Lake Bunyonyi

I have been in Rwanda for almost three months now, and as I sit and ponder this I realize that it has definitely become 'home' now. Not home as in "where my heart is" but more the in the 'settled' sense, that I am comfortable with where I live, I trust the people in my community, and I have found a sense of independence.

In the last few weeks I have found myself being able and comfortable to get 'here and there' on my own, riding the moto taxis or just walking. It is nice to have that kind of independence, knowing I can get to town if I need to, when I need to. Though honestly, it's not that often. :)

I really enjoy my community here. I have lovely roommates and great friends at school. We have some routine things like dinner, aerobics and bible studies, but there are also the fun excursions to Bourbon Coffee (love their iced mochas!), or out to dinner.

Since I've been here, I've been able to travel east to Akagera, west to Kibuye, south to Butare, and this last weekend we made it north, past Gatuna into Uganda. Five teachers traveled to Lake Bunyonyi to take advantage of our four day weekend! (Four others also went, but we found it easier to go in smaller groups, and the others also extended their trip one night). We got in lots of R&R - much needed after a strong push through quarter 1 and Parent/Teacher conferences!

I almost didn't go to Uganda. Last week I was fighting allergies or a cold and after not sleeping and having a stuffy nose I didn't know if I was up for an 'adventure'. But the alarm went off at 4am on Friday and I found myself breathing well, so I decided not to miss this one. As we walked to school to catch our taxi I looked at the sky getting light and realized I had yet to see a sunrise here. Actually, I still haven't seen an actual sunrise as it's too cloudy to actually see the sun. But it was neat to see the colors change as day came. :)

We were blessed to have an uneventful trip north, and made it to the lake in about 3 hours. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into for the weekend, but I had a backpack with a change of clothes, some toiletries, and two books, so I figured it would be ok (this is not my normal attitude towards travel - I tend to be a bit of an over-planner. This is why I had to calm myself down and not get mad at Doug for giving a false sense of confidence that we actually had plans to get home… he became open about that when we arrived at the lake).

The lake is beautiful, and as we took a motorized boat across to the island we would be staying on, I couldn't help but smile and just take it all in. I love the wind, the hills, and the spray in my face! My favorite part of the ride over was seeing a bunch of kids running and playing on a hilltop nearby - what a cool place for a school!! I learned later that the resort we stayed at organizes free 'bus rides' for island kids to this school. By bus I mean hollowed out tree trunk canoes!

The resort, Byoona Amagara, opened in 2003. It currently has 3 geodomes, some cottages, and dormitories to rent. The owner/developer was there and I was able to chat with him a few times. I told him how I felt like this was the most luxurious camping experience I've had. He smiled and said "that's exactly what I was going for!" People have told him that he could bulldoze his current buildings and put up some fancy hotel-like condos and get hundreds of dollars a night (we paid about $12.50/night each), but he said he preferred this option because he likes the clients better ;) ha! Being missionary teachers, we sure appreciated this economical option. It was also neat to learn that many of the proceeds of this place go to educational programs in the community. If you're interested about this place, here's their web address: http://lakebunyonyi.net/index2.php?page=1

The food at this place was really good! It started to rain, then hail after we got there and the temperature dropped pretty fast. Seeing as most of us don't even have warm clothes here in Africa with us, we sure appreciated a dinner of hot chili, cheese chapatis (think african quesadilla), and hot chocolate for dessert! They also offered Ugandan tea for free every day - of which I took great advantage. Have I told you that I don't drink coffee much anymore? I know - crazy!

I got a lot of reading done this weekend. I read a Francine Rivers book given to me by my friend Kate just before I left. I had a hard time putting it down! It's a story based on the author's heritage, focusing on her grandmother and mother (specifically, their relationship). Her grandmother was born in Switzerland, and through various events ended up in California, living through WWI, the depression, and WWII. I personally enjoyed it because of my own family heritage, great-great-parents who came to America from Germany in the late 19th century, homesteading a farm in Wisconsin. The book gave me a lot of insight as to what life may have been like for my family during those years. For those of you interested, it's called "Her Mother's Hope".

The journey home ended up being fairly simple. The resort was able to arrange a ride for us back to the border ($5 each). As we went through immigration a man driving an electrician's van asked where we were going - when he heard Kigali, he offered to take us. (Those of you freaked out by this, its ok - this is kind of how transportation works here :) ) We paid about $5 each for a 1.5 hour ride back to the Kigali bus depot, where we got motos home. I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself for making it with my heavy backpack, purse, and holding my sweatshirt and water bottle! But I'm no where near as cool as Doug, who made it home on the moto with his guitar!

One thing I was quite aware of on the way home was how many times I had to say "I live in Kigali". It wasn't many times (as I crossed the border), but enough to cause me to hear myself. Honestly it is still a bit surreal. "I live in Africa." But the reality of it is, I do! Thank you all for your continued encouragement and prayers. As I live out each day of my adventure here, I know it is just a small part of the greater adventure called 'life'. It's going by fast, so I pray each day that I make the most of it!

Hope you are well! Please stay in touch and tell me of your life's adventures!

Blessings

On Sunday we sang the Doxology in both Kinyarwanda and English. It is always a good reminder to that life seems more abundant and good when I focus on blessings rather than problems.

This morning I woke up nervous and anxious about my day. I did not sleep well last night due to some allergy issues, and I was looking ahead to a day full of parent-teacher conferences. In fact, by this evening I have now met with 22 sets of parents, and have 13 more sets tomorrow night. The reason so many? Vicki and I are both conferencing 5th and 6th grade parents because we have swapped math and language arts - two fairly big subjects on the report cards! So… I have to admit my feelings as I walked to school were less than positive. :)

When I got to school early to prep for the day, I soon realized it was our devotional morning and so I did not have as much time as I thought. So I quickly left my room and went to meet with the others. Emily led us in a very encouraging devotion based on the rescue of the miner's last week. Apparently from the beginning (August) her fourth graders have been praying daily for the miners, and very specifically. These 8 and 9 year olds prayed for the miners to have dry shirts, and moments of laughter, and good sleep, and most of all that the 'experts' would be wrong and the miners would get out much sooner than Christmas. When it was announced a few weeks back that the date would be November, they celebrated but said "Let's pray for October!" Last week as each miner was rescued (they followed on the internet in class) they sang "Rejoice in the Lord Always" - Emily said they sang it at least 14 times through the school day! What a great encouragement for those kids to see a miracle and answered prayer!

It reminded me once again that so much of how we 'feel' about life is based on perspective. So from that moment on I again thought about my blessings, rather than my problems. Before school started I received a huge blessing! I received a care package from the missions circle at 1BL I joined a year ago! How fun to receive hot chocolate, macaroni and cheese, and onion soup packets (#pot roast!). Thank you ladies!!

I also was reminded all day about what a blessing it is to be here with these students and fellow teachers. I love them each so much and feel privileged to spend this year with them! The conferences have gone really well so far and have been very positive in nature. I have enjoyed meeting some of these parents for the first time! So neat to meet people and hear about their missions and work here in Kigali (restaurant owners, telephone company, English teacher, doctor, banker, and others too!).

I encourage you too to think about your day, your week, your life and focus on the blessings that God has provided for you. If you have time, please leave a comment and share your blessings as an encouragement not just to me, but others that read as well!

Doxology

Dushim’ Iman’ Ihoraho
(Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow)

Dushim’ Iman’ ihoraho

Kukw ari Yo yaturemye;

Yatugiriy’ imbabazi,

Tuyishime, Haleluya.

Iman’ ijy’itugabira

Ibyiza bidukwiriye;

Abayo bayiringiye

Duhora tuyisingiza.

Yemwe ngabo z’Uwiteka,

Namwe bamalayika be,

Muhora mu rurembo rwe,

Mumuhjimbazanye natwe.

Dushim’ Imana y’ubuntu,

Tuyishime twebge twese;

Dushime Data wa twese

N’Umwana n’Umwuka Wera.

New Doxology

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow,

Praise Him all creatures here below

Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Let earth and heavenly saints proclaim

The power and might of His great Name

Let us exalt on bended knee

Praise God, the Holy Trinity

Praise God! Praise God!

Praise God Who saved my soul!

Praise God! Praise God!

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

Praise to the King, His throne transcends

His crown and Kingdom never end

Now and throughout eternity

I’ll praise the One Who died for me

Praise God! Praise God!

Praise God Who saved my soul!

Praise God! Praise God!

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

Butare

Last Saturday most of the teachers went on a 'field trip' to Butare, in the southern part of the country. We stopped at some museums and got a glimpse into the history of Rwanda.

Our first stop was to visit the kings' palaces. The traditional palace is a woven hut, in which the king would sit at the entrance and speak with guests. Inside, the hut is divided into different sections; separate places for men and women to sit and visit, a center are with a type of stove (they used this to keep smoke in the hut to keep the bugs away), and the bedroom. For the first time I got to see a true king size bed! It was huge!! Nearby was a similar, but much smaller hut for a young woman in charge of the milk, and next to that was even a smaller hut for the young man in charge of the beer.

After seeing these traditional houses, we were able to go into the Belgian style home just up the hill. This home, or palace, was built in the 1930's as a gift from the Belgians who had colonized Rwanda by this time. It was only about 20 years that King Mutare occupied this palace however until he visited Belgium and saw that he could 'do much better'. He had a new palace started in the 19050's, but died suddenly a month before completion of the building. He was the last official king of Rwanda, as Rwanda then became a Republic.

We went to that latest building, which was never actually a palace, but was used for government purposes until more recently it became an art museum. Each year the museum holds a contest with a theme, and artists submit original pieces of art to celebrate or remember traditions of this country. "Peace" is often incorporated into the theme.

Not much was mentioned about the genocide that day. A few times it was mentioned in light of some items being taken or destroyed from the palace at that time, but for the most part, the subject was avoided. Not to say it was this way because people want to forget - this I know is not true - but there is more of a sense of people wanting to focus on peace and progress and how well Rwanda is doing now.

If you haven't already seen, I posted a link to some pictures from this day on fb… you will have to go to my profile page, scroll down and see Butare pictures from Jeana Nash. There was a fee per camera used that day, so she was our designated photographer (and if you've seen any of her pictures, you know why we chose her!)

This past week was busy, and a little hard, especially since the previous weekend had been full. Friday was the end of quarter 1, so this weekend I am working on report cards and getting ready for parent teacher conferences.

I was hoping to keep today, Saturday, pretty relaxed, and it has been so far! Last night we tried a new restaurant that opened 3 weeks ago called, Zen. It was amazing! Hopefully we'll go back there soon :) It is a chinese restaurant and they have really good noodles and ginger beef!

I haven't left my room much today - but we have had an interesting day here at our house! Today was the first time that we ran out of water! Apparently we haven't had water from the city in awhile, so we were using up all the water in our tank this week and didn't know it! As our helpers, Emmanuel and Mazembe, and Mark were helping us with this problem (lugging buckets of water from other houses so we can wash and use the toilets!), we then also realized the gas for our stove/oven ran out as well! Emmanuel (aka Superman) helped us with this as well by taking our gas tank on a moto to the gas place and getting it filled (imagine one of the propane tanks on a gas grill, but 4-5 times as big!). We are so grateful to have such wonderful, helpful people in our lives!

I should probably get back to my report cards now… I've never had to fill out entire report cards before! I was quite spoiled before with our online grade program! I have a lot of respect for you elementary teachers who fill these things out 3-4 times a year!!

Next weekend there is talk of taking a trip up to Uganda since we have a 4 day weekend. If that happens, I'll be sure to let you know how it goes and bring some pictures back as well!

I love you and miss you all!

Adoption

It's been hard to sit down and write these last few weeks. Not because I'm too busy because life in Rwanda is much slower than life in L.A. (and that is a good thing!). I think it's been hard because I'm not sure what to write about now. The learning curve is not as steep as it was a month ago (and that is a good thing too!). I've now been here two months.

I am still adjusting and learning a new way of life, but feel settled. My classes as school have gotten into a routine and we are moving at a nice flow, though my sixth graders are learning to test the boundaries! While I know this is a natural part of teaching, it is very wearing because that means I have to work extra hard at pushing back and keeping them in line! But really, I can't complain, they are still a dream class and I love them! If you haven't seen yet, I put up some new pictures on fb, including pictures of the kiddos. I even got one of the geometry kids, but I had to pay them to smile ;)

I've been here long enough now to see some incredible stories, not just hear about them. This is my favorite so far: A month ago when we went to Akagera, a friend of Mr. Robinson came along too. I mentioned him briefly as someone from Texas, his name is Shawn. He is here because his family is trying to adopt a little girl and they were having trouble with the adoption agency back home. He and his wife have 3 boys and just found out that a 4th boy is on the way! This is the problem the adoption agency had. Even though they had been working with the agency for a year and a half, they were told they would have to drop the process because of the pregnancy. The family couldn't bear this news, so Shawn got on a plan and came here to Rwanda to adopt a little girl directly from the Rwandan government - not knowing how long or if it would even be possible. Two weeks ago he got to go to the orphanage (the same one I was at a month ago) and meet his little girl, Grace. This past Thursday Grace got to "go home" with him (to the Robinson's). We all met her at church this morning and it was such a beautiful sight to behold. There are not words to describe the joy in Shawn's face, and there were many other adoptive parents nearby to share in this celebration with him! There are still many issues to work out including a stop in Ethiopia for a health exam so the States will let them come home. Please pray with us that all goes well this week and Shawn and Grace will be with the rest of their family by next Sunday!

This afternoon I went back to the orphanage. I don't know if it was easier or harder today. I think it was easier in the sense that I knew what I was walking into and I could be mentally and emotionally prepared. It was easier to hold on to them and love them and sing and rock and play and hug. It was harder to leave this time, for sure. The same little girls that sat on my lap a month ago found me and we played some more. Then, an older girl (3 or 4) sat on my lap and went from demanding play to sucking her thumb and burrowing her head in my chest. Two little boys (1 year olds) toddled close and stared and as I picked them up they too just put their heads on my chest and sat quietly. Moments like these its easy to look past the flies and scabs and runny noses and just hold on and pray that they will find a family like Grace did.

I love adoption stories. Who doesn't, right? It's hard for me not to cry when I think of the special kind of love it takes to make someone a part of family, and what a blessing that is! Throughout my adult life I've been blessed to be part of some awesome adoption stories, from my sweet cousins, to friends, to some of my favorite students. I hope to know many more of these stories (and maybe even one of my own someday?!) as life's journey continues. (And for all you who are thinking it, no, I will not be bringing one of the darlings home with me! Still waiting on a husband first! ha!) But in seriousness, I think I love adoption so much because it's such a plain reminder of God's unconditional love and how He has accepted us as His sons and daughters. SO COOL!

Well, I was going to write more, but I think I will end there… with a song :) We, rather the kids, sang this song in church today:

This little light of mine

I'm gonna let it shine!

This little light of mine

I'm gonna let it shine!

This little light of mine

I'm gonna let it shine!

Let is shine! Let it shine! Let it shine!

Hope you all have a blessed week letting your lights shine!