Daily Life

Hi friends,

So as I thought of what I should blog about next, I figured it may be helpful to describe what daily life is like here in Kigali.

I wake up a little after 5:30 each day because that is when the sky gets light and the birdies begin to sing (loudly!). I usually check my email and such before heading off to school between 7 and 7:30. It's just a 5 minutes walk down the block and around a corner. People I work with: http://www.kicsrw.org/Staff.htm

School begins at 8. My students line up on the playground and we walk to class together and the first thing we do everyday is read in our Bibles (usually about a chapter, one that I choose). Then, we discuss what we read and have some prayer time.

We have math, then recess, then I go to geometry. While I try desperately to describe points, lines, and planes to 12 frustrated high schoolers, my 6th graders study social studies with the lovely Miss Cooper or run around in PE with the very fun Miss Simpson.

We either have Science or Art (with my totally awesome roommate, Miss Seger) before lunch. As part of my compensation the school provides me with hot lunch every day, which is very nice! For the most part lunches consist of a lot of starch (pasta, potatoes, bread, rice), a little bit of protein (beans or some kind of beef) and vegetables (green beans and carrots appear often). For 'dessert' we either get pineapple or a mini-banana. menu: http://www.kicsrw.org/Menu.htm I have taken to making myself eat the banana even though I'm still allergic - I'm determined to be healthy!

After lunch and a break we read and do some spelling. Then 5th and 6th grade trade classrooms and I teach math to the 5th graders. The end of the day is our Bible lesson and Chapel on Wednesdays. We had our first chapel today which was a song chapel. Each grade from K-6 chose a song to lead for the rest of the school. We sat outside in the courtyard - it was a great time!

At the end of the day we pack up and sing a song while I go around and stamp their good behavior cards - I really like this time of day :)

After school there are many options! (not really) I plan lessons, grade work, go home and get on my computer and try to catch up on life in America. I also try to use any remaining day light to go down the hill to the small store if we need food or electricity.

As we now have a Rwandan helper, Emmanuel, we are blessed to have dinner made for us. The three of us (Micki, Hannah and myself) share dinner with the two guys (Doug and Wes). There is something quite nice about having a 'family' dinner every night. We all have our spots at the table, and since Doug sits at the head of the table he says the blessing every night. It's usually a very silly time as some of them cannot control their laughter :)

At night we all spend time working on our computers, and often there are people over because we enjoy free wifi at our house. I try to go to bed early since I get up with the daylight, but that doesn't always happen.

Tomorrow I am going to try baking some apple pies, which I'm quite excited about! So far I've successfully made gingersnaps and peanut butter cookies. It's different baking in Rwanda, as I don't have ingredients that I'm used to, measuring cups, or an oven with a thermostat (even the dials don't have gauges). But I actually really like it - the simpler life is not bad at all! This weekend I have big plans for oatmeal chocolate "chip" cookies (no chocolate chips so I'm going to try blending all the chocolate bars in with the oatmeal).

Well, it's almost 9 which means time for bed! I'm so sleepy! Good night all - love you much!