High and Hilarious Moments at Site

• Greeting all of the Mamas on the street in Kinyarwanda and listening to them whisper (not so quietly of course), in Kinyarwanda, “She knows Kinyarwanda!”
• Walking home after a long day of teaching and shopping at the market with a crowd of 20 children fighting to hold my hands and play with my hair.
• Eric, my one year old neighbor, dancing while we sing “do, do, do, do”.
• The early morning and late night knocking on my gate by students and primary students wanting to greet me and practice their English.
• Meeting another volunteer that lives about 40 minutes away by foot! Though I won’t see her too often, it’s good to know another American is close by if I need a break.
• Opening my latrine door and seeing a HUGE toad sitting there. I got my mop and shoved it down the hole. I swear, if I am using the latrine and that thing some-how hops its way out, I will not be very happy.
• Shopping at the market and being swarmed by people wanting to hear me negotiate in Kinyarwanda.
• Learning how to light a kerosene lamp – do I need to say anything more about me, Sarah Doyle, trying to learn?
• Being rushed by 20 goats on their way home. Yeah, I quickly jumped off the ground and stood on the steps.
• Starting to teach. There is a serious need for English improvement at my school and the kids and teachers are very eager to learn, which makes it easier and more enjoyable to teach them.
• Constantly being fed by my neighbors. After 3 months of rice and beans, I’ve decided to go with more raw vegetables and avocado/tomato/cheese sandwiches. But because I never cook hot food (and my neighbors know everything I do), they think I don’t eat. I will say though, I appreciate the fries the other day.
• Getting free celery from the lady I buy carrots, tomatoes, and peppers from because I speak Kinyarwanda and I’m teaching the children English.
• Getting used to showering in a cement room with a hole in the corner. After I shower and the floor is covered in soapy water, I have to mop it into the hole so it drains outside.
• I should probably invest in a hammer…I’ve hammered every nail into the wall with a rock.
• Feeding two kids peanut butter and jelly sandwiches…they ate it with a fork like it was dessert.
• Walking down the street in my igitenge wrap (just a big piece of local fabric that you wrap like a towel and wear as a skirt) to buy a kilo of sugar (I don’t know what I will do with that much sugar, but it was only 700 francs!). It was 6 pm and everyone was lining up to get their water for the night and boy did I get some stares, but everyone seemed to love it. I think I talked to more people and more people approached me first than any other time I’ve walked down the street.
• Trying to explain, in Kinyarwanda, to little children at 3 pm that it is no longer “good morning,” but rather “good afternoon.” A few kids have caught on, which I’m hoping will spread to the others.
• So far I love my site and the people. Everyone said that Rwandans would be very conservative at first in our communities, but I guess I've been lucky. Of course there are some people who are hesitant and will only exchange a simple greeting, but my neighbors and a few families have been more than kind to me and have made it so much easier to go out into the community each day.