I've been in a war with the crows that land on my roof. They are so loud!!! They land with a crash, then click along my tin roof with their talons and just make it impossible to sleep! I get woken up anywhere between 5:30-7am, usually right at 6am. I don’t usually get up until 7, so it’s very annoying. I have been getting up, throwing rocks at them and then crawling back into bed. One morning though, they jumped on the roof around 5:50 and came back 4 times! So, I had to get up, put on slippers, unlock the door, grab a rock and throw it, go back in, lock the door and climb back into bed 4 separate times!!!! It was so annoying. I HATE those birds. Adam came one weekend and I ended up getting sick Friday night, so we pretty much just hung out at the house all weekend while I rested. Pretty boring. I felt bad. He left Sunday because he has a work meeting with Tony Blair. yeah, on a sunday! And I got a call from some co-workers after he left asking if I wanted them to drive me to my driver's wedding. I quickly showered and dressed and walked over to my office and found two of the boys there. We waited for a while, walked to the main road and jumped in the car. there were already 5 people in it, with 10 cakes! The boys all got in the back and I ended up with one cake in each hand in the back seat with two other women, one who had a platter of 3 cakes on her lap, the other with two in her hands like me. We hit a bump and the girl next to me with the cakes in her hands smashed the cake into her chest! The other two of us with her in the back started laughing uncontrollably, while trying not to because we felt bad that she was now COVERED in frosting (we ALL had frosting on us, but she was covered now). I had frosting on my neck (?!), on my sweater and my bag when we finally arrived. The wedding was quick and painless and I got a ride home from my boss who lives near me.
I got a call Tuesday from a PCV in the East asking if I wanted a free beer from a RPCV from Benin who just moved to Rwanda and was in Butare for the night. I of course said yes, and told him to give my number to the guy. He called and we met up at one of the hotels where we had beers and dinner. Abdoul ran into us and so sat with us and he bought Abdoul dinner and a soda as well. It was really nice of him and we had a good conversation. He'll be here about 10 months working at the university on a Fulbright scholarship.
I got to go out to the field by myself for the first time last week. Everyone was very busy and they told me to go by myself, so the driver and I went and I had him come in with me in case I needed a translator. I did. I collected their reports, gave them the work plans and had them fill them out for the next month and did all the usual tasks, then asked if anyone had questions. Most of them were confused a bit by the method beads we handed out last month. They’re a family planning method like the rhythm method, but using beads so it’s a bit easier. I explained it to them using a mix of Kinyarwanda and English, which my driver translated for me. They were confused on how to use it and also had some questions about other methods and which are the best to use and where they can get the beads. A lot of what we do is in collaboration with the ministry of health. We take what they want to be taught and give the information to the health agents to spread in the community. So, with the method beads, the villagers who are taught about them want to have the beads and ask where they can buy them, but they are available for free at the health center and when they go to the health center, they are able to hear about the other methods and choose which is right for them as well as get a check up to make sure they are healthy enough for the other methods (this is what I had to explain to the health agents).
I went to Kigali this weekend for Adam’s graduation from the leadership academy thing he did. It was nice, on the top floor of the Rwandan Development Board building. There were speakers and presentations and then drinks and appetizers. I went on a shopping spree the day before trying to find a dress to wear. Found a pretty coral colored strapless dress from Express, but it was a size 12! So, I looked at other dresses and found 2 that were really nice, but he wanted too much for them and so I went back and got the coral one and got it taken in and had the lining shortened (after she took it in, the lining was showing out the bottom) all for 9,000Frw! (about $15), the other dress he was wanting almost $40! It’s used! After the graduation ceremony, Adam had blackjack night with the boys, so I went and met up with Sonia and two of her friends at a restaurant in town. While we were talking, the guy sitting next to me mentioned that he works on an online database for the ministry of health, so I said, “oh, yeah I was just using one of those yesterday” and he asked which one and I told him and turns out he is the guy who I had to talk to on Thursday when my boss got confused. I was just on my computer, having no idea what she is doing and she comes up to me and asks me to help her and hands me the phone. So, the majority of the time I was on the phone, I was talking with my boss trying to figure out what she wanted me to ask the guy! It was a bit embarrassing and I felt bad for him, especially because it turned out that she was on a different webpage and he had no idea of that database and was wondering why we called him to explain someone else’s webpage… It turned out ok once I realized that we shouldn’t be talking to this guy about this and I hung up. So, that night we laughed together about it and when he was leaving he yelled back to me “I’ll talk to you later!”, haha. We then went over to a guy’s house and everyone there was francophone, so I felt a little dumb that I wasn’t fluent in French and was just standing around nodding my head. It was a beautiful house though! His dad had it built in the 60’s and it has a huge outdoor sitting area with a giant fireplace and a full bar, very good for entertaining. I want something similar when I finally buy a house. Then we went to a UN party for a guy moving to Congo. It was pretty nice, but everyone knew each other cause they all work together, so I didn't have many people to talk to. So, I danced. Met up with Adam and the boys at Papyrus afterwards.
Saturday was Adam's roommates mom's birthday, so we all went over to his parent's house for dinner and some drinks. His mom was so funny and kept trying to get all of us to eat more and to drink more. We finished a bottle of Black Label, a box of wine and thought we could make our escape, when she came out with another of each! We showed up early and the power was out except the TV was still on somehow, so we watched some TV, then all the power went out and we sat with candles talking and many more people showed up. Birthdays here are very different. The person having the birthday provided the food and drinks (instead of like in the states when your friends buy you your dinner and drinks), there was no cake or gifts (that I saw), and your children can invite their friends to your party. It was a pretty relaxing, fun time until mama Louis brought out the Tequila! But surprisingly, it was nice and smooth, didn't burn too badly and after 3 shots I was still standing! I guess the saying, 1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila, floor holds true!
Sunday, it was raining like crazy when I had to leave to catch the bus, so I decided to stay until Monday morning. Adam and I went and met up with the boys to watch the Arsenal game and then went to a fancy dinner at the new asian restaurant. I had phad thai and while it didn’t taste completely like phad thai, it was good. Adam got chicken satay for appetizer and I stole some of the sauce and it was amazing! I wish they had a veggie satay dish. Woke up early and caught the 7am bus to Butare and was at work with ample time to spare before heading out to the field. (I’m sitting at work now writing this waiting to go out.)
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