Rwandan Word of the Day:
Murabeho: Goodbye
I woke up and my knee didn’t hurt like at all! GO ALEVE and ICY HOT!!!
Today was an interesting day. Neither me nor Alexandra wanted to get out of bed today so we slept in until 7:30 am. When her alarm went off she hit snooze and then we laid in bed for another 10 mins. It was needed. Haha! We were late this morning, but so was everyone else. We blamed it on assimilating to the culture that happens to run late to everything. We all kind of got in trouble though, and got a stern talking to later in the afternoon. Oops…
We were supposed to go to Parliament, but the visit got moved last minute so we tried to work on an internet problem which didn’t work out either. Fail. Tea break was good though. We got waffles and odd meatballs along with boiled eggs. So odd. But good.
Then we went to the Ministry of Youth, which happens to be in the National Football Field in Kigali. It’s called the Peace Stadium. Fitting. It was cool. I had to sit on a fake janky middle seat in the taxi bus we took there though. It was an experience. There was also a truck full of armed guards driving both in front and behind us. I don’t know what was up with that. I tried to take a picture, but it didn’t really work out well. When we were at the stadium we also saw army men warming up on the field to get ready for Independence Day on July 1st. We took lots of pictures.
We got to meet the Minister of Youth and Sports there. It was pretty legit. We got to ask him questions and he seemed to answer fairly honestly and candidly. We talked about youth in Rwanda, the arts, and a lot more. Win. We also got a picture with him, but it wasn’t on my camera sadly. We took another less janky taxi bus back and I didn’t have to sit in a fake middle seat. Yay!
When we got back a couple of people showered via buckets and I helped my friend Jessica fix her mosquito net. By help, I mean I supplied the zip ties to re-attach her net to the ceiling and I video taped her attempts because she put a chair on the weak bed we sleep on. We thought she was going to die, but it was successful! Then we hung out at the gazebo and met this little boy named Peter. I was obsessed with him, and he was obsessed with my stuffed animal turtle named Lelah. He was sad when I had to take him back. I wish I could play with him ALL day.
Then we left to go to the East African Market. It was up the stupid mountain. Yay… not. But it was well worth the climb. I got a lot of AWESOME stuff. I got a legit African dress. It’s yellow. And YES I am going to wear it on the plane home. GET EXCITED WORLD. I will look way legit for sure. I also got stuff for other people. OH and I bought an awesome scarf. I was so happy. It was kind of fun to barter with people too. I thought it would be scary, and I didn’t low ball at all at first so I probably didn’t save myself as much money as I could have, BUT it was still kind of successful most of the time. I never paid full price. YAY! I really liked the people too. They weren’t that sketchy, and they always told you “Welcome Sister. Good Evening.” I kind of liked that. It was just a ploy to get more money, but still. I enjoyed it. Haha! I spent less than $50 so it was overall a really cool experience. I still need a few more touristy things to buy, but I can get those later. It will be epic. EPIC!!!!
After the market we ate at Juicilicious. Yes. There is a juice bar named Juicilicious here in Rwanda. Be impressed. Me and Angie split a sandwich, because we were still full from the lunch we had before we left for the Ministry of Youth. She got a pretty good fruit smoothy too. I just enjoyed sitting and chatting with everyone. I love that part of this program. We are planning a safari here in a week. I AM SO STOKED! YAYAYAYAY!
But in other news, we walked down the mountain and a few people almost got killed by motorcycle taxis. It would have been bad, but luckily I screamed “MOTO MOTO!” Haha. I saved a life. Obviously. My knee kind of hurt walking down the street. Fail knee. It feels better now though. No fear.
When we got back we watched a movie called Valentina’s Nightmare. It was SO sad. It was about a little girl who survived the genocide and had to watch her entire family be murdered. It was incredibly depressing. Afterwards we all sat in awkward silence for ten minutes. Then Sammy talked about his experience, and I cried. A lot. Silently though, but still. He said Rwanda was better now, because Rwanda found God. He was so hopeful. He just stayed so positive about it all, and it really hit me. These people have gone through so much that I can’t even begin to understand. We kind of talked about the genocide and how it affected people in our program earlier today while we talked about our trip to the genocide memorial tomorrow. It will be incredibly powerful and draining I’m sure. I don’t know what to expect, but maybe something like the Holocaust Museum? I have no idea. Long story short, I am now in a very odd mood. It was sad, but it left my hopeful and proud of how far Rwanda has come since 1994. It really is a miracle.
Now we are all sitting in the parking lot talking about the day and funny stuff. It is a really good way to unwind from this long intense day. Tomorrow will be a trial for sure. I really want to be able to keep it together. At least sort of. We can only hope right? I will let you know how it goes. Keep everyone in your prayers! The extra strength will really be appreciated tomorrow!!!
Good night!
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