Few things I forgot to mention about vacation: while at a bar in Nairobi two Israeli guys asked me if I was Israeli! Was wearing my hair down and curly, so think that might have been it. Adam and I went to visit one of his brothers who has triplets in Dar. They were crazy, but super cute and kept yelling “bye auntie!!!” as we were leaving (and bye uncle, but that’s not as cute, haha).
Had my COS (close of service) conference in Gisenyi. Stayed at the Serena! The fanciest hotel in Gisenyi, with hot showers and comfy beds and giant comfy robes and slippers. I wanted to steal a towel so badly! The only crappy part was that we were stuck in the conference room until dark most days, but I still swam in the pool one night. And the amazing food! I ate sooo much! Lots of different cheeses, a pasta bar where you get to choose your ingredients and they make it for you, an omelet bar in the morning with like 6 different cereals to choose from. That was awesome.
Had dinner with one of Adam’s brother’s wife. She works for Save the Children, so I told her about a job I want and hopefully she’ll be able to hook me up! After we watched jets/patriots game, didn’t get home until 3am!
When I got back in Butare, 8 monkeys jumped across the path on my way home. I taught English to the ice cream shop women, taught the word greed, but didn’t know how to explain it well, so I told them it was in the Bible. One girl had an English version of the New Testament, so we looked up Luke 12:15-31. I got two ice creams because Richard came to buy milk and bought me one (I had already gotten one for myself when I first arrived and was waiting for the ladies to be ready). I now teach them every Monday and Wednesday afternoons, most times with Elizabeth, but sometimes alone.
Ran into my host mom and baby on way to work two days in a row. Went to lunch at their house the third day. We ate with our hands, ubugari (cassava paste) and a vegetable mélange with dried fish in it. Didn’t realize there were fish until I bit into one… I shared a bowl with baby and was pretty sure I was going to be sick, but it ended up being okay. After eating baby brought in some more water to wash our hands and she spilled some in the hallway. As Queen (the older daughter) was leaving, she slipped in the water and then just ran out of the house. Mom, dad and I all started laughing so hard, then we went and told her sorry and asked if she was okay. The girls did my hair, and baby called me “Alicia wanjye” (my Alicia).
Watched the U-17 football championship match between Rwanda and Burkina Faso. We lost, but it was a really exciting, fun game. It was absolute madness trying to get in though. We decided to get some food before going in and then by the time we got there, they said it was full and we couldn’t go in. We tried lots of things and there was a lot of pushing and pulling, but they let the other white people we were with through, so they then kept trying to get the rest of us in. Wore them down with their annoying insistence, so we finally got in and then got front row seats!
Had lunch with nuns and afterwards they gave me a girl to clean my house. Beforehand, I had to pray with them in French in their chapel at the house. I tried to follow along, but got lost many times and wasn’t too keen on singing.
Been going to gymtonique with my friend Elizabeth every Monday and Wednesday. It’s so hilarious. The guy who ‘teaches’ wears the shortest shorts and makes us do the funniest things. We run in circles, jump up and down, kick the air, do ‘butt kickers’, jump side to side and then there’s this one song when it comes on, we partner up and slap each others hands while jumping in the air, then we hook arms and swing round and round, both standing and squatting. Then we squat jump in a circle forwards and backwards, it’s quite a quad workout! I’m constantly laughing, but think it’s a great workout because there is no way I would jump in place for 5 minutes on my own. I’d get bored and stop.
The 31st (yesterday) Elizabeth and I went to gymtonique and on the way back we stopped to get her airtime, then saw lightning. Neither of us had food at our house, so we were planning on going out to dinner and had texted another friend to meet us at the restaurant at 8:15. Gymtonique went a little long, so we ended up leaving before it was completely finished and as soon as we finished putting the airtime on her phone, we saw the rain. We saw it and saw people running before we felt it. We were already outside and the restaurant wasn't too far, so we decided to run for it. We ran in the pouring rain down a muddy road in the dark. The only time I could see where I was going was if a moto passed me or if the lightning lit up the road. At one point I stopped to see where Elizabeth was and couldn't see her, so I started running again, then realized she might have fallen in a ditch or twisted her ankle in a pot hole, so I stopped again and she was right behind me! Just couldn't see or hear her. I wore my glasses, so they were covered in rain drops and fogging up, so my vision was thoroughly impaired, but I made it with no broken bones or twisted ankles! When we got in though, the lady who owns the place just clucked her tongue at us and said "sorry", then told us she would get us towels, but they were in the other building and she'd have to walk through the rain to get them, so she didn't. I asked if they had a dryer (we were at a big fancy hotel!) and they said no, but the guy I asked offered me his jacket. I was soaking wet for the two hours we were at the hotel, and Elizabeth offered her hot shower and bed, so even though I didn't have a change of clothes or my toothbrush, I accepted and she let me borrow clothes and i brushed with my finger. I was freezing!
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