Goodbye Life as a PCT, Hello Life as a PCV

Looking at the positives, I’m officially a Peace Corps Volunteer, but sadly that means I have to leave behind my comfortable worry-free life as a Peace Corps Trainee when I was guaranteed three meals and two tea breaks everyday. I am currently at my site in Rango after a whirlwind week and a half of tests, interviews, speech-writing, travel, and amazing eating and shopping in Kigali. The transition process started about three weeks ago when I was asked to give the French speech at the swearing-in ceremony with a fellow trainee, Jed Augustine (a fellow crane member from Model School). In true Sarah form, we found plenty of other things to do besides writing our speech and had the final draft done three days before swearing in. So what took up our time? Well, we had to score intermediate-low on our final Kinyarwanda language exam, so I spent a lot of time studying. We had Christmas and New Years, which we all managed to make the best of. On Christmas Eve we had a White Elephant gift exchange and spent the night dancing at a local hotel. On Christmas day we covered a classroom floor with mattresses, set up a projector and speakers, and spent the day watching movies. The week leading up to New Years was filled with tests. I scored Intermediate-high on my Kinyarwanda test and managed to pass tests for medical, PC policies, safety and security, tech, and cross culture. During this high-stress week, we also found out when we would be leaving for site. I was set to leave straight from Kigali after swearing-in with 4 others, while the rest of our group went back to Nyanza to celebrate. As most of you know, I am not a girl who travels light, so on top of studying and interviewing, I had to pack up my life into a trunk and 2 suitcases (I did it!). New Years Eve was plagued with the usual debauchery, but we also spent the afternoon saying goodbye to our amazing LCFs who helped us conquer everything Rwandan over the last 11 weeks; we all owe them so much and cannot thank them enough for all of their help and patience. On New Years Day, well…I woke up eventually and by the time I got my bearings, it was time to go back to sleep. On the 2^nd, we all headed to Kigali to prepare for swearing-in and do some intense shopping to get ready for site installations.

            After hearing so much about this land of wonder, Kigali sure didn’t disappoint. I got a sugar-free vanilla latte (yes, that’s right) at Bourbon Café, my new favorite place. It felt like I was back in a Starbucks or local coffee shop. I bought pots, buckets, kerosene stoves, silverware, floor mats, staple foods, powder soap to wash my clothes (by hand), a blanket, and so much more. I’m happy that my site is not Kigali because it is not the real Rwanda, but I am happy to know that it is there and when I need some Indian food or a latte (or money to pay for those things), I can take a 2 hour bus trip to get it. After a day of madness and gorging on comfort food, I spent the night practicing my speech and preparing for the goodbyes to come.

Monday the 3^rd – the day of swearing-in – was a very American morning. It started with the girls running around straightening their hair and doing their makeup, while the boys sat around in their suits trying to tie their ties. Mup was supposed to come with the buses at 8:30 so we could get some breakfast before the ceremony, but in true Rwandan form, the buses showed up at 9:30 with the ceremony starting at 10. We rolled up to the American Embassy around 9:50, where the Fulbright scholars (who joined us for training about halfway through) came to inform us that we were supposed to be at the Ambassador’s residence, not at the Embassy. So, back on the buses we went and arrived at his house with about 5 minutes to spare (but of course nothing starts on time in Rwanda). I would say around 10:15 the ceremony got underway with speeches from the Peace Corps Director, a representative from the Ministry of Education, the American Ambassador to Rwanda, the Rwandan Minister of Health, and then us PCTs. English went first, then French, and finally Kinyarwanda. All of the speeches went very well and drew many bouts of laughter and applause from the audience as well as our colleagues. Finally, we swore in, taking an oath that was surprisingly hard to remember sentence by sentence (so many big words!) and then ran off for pictures and some amazing American food. Eventually, we had to pull ourselves away from the comforts of the Ambassador’s residence and head to the Peace Corps office for another reception with Rwandan food – a little bit of a let down after we ate a ton of American food. After taking care of some house keeping issues, we said goodbye to the staff and went to town for one last shopping spree. We then piled back onto the buses with all of our purchases and headed back to the training compound where I had to say my goodbyes to the sixty volunteers heading back to Nyanza. We have all become so close over the last three months that it is hard to imagine how we are going to go three months without seeing each other, but luckily it is not Niger, as our Director and Medical Officer like to remind us (they both just transferred from there), and none of us are getting deathly ill, we have a decent climate, and we can easily communicate with one another. So, off the sixty volunteers went to Nyanza, while the five of us prepared for our journey to site the next morning.

The trucks and Gordie came to the training compound at 8 am on the 4^th. We loaded up all of our stuff and then headed on our way. Allison was the first to be dropped off, second was me, and then went Thais, Katie, and Gordon. So last week during my evaluation interview, I asked one question: “Is my house ready?” I received the response, “Yes, of course!” Yeah, definitely not the case, which is fine because I love living with my headmaster and his wife, but boy did that short response a week ago set me up for a letdown upon my arrival. My headmaster said that they were doing some “painting” and I would be able to move in the next morning. So, we all went to visit the house, and well “painting” meant cementing, fixing the electrical, filling in a latrine, cleaning another latrine, sanding, building a wall, installing 2 new doors, and painting. So that was Tuesday and it is now 10 PM on Thursday and I am still at the Headmaster’s house. Maybe tomorrow I’ll move? Wenda…I love my site and today I was introduced to part of the community at a choral celebration for the opening of the newly renovated church, which was a very nice ceremony, but I am ready to unpack all of my things and settle in (and learn how to light a kerosene stove) before school starts on Monday.

My next task in my new community is to integrate – so easy to say and not so easy to do. In America, I’m a relatively shy person, but here that doesn’t fly. I have to go out and meet as many people as possible over the next few weeks and gradually become a part of the community. I need to make friends and earn the respect of my colleagues and elders in the community. I need to prove that I am not just a girl (I’m not considered a woman because I am not married and have no children), but a girl that has skills and is willing to share them with the community. I am ready to learn as much as I can about the culture. Today I was scolded by two older women for crossing my legs. I’m still not sure why, but in looking around it looked like only men crossed their legs while the women just kept their knees together. I don’t know really, but I went with it. The next month will be especially hard, but if I put in the time, I think it will also be extremely rewarding. I am excited to start teaching, coaching soccer (did I mention I’m starting/coaching a girls team?), teaching the teachers English, and organizing a library. The next two years will be difficult, but I can already tell they will be amazing and rewarding. I really look forward to sharing the good, the bad, the funny, and the sad – the ups and downs as a PCV in Rwanda – with you all.