I had my mid-service training in Kigali for a week and the Saturday after Alyssa came to visit! We stayed at Adam’s and I introduced her to everyone and took her out then we went to Mwezi and I showed her off there and got to show off my village to her. Took her all around town and to the clinic where she got to watch me in action and got an earful from the titulaire. Wednesday evening, the clinic gave me a goodbye “party”. They gave speeches and we drank fantas and beer and they ate brochettes. One of my favorite speeches came from one of the janitors. He said when I first came that he didn’t expect me to talk to him because I was white and he was dirty. He was very surprised and happy that I would greet him in the mornings and talk to him and help him out sometimes and he encouraged me to continue this at my new house and job.
Then Thursday, Peace Corps came to move me to my new site and my new job! Thursdays are when I meet with my cooperative, so we ran up there early to meet them and so I could tell them I was leaving and why, etc. They were upset, but I promised I would come back to visit. The nun who has been the most helpful to me during my time in Mwezi, sister Mary Immaculee, came to say goodbye Wednesday evening and said “it feels like die” while clutching her heart. I was so sad. Miraculously, I fit all my stuff into the car, along with Alyssa and her bags and two people from PC. When I got to Butare, we first stopped at my new office and picked up Beta who took us to the house. They weren’t quite finished with everything, so we ran into a LOT of people hammering, sawing, painting and cleaning the house. My landlady is pretty nice and her son came to say hello and welcome me. He has visited the states quite a few times and was interested where I was from in America and how long I’d been in Rwanda. He speaks English perfectly and seems like he’ll be a nice person to visit every once in a while. We moved all my stuff in and then went into town to eat lunch while they finished up in the house. I couldn’t cook yet cause I didn’t have my stove set up, so we ate dinner out also. After dinner it was the first world cup game and we watched it at the ‘cinema’ with one of my friends who lives in Butare. It was so exciting watching it with the Rwandan guys. They were so excited about South Africa playing and were so loud! It was fun. The next day, we went into my office for a bit and she told me to just settle into my house and come in on Monday, so we went to Nyanza to see the King’s Palace and ended up going to the art museum also. It was interesting and we got a ride back to Butare with an American tourist. When back in town we met up with some other PCV’s who had come into town for some things. I showed them my new house and we went to the ice cream shop that just opened up and then watched more World Cup. Saturday, we went to Nyamasheke to stay the night at a friend’s house and go swimming in the lake. The president was in town and so when we got off the bus, it was like a ghost town! I had never seen it so deserted and it was impossible to get a taxi because they weren’t letting cars down the road, so we set off on foot. We were walking about half an hour when a moto went by. I flagged him down and put Alyssa on it and then continued on foot. Turns out, he hit a road block and couldn’t go any further, so I ended up meeting up with her sitting on the side of the road surrounded by a bunch of Rwandans. Luckily, there was a bus waiting at the roadblock so we were able to jump into that and it took us to town. The president was literally in my friend’s backyard! She lives near the school and behind her house is a huge sports field and that is where they set up the stage and all the chairs. I think there were around 5,000+ people there. It was a sea of people that was never ending. It was for the entire district of Nyamasheke, so there were a LOT of people!!! A few of us went down to watch the speech, but I wanted to take Alyssa swimming, so we just went past the field and down to the lake. When we got back to her house, everyone was ecstatic because one of the girls just asked if she could meet the president and she went on the stage, shook his hand, thanked him for letting us into the country, complimented the people and the country and then got her picture taken! I got a call the next day from another PCV whose entire village was talking about the PCV who was on the radio talking to the president! It was crazy and I was so jealous that I didn’t get to shake his hand. But we had fun swimming. That night was the USA vs. England game and there are two British VSO volunteers in that town, so we all went and watched the game after making an American flag out of a rice sack and crayons (the VSO girl had an England flag and we felt left out). It was fun watching with them and heckling. It was a tie and the British guy was horrified and I was relieved. The next morning, we took a walk around town and ended up getting a ride in a boat by some guys who sang songs and did tricks with their paddles. Then we ate some lunch at a place on a cliff that overlooks the lake then caught the bus back to Butare. On the bus ride, I got placed in the very back squished with 4 other people and a little boy. The boy ended up puking and some got on me, so I gave them the wetwipes I had in my bag (thanks grandma!) and then the boy leaned over and fell asleep on my lap. I just left him there and told the dad it was fine (he was trying to move the kid off of me) because I was terrified of him puking again. We went into my office again on Monday and went out with them to the field for a refresher course with the community health workers at one of the coffee washing stations. It was pretty cool, but we were very hungry by the end of it and so they dropped us in town and we ate a late lunch and watched the end of the Holland game. Tuesday, went into the office again and played on the internet but not much was happening, so I asked if I could leave and take her to the museum. There was a dance troop at the museum that some tourists had paid for, for a special dance, so we weren’t allowed to watch, but we stood from afar and watched a bit of it. Then I took her to the coop and she bought a bunch of gifts and I got a woven side table and trivets. We watched more World Cup games that day and tried to stay awake. Wednesday, we came into the office and then went into Kigali afterwards. We went out dancing that night after watching world cup. The next day, we had some Chinese food for lunch and then got her all packed up and to the airport. Sucks having friends leave!! L I still didn’t have all the things I needed for my house (cutting board, dish drainer, knives, mosquito net, etc.) so I took the rest of the day and Friday to purchase things before heading home. I also got to meet Adam’s new boss and we had a nice dinner together.
Have a new roommate for a month and a half. She’s a British medical student and is interning with SPREAD and shadowing at the hospital. She’s pretty cool and it’s nice to have someone to talk to when I get home and to go with me to watch the games. I hope I make some friends here before she leaves. We’ve been going out with SPREAD to the community health worker trainings and have been showing them the videos on the disc ‘Sinigurisha’ which means, ‘I am not for sale’. They are videos about sugar daddies and sugar mommies created by different high schools in Rwanda to warn mainly young girls about accepting gifts from men. Afterwards, we have a discussion with the people about what they saw and how they can help to reduce the occurrence of intergenerational sex. Thursday, we went to a meeting with representatives from the 5 health centers we work with when we do mobile testing and asked them how they felt things were going and any problems they were having. Most said that it is difficult to go out and do this because of time restraints and expenses. When SPREAD finishes, its going to be difficult to get these clinics to continue working on this program because there will be no money given to reimburse them for the travel to the coffee washing stations to do the mobile testing. Got hit by a giant dust cloud on the way to work Friday. Saw it coming, so I closed my eyes and turned my back, but it still got up my nose and in my eyes and covered me with a fine layer. I went and picked up a package from the post office for a fellow PCV and they kept asking me what my name was, and I kept telling them her name, then finally they asked me “You are Patricia?” and I said “no, she’s my colleague” but by then I had already gotten the package and paid for it so they couldn’t give me crap. A girl in secondary school said to me this morning “hello girl. What is your tongue?” I told her English and then she asked me if she could talk with me, but I was late so I told her no that I had to get to work. I just thought it was funny that a 16 or so year old girl called me girl.
No comments:
Post a Comment