September 20- September 25: Getting accustomed

Tuesday was a Hub day, so all the volunteers got together at the central site for safety, medical, and technical training.  We were all very happy to see each other after our exhausting first couple days with our host families.  It was nice to be understood and to understand what was going on for a change.  In the afternoon we had more language training.  By now I was able to at least say “Hi my name is Kari.  I’m a Peace Corps volunteer.  I’m from the state of Michigan in the United States” in Kinyarwanda: “Muraho.  Ni twa Kari.  Ndi umukorerabushake wa Peace Corps.  Ndi umunyamerika; nturuka muri leta ya Michigan”.  

The rest of the week was back and forth between Nonci’s house for language lessons and the Hub site for group sessions.  I was really enjoying training time and felt like I was learning a lot quickly.  A volunteer from the previous training class was here to explain the Rwandan education system and how our work fits into it.  She seemed very confident and happy with her teaching job, which makes me so excited for getting my assignment in three months.

The homestay has been a real struggle for me because I hate feeling clueless all the time.  It gets dark here around six so I am stuck inside from then until I go to sleep.  The family is so incredibly nice, but I just feel so overwhelmed all the time.  I know I am learning the language quickly, but it is not fast enough to be able to share myself with them or to even understand most of what they say to me.  Also, I have never been the type of person to just sit around the house for hours, so the evenings really drag as we just sit around the lantern night after night.  The most difficult thing, though, is the constant comparison I feel with the previous trainee that lived in the house.  She was very much a part of their family and they talk about her constantly, and I think she must not have been as reserved as I tend to be when I first meet people, so they seem confused that I am not more outgoing.  I talked to one of my training staff about this, and he was very understanding and told me I need to just stop comparing, be myself, and don’t be so concerned about how the family reacts.  That’s what I’m working on now!

Saturday we got to experience our first umuganda.  One of Rwanda’s policies for promoting peace and forward-thinking is a day of community service where all people of a village are asked to pitch in with some sort of work.  About ten other volunteers and I headed out with shovels and hoes to build a new back road.  It was so much fun working alongside the Rwandan people and making new friends.  I was able to use the introductory Kinyarwanda I had learned during the week and had a good time learning new vocabulary and teaching some English vocabulary to those who asked.  We finished the entire road and then gathered together in a big field to listen to some very, very long speeches given by some community leaders.  After two hours of talk that we understood none of, the other volunteers and I set out in search of food.  We had a great afternoon together relaxing, telling stories about our homestays, and just unwinding for once.  We were able to pick up our bikes from the Hub site too, which we were very excited about.

Today I had the opportunity to go to church with my family.  The service was very lively and I loved the music.  A family friend did some translating for me.  However, after about three hours of service, Synthia and I left and headed home, because one of our cousins was coming into town.  He is an English teacher, so we talked a lot about our shared profession and language learning in general.  I’m planning on taking a bike ride this afternoon to see some of the villages where other volunteers are living.  Later I will study my Kinyarwanda work so that I’m ready for lessons this week!