleen and Elizabeth…) but I figured that with the language barrier, and the craziness of the story, she would not understand what the heck I was saying, so I passed on the story all together.

            After church (Seraphinas two sisters, brother, and mom were all at the mass too) we all walked to their house to have some lunch.  I was happy to be able to help cook because I have been wanting to learn how to use a Rwandan kitchen; pretty much an open flame with huge metal pots.   We cooked rice, beans, plantains (boiled with tomatoes), Some kind of meat stew, and of course, fried potato wedges (they call them chips, but they are pretty much French fries- served at every meal.)  So as the guest of honor, I went down the buffet line first.  I put a pile of rice on my plate and moved to the next pot when I heard my mom behind me saying something in Kinyarwanda as she slapped three more piles of rice on my plate.  She did this the whole way down the buffet.  My plate was piled so high, I was nervous to even walk with this giant mountain of food.  We all sat down and before we ate, passed around a huge tub of warm mayonnaise that I knew I wanted to avoid.  I tried to explain to them that I do not like Mayo, and they were completely shocked.  As we were eating, my mom noticed that I didn’t grab any meat from the stew (I wasn’t sure what kind of meat it was, and I am in general avoiding the meat here) so she run to the kitchen and somehow piled 4-5 chunks of meat on the top of my mound.  I seriously wish I had taken a picture of this feast.  I ate as much as I could with frequent stops to breath and try to fit more food in. I am known to put down a few steaks every now and then, but my appetite pales in comparison to that of the Rwandans!  My mom kept asking me the same question in Kinywarnda and finally my Seraphina translated for me.  She kept asking if I don’t eat in America.  I swear, I had eaten almost three quarters of this meal, and she was thinking that wasn’t enough!  So I reached down to the depths of my soul and was able to finish this monstrosity of a meal.             After lunch my family walked me home and I lay in bed for an hour or so trying to digest.  After, I did my laundry outside (wow, the laundry and dryer machine invention deserves a Nobel Prize.)  Laundry takes a long time when you are hand washing and then drying on a clothesline, but its something to do, so I do not mind too much.    

Monday was International Women’s Day.  The city of Nyanza (where I am right now) celebrated with a ceremony during the day.  Three to four Secondary schools were there singing and dancing as everyone came to the stadium for the celebration.  The kids were in the infield dancing, and it wasn’t long until they pulled the “muzungu;s” (the PC volunteers) out of the audience to dance.  Boy was that a big laugh. We were jumping up and down and dancing and having fun, but definitely not following any choreography.  After everyone was present at the ceremony, different groups of dancers performed traditional dances accompanied by a big drum and vocals.  They started with young girls, under five I would guess.  They were all so cute, and I couldn’t believe they could learn such a complicated dance!  Next was the teenage girls, followed by older women performing very traditional Rwandan dance.  I took some pictures that will soon be uploaded.  After the dancing, a couple women gave speeches (in Kinyarwanda) which was later translated for us in English.  These speeches were about women empowerment.  Most of these women speakers were beaten by the husbands and are now divorced and now have stories of becoming self sufficient on their own.  In is great to see that women have very large roles in Rwandan society.  In fact, we learned that 48 percent of the Parliament here is made up of women, so International Women’s day was a big deal here. This weekend we went to a town called Butare, about a 45 minute bus ride.  Our first stop was at a history museum with old artifacts and photos of Rwandan life.  I nearly DIED when I saw a section of the museum labeled “sports.”  There were a few photos that I could not believe what I was looking at.  I quickly read the explanation, which went a little bit like this, “ Different exercises that were classified as sports were often practiced by young people from important families at the Kings Court.  Some of these activities consisted of the bow and arrow, throwing a spear at a target, and throwing a spear at a moving target.  But it was THE HIGH JUMP that fascinated spectators the most ever since its European arrival in the Nineteenth Century” I nearly DIED when I saw this! I took a picture of someone High Jumping, and will post soon, but how cool!              Next we had lunch in Butare.  I found an American place called “Cheers” and new this would be a good bet.  I treated myself to a cheeseburger and chocolate shake; yes, I am definitely American. Surprisingly, it was pretty good!  After lunch I was feeling pretty good but was not expecting what was to come.             We drove about 20 more minutes to another Genocide Memorial.  This memorial was not a museum like the first site we went to, rather more of a monument.  It was a secondary school on top of a hill that the Tutsis were told would be a safe place for them to hide during the war.  Fifty thousand Tutsies hid with no food or water for two weeks until the Hutis came and killed all the hiding Tusies and threw their bodies into mass graves.  This monument was preserved as the same scool 16 years ago, and in 1995 (one year after the war) they exhumed the bodies in the mass grave and preserved the body in some type of lime treatment and had the bodies laying in each of the rooms.  This was a very shocking site for us all.  It literally took my breath away to be able to so clearly see these bodies that had been preserved.  The amount of children was heartbreaking, and the bodies were so well preserved, you could almost see expressions on their faces.  Nobody was prepared for this and it came as a huge shock.  Its so easy for us to forget that the genocide did happen, but even though it was 16 years ago, it still very much so lives on.  Our language teachers live with us, and they were all apart of the war, so it was harder for them to “relive” the horror than it was for us.  I still can’t imagine even though I have gotten a small tastes of Rwanda’s past.  I have said this before, but Rwanda is such a strong and hopeful country to be able to recover from what happened in 1994.  

This is our back yard where we do our laundry and below is our common area where a lot of us study kinyarwanda

So this last week I feel like we have all really gotten into a routine.  A day for me is to wake up around 7:30 to get to breakfast by 7:50.  It is usually a little cool in the mornings, maybe 75 degrees.  We usually have some type of bread with either jam, butter or peanut butter (never all three the same day) and some tea or coffee.  From 8am-10am is usually our first language class.  We have four people per language class.  Some of the class are outside some of them are inside.  Each class has a chalkboard and four chairs and a teacher.  10am is our tea break followed by either another language class from 10:30-Noon, or a medical class or a technical skills class.  Lunch is from Noon – 2:30.  Lunch is usually rice, potatoes, or noodles, with either carrots, green beans cabbage, or some kind of liquidy spinachey stuff, and on occasion, chicken.  I usually eat pretty quickly, then either walk into town to the Internet café, or walk over to the fabric shop to see my host family.  This is usually the hottest part of the day, but no hotter than 85 degrees.  I would say the weather is perfect here!  At 2:30 class starts up again with either another language class, medical class or technical training skills again (we usually have 2 languages, and then 1 either tech or med class) At 5 we are free to do what we want until dinner at 7.  I usually go for a run at this point because it is not so hot.  I am happy I have been able to go running almost everyday, it’s such a stress reliever for me to be able to run as long as I want and listen to some GREAT pop music!  Dinner is usually noodles with some sauce or beans and rice, cabbage, carrots, or green beans, and sometimes either chicken or goat.  Dessert is always either pineapple, passion fruit or Japanese plums.  The food here is pretty tastey, but I can’t help but daydream about some sweet sweet In and Out and especially Ben and Jerry’s.  After dinner we all go back to our houses (there are three houses- eight girls in my house) and either study, write in journals, read books, hang out, walk to the blue bar, or watch a movie.  So there you have it, a day in the life of a Peace Corps Trainee! 

So tonight we all got dressed up to go meet all the officials of the city of Nyanza in a big ceremony with drinks and appetizers.  The Mayor of Nyanza is 30 years old, and he says he does not speak very good English, but he actually speaks very good English and is very funny.  While we were mingling after the ceremony and introductions, he was talking with a group of us and was cracking us up.  He resembles Jay Z pretty shockingly, so we told him that and he said that he gets that a lot from Americans, so it must be true.   So we all laughed at him, and he was like, no no, but for real, my brother is Jay Z, and we all started cracking up again.  My friend Areille was saying how she loves Nyanza, and wants to stay forever.  So he had the idea to have her married off to someone here.  He was being so funny, saying he is not sure who it will be, but when he comes, he will be in a big box with a big bow on it, and he will be very very special.  He then turned to me, and said that I will marry his brother!  We were all cracking up at him, and he was loving it, playing along.  I then put two and two together and realized that If I married his brother, I would  be marrying Jay Z technically! We were all cracking up ( I guess you had to be there if you don’t think this is funny at all..)  He told us that he liked America, and his next vacation he would like to visit Hollywood.  Again, we were laughing, but if he wants to visit, I would be more than happy to take him around Hollywood!  I will be posting a picture of me him and Arielle shortly.  He works right by our PC building, so he kept telling us to come in and say hello and teach him English (He was not creepy at all, just super nice and super funny.  He is married and has a five month old baby girl that he was very proud of.)  The whole night was full of energy and really fun to meet all the officials of Nyanza.  As we left, he was telling me goodbye to his Sister in Law and that we are now family.   They were speaking to us that their number one problem in Nyanza is Family Planning.  This is a big health issue that, as volunteers, we will be dealing with.  Nyanza, and Rwanda in general, is very populated because people do not “plan” families, they think they get pregnant as a gift from God (Rwanda is very Catholic.) It is hard for me to think of ways to teach family planning when their faith is telling them that God gives them children, not the actual science of getting pregnant.  Some of us will be working with Faith Based Organizations, (which I strongly said I did not want to work with a FBO) but with these organizations we will be teaching abstinence until you are married (the way of God.)  This seems like witchcraft to me in an over populated country rampant with HIV/AIDS.  Truth is, abstinence is not happening, and I believe people need to accept that and learn how to use condoms or birth control, but hey, that’s just me.  My fingers are crossed that I will not be teaching the bible, yet teaching prevention and safe sex.  We had interviews the other day in regards to our placements.  Our group has been heavily funded through three organizations (the specific organization we do not know yet.)  We had the opportunity to request the programs we wanted to work for.  The three categories were; Community Based Organizations, Faith Based Organizations (explained above) and Mirco Financing/leases and loans in hospitals.   In my interview, I stated that I did not want to work for a FBO, but rather a CBO- this job would be less structured.  I would have the opportunity to be in a community and assess what health needs I thought were prevalent and needed to be discussed or taught.  So I could decide if I wanted to start a health club, or do a nutrition camp, or pretty much whatever I wanted.  In my interview, I started freaking out thinking of me twiddling my thumbs in my house, frustrated and alone, with no ideas on how to improve my communities’ health.  So I started telling her I would want to do the Micro Financing, because this job has structure and rules and specific house I would have to be in the hospital, but not enough wiggle room to be creative and flexible.  So in the end, I told her that my number one choice was a tie between CBO and Micro Financing.  She was confused and told me that she had never heard of that before, but she will try and find me a good placement.  So, long story short, I have no clue and in typical Allie fashion, I cannot make up my mind what I want, so I’m just going let the chips lay where they fall (or whatever that saying is.)  We will find out our sites in 2 weeks though!  I also heard through the grapevine that 31/36 sites have electricity (no running water, but electricity in my mind is way better- I’m kind of getting used to the bucket bath and boiling and bleaching my drinking water), so my fingers are crossed!   On a side note, today I went for my first run.  Rwanda in general is very hilly, so I just ran for a very challenging 20 minutes.  It was so good to be running and listening to my Ipod, blasting Party in the USA.  It was so refreshing.  As I was running, a boy about 7-8 years old just started running next to me.  We ran side by side for about 5 minutes, until he reached his house and yelled Maramutse! (Goodbye.)  He was so cute, he didn’t even say anything, but was so happy just running and mimicking me.   I think my idea for a running club is definitely going to work.  The kids here are so intrigued by us “Muzungu.”  They love to walk with us, and speak to us- either in English or Kinyarwarnda.  They are curious what are names are, how old we are, and spend most of their time inspecting everything we are wearing and how we look.  I think the best way for me to integrate myself into my new community is going to be to start with my running club/or sports club, so in that sense, I hope I don’t get stuck in the Micro Financing.  Oh well, whatever happens happens, I’m in Rwanda, so what the heck. 

We started class this morning.  The head of trainings name is Mupemba (moop-pem-ba.)  He is the jollies Congolese man I have ever met.  Everyone calls him Mup (moop) for short, along with all the nicknames that come with, such as the Mupanator.  He is the director of training, and there are about 15 teachers/staff.  I am in a group of 4 people with two different language teachers.  We started at 8am sharp (Ha! Just kidding, nothing happens on time here, its awesome,) and had intense Kinyarwanda language training until noon, when we took a break for lunch.  Kinyarwanda is really hard.  Like English, it doesn’t really follow any rules like other typical language.  It’s going to be tough to learn, but I love the small classes, and the teachers are all very encouraging and patient.  After lunch, we had a health and safely section, followed by a two hour break.  A group of us decided to explore a little bit and hike to the lake nearby.  As we were walking through town, Seraphina (my host sister) spotted me and called me over.  I left the group and followed her to her family’s fabric shop where she helps her mom and sisters.  I do have a host family!  Last night I got the impression that it was just going to be Seraphina, but she does live at home with her mom and three sisters.  I met her mom (my host mom) and two of her sisters.  Seraphina and her sisters have finished school, but their little brother is in Kigali with their father finishing up school.  Seraphina speaks enough English that we can hold a conversation.  I don’t speak enough Kinyarwandan het to speak her language, but she likes to practice English, and if she doesn’t know the English word, we can speak some French to each other.  There are so many amazing fabrics there.  Their shop was pretty small, but covered from ceiling to floor with colorful fabrics.  I showed Seraphina which fabrics I liked, and she taught me how to say the different colors in Kinyarwanda.  I can’t wait to buy some fabrics and have some long skirts made.  She also introduced me to her friend who is a “umodozi” (my first vocab word actually that means seamstress,) so I will definitely have her make me a skirt or two.   Having a host family really makes me want to learn Kinyarwandan.  They are so nice, and I can’t wait to be able to speak with them! I feel lucky that Seraphina is my age too because we are able to talk about pop culture.  One of my first questions was if she knew Britney Spears, and she laughed and said of course.  She also knows Rihanna, P.Diddy, Eminem, R.Kelly, Akon, and Usher.  I thought that was kind of funny.  After a few hours, I said goodbye to Seraphina, and walked back for dinner. Best.dinner.ever.  Someone taught the cooks how to make guacamole (there are tons of avocados here) so they made huge pots of guacamole, beans and rice.  It was SO delicious.  I am now sitting in bed under my mosquito net so full and satisfied.  Tomorrow is another long day of language class, but on my break, I’m going to run to the internet café, post this blog, and stop by the fabric shop to see Seraphina, and hopefully pick out some cute fabrics!  

Top: Seraphina and I, bottom left is at the market (flour and sugar) bottom right is meeting our host families.

I am in Nyanza!  We left Kigali in two busses.  The ride took about 2 hours, but I really didn’t mind because it was so beautiful out! I believe it was only about 40 miles south of Kigali, but since Rwanda is known as the “land of a thousand hills,” it took a little bit longer than cruising down the 101.  The roads were smooth concrete roads,  and not too windy, more up and down rolling hills.  As we left Kigali, we began to see less and less people, but every once in a while we would see groups of children playing in the bushes, or women walking in bunches carrying tubs of water on their heads.  Once we got into Nyanza, we got out of our bus to see this Sacred Rock.  I swear, as soon as we got off the busses, it was like we were a touring freak show.  Instantly 20-30 kids came out from the jungle areas to come see the “Muzungu” (white people.)  They had HUGE grins from ear to ear to see us and were not shy at all.  They came right up to us, and started touching and speaking Kinyarwanda, which nobody knew how to speak.  But this was really our first interaction with people who were not with the Peace Corps, and it felt really nice and friendly. We drove about 10 more minutes to the first house, the “laundry house.”  We were told that our group of 36 would be split into four houses for the next ten weeks.  The laundry house (no, we do not do laundry there, we do it in our backyards with a bucket of water and some soap, I have yet to do laundry, the whole process seems kind of confusing to me…) is the biggest house- I think about 15 people are sleeping there.  The rest of the PC staff all met us at the laundry house to greet us.  The house is really nice.  I am staying in the Kitchen house- right next store to where we eat and meet every morning .  So nice, I can set my alarm for 7:55, and be in class by 8 J  I am staying in a four girl room with two bunk beds, brings me back to my Rieber days! We all met to eat dinner together- again carrots, potatoes, and some type of meat stew.  A few of the education volunteers (who came to Rwanda in October) made the trip to Nyanza from their sites to come meet us.  After dinner they suggested we all go to the “blue bar.”  All I heard was 550 Francs for a beer (less than a dollar) and I was all over that.  Pretty much our whole group walked the 400 meters to the blue bar.  I’m not sure what the bars actual name is, but it’s a rectangular room and all the walls are painted blue (almost like a bruin blue.)  Primus is their most popular beer, and the label is bright blue.  It was really fun to knock a few back with everyone all together.  I feel like its been forever since I have had a cold one!  We stayed out a little bit past midnight, and then all walked back to our houses (all houses are about 10 minute walk from each other) The next day we had a few interviews to try and distinguish what type of site would best be appropriate.  I spent most of my day laying in the sun, reading, talking with other trainees and walking around Nyanza.  My interview was delayed 4 hours and pushed back until tomorrow.  From what I have heard, it sounds like a small group of us will be working in the hospital (these positions will most likely go to the ones with a nursing degree) and for the rest of us, micro financing for small businesses.   Yes, micro financing.  I literally threw my head back and laughed out loud of the thought of me doing micro financing in Africa.  But, hey, we are supposed to be flexible, so if micro financing is what they would like me to do, then so be it.  I will still have lots of extra time to do secondary projects like teach English are start my track club, which will be great. After a long day of hanging around, Mup invited us over to his house for a drink and to meet our host family.  Although we will not be living with our host families, we are required to see them at least 4 times a week to be immersed into the language.  We got to Mups house and there was music blasting and cold beers awaiting.  Each family sent one person to the party to represent their family.  It was mostly a mixture of women, dressed in traditional African clothing.  Some even had babies tied to their backs.  We walked around and mingled as much as we could, and then they announced who are host family would be.  I was so excited to see who I was going to get.  When they called me name, a 20 year old girl, dressed in blue jeans and a red velvet jacket approached me.  I could not believe this was going to be my host “mom.”  Visions of cooking and sewing and helping out with her children with my host mom were immediately dashed when I saw how young she was.  Her name was Seraphina, and to my surprise, spoke pretty good English.  We did have a language barrier, but for the most part, we were able to converse.  Most of the host families did not speak English, and we did not know Kinyarwanda, so all we could do was dance.  They taught us a traditional Rwandan dance, and then they put on Lady Gaga’s Poker Face, and we all went crazy.  Most of the older host moms sat down and let us dance, but Seraphina asked me to teach her how to “hip hop.”  I first laughed at the question, then laughed at the thought of me a.) hip hop dancing, and b.) teaching a Rwandan girl how to hip hop dance.  I laughed and tried to teach her the C walk, which she picked up great!  The whole night was so much fun, lots of energy and dancing.  It’s funny, even in Rwanda people love loud music and love to dance and laugh. 

After a 7 hour flight from JFK to Brussels, and then an 8 hour flight from Brussels to Kigali, I have finally made it to Rwanda! We landed late at night and were greeted by a down poor of rain, and a very excited Peace Corps staff.  We all crammed into a bus and drove about 20 minutes to where we have been staying the last few days…a nunnery! I feel so holy even being here!  We were all super tired, so we just went to bed. I woke up with the sun and the birds in the morning and was super anxious to run to my window to see what Rwanda looked like.  It is very green this time of year (the rainy season) and tropical looking.  The weather too is very tropical- slightly humid and in the low 80’s.  Breakfast the next morning was coffee and tea followed by some bread and eggs.  We all sat around a long table and talked while we ate our breakfast.  The feeling was definitely mutual that we were all in disbelieve we were finally here.   The buses came shortly after to take us to Peace Corps Headquarters (in Kigali) to be what I like to call it, poked, prodded, and process.  PC HQ is a three story really nice house with electricity and running water, furnished with couches, a downstairs area with computers (think the Theta pit if you know what I am talking about) a kitchen, a doctors office, and PC staff offices.  We all received 4 shots and filled out sheet after sheet of paper work.  It was nice to see current volunteers milling around the house typing emails to friends and family or picking up care packages (hint hint.)  They stressed that this house was ours whenever we needed to come for the weekend for anything, which is really nice to know that we can come here for a little bit of luxury whenever we need. We then all headed into downtown to get some cell phones.  This was quite the process seeing as there were 36 of us trying to get a cheap phone.  Kigali is bigger than I thought I suppose, but still a small town in retro respect since it is Rwandas capital.  There are paved roads, traffic, and people everywhere.  Everybody around us seemed to have something to do or somewhere to go.  We were that out of place group of white people standing static in the middle of the city center while everyone maneuvered around us like ants.  We had no idea where to go to get a phone or what the process was, but quickly figured it out after walking up and down the streets.  We all bought a $30 Nokia phone, and then we all bought phone cards with credits that you enter and pay by the minute.  It is kind of nice to not sign some kind of contract! (Although I would love to have the unlimited minutes and unlimited text messages!) After this fiasco, the bus took us to John Reddy’s house- the Peace Corps Country Director- for a reception.  His house was very nice and he had set up a big white tent in the backyard full of drinks and appetizers.  John served in the PC in the 80’s in Zaire and is now the new country director.  He is very relaxed and very excited about all the new volunteers and the quick process Rwanda has been making.  There are currently 65 volunteers- half are health voluntters that came in Feb 2009 and the other half are English teachers that came here October.  About 8-10 current volunteers made the trip down to Kigali to meet us and join in on the free drinks and food.  It was really nice to meet these volunteers and ask them questions- FINALLY some answers! Everyone seemed very positive with Rwanda in general, and all had the same advice- do not worry if things don’t seem to be getting done, just take it all in.  This should be interesting to anyone who knows me- I love to get things done, but this will definitely test my patients at the very least.  The party ended around 8pm, and you could easily tell the current volunteers (ready to go and and party) from the jet lagged new volunteers (falling asleep on the nearby tables.)  Next step for us was bed.   Today we are going to he PC HQ to get one more shot and then to a Genocide memorial museum, this was the highlight, or sadlight, of my day.  I obviously new the very intense Genocide in 1994, but didn’t fully wrap my head around the horror that took Rwanda.   This memorial was a mixture of tombs outside, and inside a a museum much like a Holocaust museum.  Video stories of survivors told there devastating stories on the TV’s around the museum.  What I most took from the visit was Rwanda today for an outsider looks like any other developing country- lots of people, stores, cars ect.  Rwanda has rebuilt itself and moved on, but it is impossible for the people of Rwanda to ever move on from what they have witnessed.  People my age now were 8 at the time of the Genocide and its hard for me to even go into details about what 8 years olds say during those dark months.  It is important for us to understand the Genocide in its fullness, because we will be living and working with everyone who was a part of this it.   We are all health volunteer so it is also important to understand that many women were infected with HIV from being raped in the Genocide; so its important to understand the psychological aspect as well as the health issue.  I understand now why Rwandans do not trust outsiders, and come off a little shy.  They are so brave for living today and moving forward from their very own living nightmare.  It is incredible to me to see the giant strides Rwanda as a country has made.  I have great faith in this country.  There is great leadership and everyone is pulling together to make a better Rwanda.  Rwanda has actually just been ranked one of the safest African countries, imagine that.   The feeling amongst the group was very dark and saddened.  We were all emotionally drained.  Dinner was rice, peas, carrots, potatoes and goat.  We all ate in a little bit of silence, and are now in our rooms getting ready for bed.  It is pouring rain outside right now; so hard I can barely hear myself type! Tomorrow we are off to Nyanza for our 10 weeks of training.  Hopefully I will be closer to some internet so I can post some more blogs! Miss you all xoxo    

So I made it to Philly.  I looked so ridiculous in the airport with my two fifty pound bags, and my backpacking back waiting in the rain at 11:30pm for my shuttle to the Holiday Inn.  It took me about 30 minutes to realize the shuttle service was not coming, so I jumped in a cab, and went to the hotel for a good nights sleep.  My roomate is randomly the only other California girl, so we stayed up for a few hours talking about how excited we are to start our adventure!

Orientation was pretty long, and we went over the logistics of the travel and the first few weeks in Rwanda.  There are 36 people in my group, 31 girls and 5 boys. (boys- you should really consider doing the Peace Corps!) I am getting very excited to leave here tomorrow, and will write more tomorrow.  I am thinking I will have internet when I am in training until May :) 

Please write! This will be my address until May 7!

Allie MillerPC RwandaB.P 5657Kigali, Rwanda

I will write you back! xoxox

Hello everyone!  So I have no idea if I will have access to internet or electricity, but I am starting this blog in hopes I that I will be able to keep everyone in the loop as to what I have been up to in Africa!  This whole process of joining the Peace Corps has been a very long and drawn out process (see my "about me" section) but alas, it has finally come!

To start, my title, "Peace Corps Rapport" was inspired by my job at Pacific Office Automation.  My boss frequently stressed the importance of building "rapport" with clients, and I have to say, for the first week or so, I did not know what this word meant, or why it was so important.  I know know that building rapport means to keep in touch with someone and build a relationship.  So, Peace Corps Rapport was perfect! (could also be associated with the Colbert Report)

These last few weeks have been super hectic.  Finding a sub-letter for my apartment (thanks Nat!), getting all my clothes put away in storage (thanks Judy!) and driving my car and all some of my furniture down to Southern California where my belongings will stay in my Grandparents garage (thanks grandma and grumps!)  I am now currently in Sun Valley with my parents and my older brother Kevin after enjoying the sun in Puerto Vallarta with the Watson family! (What a trip Watson's!) 

My last day in the states was today.  It was a beautiful day up on Baldey mountain.  My parents and I skied all day, and took a break at the top of Seattle Ridge for a prime rib flatbread sandwich, my fav!  I am mostly all packed up, and am just waiting for my flight tomorrow afternoon.  

I will fly to Philadelphia for two days for staging, then to New York, to Brussels, and finally to Kigali, Rwanda.  I am so excited for this experience to start.  I am feeling a little bit anxious leaving everyone, but I will be back in a blur, with this amazing experience under my belt.  It is hard not to get sentimental when leaving, but I just keep remembering that what I am giving up here is going to pale in comparison to what I am about to gain.  I have NO expectations of what this experience is going to hold, but I can assure you its going to have its ups and downs, and I will be sure to blog about all of them! So stay tuned! I love you all, and thanks for your support! xoxoxo