I Heart UA GC!!!

I woke up this morning with a smile on my face and I just knew that today was going to be a good day.  I'm sure somebody reading this knows what I'm talking about.  There wasn't any specific reason for the smile, it was just there.  And my thoughts of having a good day were confirmed when I read my Daily Word before work.  The title of the message for the day fit my mood perfectly: I Am Jazzed with Irrepressible Joy!  I am going to share what it said because it really touched me and I'm sure it'll do the same for someone else:

I proclaim today to be a day of joy, no matter what the current circumstances in my life may be.  I do not dwell in pessimism, lack, fear or doubt.  Today I am jazzed with irrepressible joy!

My exuberance is fueled by my awareness of true joy--the joy that lives within me.  It does not depend on outer situations or other people.  This joy is innate.  It comes from the unfailing Source of happiness and serenity within me.

When I allow joy to surface, even in difficult times, its powerful energy calls forth my good.  As I share joy freely, my own joy is increased.

For you shall go out in joy...the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song. --Isaiah 55:12

Wasn't that a beautiful Word??

Now back to my story...The post office called me yesterday to notify me that not one, but TWO

Camp BE Afterthoughts

I got a little sad on the last day of camp and kind of had a short therapeutic writing session to let out some of my feelings.  What I wrote captured exactly how I was feeling at the moment and so I typed it up below to share my final thoughts on what myself and the boys had just experienced:

We have reached the final day of Camp BE and I must say, I am so elated that I was able to be a part of it.  These boys are so amazing!  You would never know from seeing them here that most of them are poor, like one meal a day poor; that they have drunken, abusive parents; that they are orphans; and that they carry the burden of being a child in a country that hardly allows them to have a childhood.  The kids are taking a post test now, and as I sit here watching them work so hard and seeing them smile from the satisfaction of what they have experienced over the past few days, I can't seem to fight off this sadness that has overcome me.  It's not so much the goodbye that breaks my heart, but more the fact that each one of these boys must walk out of these school doors and right back into their situations.

None of these boys have ever experienced anything like this in their lives and most of them may never again.  Some, I hope most, will take what they have learned and use it as a fuel to push toward greatness and move beyond their current situations.  That is the good I see in Camp BE.  However it does hurt that after getting a small taste of "good life" they must all go back to "bad" until they are old enough and independent enough to make the changes that I know they can make.  Now that they have come into this great experience and have been surrounded by all of this positive energy, I hate that tomorrow they will be right back in the presence of their degrading parents, a gender discriminatory society, and a world full of "no" and "you can't."  We have told them that they can and did our best to show them that they can.  Now all I can do is pray that that's enough and that they do!  Camp BE really changed my life; please God, let it change theirs.

Camp BE

Camp BE (Boys Excelling) is a camp that is put on by Peace Corps Volunteers all over the world, which targets secondary school males and teaches them about HIV/AIDS, career planning, communication, relationships, and life skills.  The volunteers in my region of Rwanda just completed our 5 day camp, and boy was it a tiring, yet extremely rewarding experience!  Most of the volunteers that I speak with about their service say that the youth camps are the highlights of their service and I am now able to say the same thing.  From the time we announced the students who were accepted to the moment they all left camp to return home, I was all smiles (from ear to ear) and bubbling over with excitement and joy at the impact that we were able to make in these boys' lives in such a short time.  Some of the highlights from the camp are noted below:

And the Winner Is...

Okay so there wasn't really a "winner" per se, but there was an application that the students had to fill out since so many boys were interested in attending the camp.  At the school in my community, I had the Headmaster pick out the school's top students and these 12 boys proceeded to fill out the application and hand it in.  Once I chose the 4 that I thought were the best, I went back up to the school to give the students their camp invitations.  Little did I know, the day that I happened to be going to the school to notify the students just so happened to be the last day before the holiday break.  On the last day of classes, the school holds a small awards ceremony where the brightest and best-behaved students are rewarded with notebooks, certificates, and new pens for being model students all year long.  It was cool that I just happened to want to notify the students on this day because the Headmaster ended up making the camp invitations a part of the awards ceremony.  He called each boy up to the front, one by one, and presented them with what I would like to think is the best news they've had all year!  An invitation to Camp BE!  I just loved watching the boys as their names were called and as they received their invitations; seeing them smile so bright just warmed my little heart (:

In a Nutshell

Okay there is soooo very much to tell about camp and as you can probably tell by now that I can go on and on and on...and on...when I'm telling a story, so I'll do my best to give the nutshell version of my fondest memories:

Slapped...in the Face...AGAIN!

The day after I returned from training, I went to work and not even one hour went by before I was slapped in my face...TWICE!  After the initial shock and getting over my bruised ego and hurt feelings, I thought to myself, man, you guys really must have missed me.  I absolutely positively love the affection and the fact that my coworkers like me so much, but isn't there a less aggressive, less painful way for them to show their feelings??  A slap in the face doesn't exactly make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.  And it's not just a tap to the cheek either...it's more like a...here, see for yourself.  Hold your hand up next to your face and then make contact with your cheek with the same force that you would if you were clapping your hands...and then push your head to the side.  If you did it how it's done to me here, you probably bruised your own ego a bit and here is where I welcome you to my world  :-P

I've said on several occasions that I don't like that "kind" gesture, but I guess it's just something that I'm going to have to get used to.  When someone gets really excited telling a story, they slap you; if you do something or have something really cool, they slap you; if you've been gone for a while and come back, they slap you...I guess if I were to compare the gesture to something in America, it would be the little shoulder shove that ladies give each other when they are telling a story or someone cracks a small joke...kind of like the "girl-shut-up" shove.  It's a playful shove, and I guess the slap is supposed to be the same thing...except in my eyes, it's not all that "playful."

I didn't mention this in the last post, but when I first arrived back to my house after training, I noticed a bunch of HUGE

Back to Reality

Back to Reality

I have so many stories to share that I don't know where to begin!  I guess I'll start with the ten day training that myself and the other PCVs attended almost two weeks ago.  The training was held in northern Rwanda in a district called Musanze and ohhhmygeeee it was sooo very beautiul!!! (Musanze is a touristy type spot; this is where the volcanoes, gorillas, and tons of other beautiful sights are located).  In case you're wondering, no I didn't get to see the gorillas, but I will definitely be going next year with my family when they come to visit!! Yayy mee!!!

PC put us in a fancy hotel with hot water and tons of good food!! It even had a swimming pool! I'm sure I don't have to tell you that I over-indulged in the food and probably over-did it with the HOT showers (you have no idea how good it felt to be able to take a HOT shower with RUNNING water).  For the bulk of the time, we were in meetings alllll day long and once we were finally able to take a break and explore the town, we all seemed to get culture shocked all over again.  I must say, it was tough being around familiar faces all day, every day, for ten days and then having to come back to our sites by ourselves.  A few volunteers had warned us that after being gone for longer than a week, you kind of have to reintegrate yourself back in, and I now know that they weren't lying.  It's not so much reintegrating though, it's more getting used to the standard of living again; back to bucket baths and cooking for two hours before you can eat...back to the critters and staring at the strange spot on the wall for what seems like hours because you have nothing better to do...lol (that last one is a half truth, I don't do it all the time, but I have caught myself staring off into space on more than one occasion). 

Anywho,

Let the Fun Begin!!

It has been much too long since my last post; boy how time flies when you're having fun!  I've been super duper busy typing up a community health report, not to mention I just got back to my village from a 10-day in service training!  With that being said, please bare with me as I slowly, but surely type up all of my new, fun and exciting experiences.  In the meantime, I am making a tab titled CHA where you can view the extremely LONG report that I had to submit a couple of weeks ago.  It's basically a compilation of all the research I have been doing for the last three months on my community.  The purpose of this document is to give the volunteers a solid idea of what types of things we can do to help our communities.  From this, we are supposed to come up with and implement a project (or two...or three...or more) that will be sustainable and beneficial to the people in our village communities.  I have listed out the biggest health problems and have listed a few potential projects to go along with them.  I would really like it if you took a look at the document and helped me brainstorm some ideas for sustainable projects.  I have a few ideas, but 21 heads (the followers of this blog) are better than one!!  Once I decide on a project, I'll FINALLY have a concrete job to do! YAYY!!! Ready, set, let the fun begin!!

Love and Peace Corps,

Dametreea

P.S.  Thank you ahead of time for your help and suggestions!! You guys are the best!

Ignorance

I went to visit my neighbor (who is the sweetest woman ever) on Wednesday and she asked me to come to church with her on Friday.  I told her, "I'm Christian."  Then she said, "That's okay, it's just to visit."  I asked her when and where the church was and she told me that she goes on Fridays.  "I work on Fridays," I told her and then she said, "We can go during your lunch."  Great, I'm cornered.  I have the hardest time telling people no, so I obliged and told her that I would come to her house as soon as I got off of work for lunch.  I'm strong in my faith as a Christian so I figured it wouldn't be too big of a problem; also, I'm not perfectly fluent in Kinyarwanda just yet so I probably wouldn't have been able to understand what was being said anyway.  I agreed to go more for integration purposes than to be converted to Muslim and I assumed this wouldn't be a problem...that is...until I asked two of my coworkers for their advice.

After the staff meeting on Thursday morning, I walked into the office that I share with two of my coworkers and popped my big question.  "My neighbor asked me to go to church with her on Friday, but she's Muslim.  I'm not sure if it's appropriate for me to go or not.  What do you think?"  Little did I know, I opened up a huge can of worms with this question and should have stuck with just asking my mom and sister in America for their opinions.  One of my (very outspoken) coworkers, who happens to speak English rather well, lit into me immediately.  Here is a blurb of what he said: "Why would you want to go to church with them?  Muslims are dirty! Do not be their friends!  Do not go to their mosque!  Do not eat the food they give you!  They are different.  They do not have hygiene.  When they use the bathroom, they wipe with their right hand and will make you sick."  As he said all of this, I couldn't help but to notice

More Randomness

I'm a Boss

One of my coworkers wore his good hat to work today (which happens to be a forest green cowboy hat) and asked me to help him take a photo for his FB profile picture...I obliged and helped him, and when we were all finished and his profile picture was updated, he displayed a proud smile and said very confidently, "I'm a boss."  I laughed. I will forever wonder where they learn these things.

Racist

The last thing I would have ever expected to be called in Rwanda is racist.  I was showing one of my coworkers some of the photos in my phone and when we were finished he said, "I think you are racist."  I told him I wasn't and asked why he would think so.  He said, "You are lying.  You are racist because you only have black people in your phone."  I didn't quite know how to respond, but I did my best to defend myself and tell him that most of the photos are of my family and they are all black...as I am.  Everyone here has a hard time believing that I come from a black family since my skin is so light; so they think I'm a white person who doesn't like whites.  Imagine that.

Out of Gas

Random Thoughts and Moments

Here are a few things that I have experienced or heard that don't quite amount up to a full blog post...just a little bit of this and a little bit of that...

I Love You

I have had these three little words directed at me more times than I am comfortable with.  In Rwanda, to tell someone that you like them or love them, are one and the same; you simply say ndagukunda.  So when someone likes you in Rwanda, they say in their best English, "I love you," not really understanding the meaning behind the phrase.  I have had the hardest time explaining to them that in English, we say I like you, rather than I love you...I love you is more or less reserved for people that you have known for a very long time.  After my novel of an explanation on the differences between like and love, the Rwandans just nod their heads, smile, and say again, "I love you."  And at that point I just give up, smile back, and respond, "I love you too."

You Look Smart

When someone is dressed nicely or looks exceptionally well one day, their Rwandan friend will say to them, "You look smart."  I wonder what they say when the person is dressed bad o.O

I Am Coming

My coworkers have no more chances to tell me "I am coming" and then walk right out the door...and never come back! lol  I'm not sure where they got this bad English from, but instead of teaching them to say I'll be right back, someone has put into their heads that the proper thing to say is "I am coming."  So, each time someone has to leave the room for one reason  or another, they stand up, say more like an announcement than a simple statement, "I am coming!," and then proceed to walk right out the door...and just as I said before, they more often than not, never actually  "come" back.

Eggs

Workday Conversations

I will never understand why sex is such a popular topic of conversation in the workplace, but I do wish for either the topic to change or for my coworkers to leave me the heck out of it.  I would much rather talk about the weather.  Or food.  Or better yet, something that's actually work-related...but of course a work-related conversation would be asking too much.  Here are a few conversations that were uncomfortable for me, but will probably be funny for you.  Ready, set, laugh away:

Eating

I was texting and laughing into my phone yesterday when one of my coworkers asked me what was so funny.  I told him that I was texting my boyfriend and that he sent me a funny message.  Then out of the blue, he said, "Your boyfriend will eat you one day." I thought to myself, wth did you just say to me??  And then the conversation went like this:

Me: Huh??

Him: Your boyfriend will eat you one day when you are married.

Uhmm...exactly what does that mean in Rwanda?? I thought to myself. 

Me: I don't understand.

Him: *laughter* I understand well.  He will eat you and you will enjoyful.

All the while we were talking, I was texting my "boyfriend" and telling him what was being said.  My coworker asked what I was texting and I told him that I was passing along what he had just said to me.  He said, "No!  That is a secret!  You cannot tell him.  In Rwanda it is something that we say in private.  If we are in a nightclub and see two people who might leave together, we say that they are going to go eat each other.  It is only to tell our friends."  At this point I was soo very done with the conversation and opted out of responding.  All I could think was, If this were America, you would soooo be charged with sexual harrassment!

I Like You Today

I was somehow cracking jokes in Kinyarwanda this morning and had two of my coworkers in tears from laughing so hard.  On his way out of the door and to a meeting, one of the coworkers said, "Keza, I like you today."  I was a little baffled...all I could think was, uhmm...as opposed to not liking me on other days??  o__O

I Love You...In the Inappropriate Way

Speaking of Love...

I'm just getting home from a wedding that I was invited to a few days ago.  I think I've finally gotten the three ceremonies down.  One is a ceremony in which the bride and groom's fathers give one another gifts, the second is of the signing of the marriage documents, and the 3rd is a reception-type ceremony with food, drinks, dancing, music...you know...regular reception-type activities.   I'm assuming the ceremony I went to today was the one where the two father's exchange gifts, but I'm not too sure since I was two hours late.  The wedding began at 10, however the student I went with came to get me at 12.  The bride is her friend and since she was going, I figured I would wait until she was ready so I wouldn't have to go alone. 

When we arrived, we were ushered to two seats in the  back of the church and asked what kind of Fanta we wanted to drink.  I asked for my usual Orange flavor (which never came, by the way) and then focused my attention on the happenings at the front of the room.  For the short time that I was there (about 1 hour), here is what happened:

Love Struck

Here are a couple of funny (or unfunny) run-ins I've had with love (and like):

"She's My Sister"

I think it's officially safe to say that men are the same everywhere...whether in America or Africa; Arizona or Rwanda, they still insist on lying and playing childish games.  There are about four students who live in the row of houses behind my house and one of them introduced me to her boyfriend a couple of weeks ago when he came to visit.  Ever since then, she's been telling me, "My boyfriend wants to greet you on the phone...when can he greet you??"  Finally one day, she came to my house on the phone and told me that her bf was on the other line.  We greeted one another in English (he speaks English really well) and then I passed the phone back to the girl.  No sooner than she placed the phone next to her ear, she passed it back to me.  Here is how the conversation went:

Me: Yes?

Him: Text me your number, I want to visit you.

Me: When you come to visit your girlfriend, you can both come to visit me.

Him: My girlfriend?  She told you she's my girlfriend?

Me: Yes.

Him: She is not my girlfriend, she is my sister.  Text me your number.

At this point I laughed and passed the phone back to the girl.  She and her "brother" said their goodbyes and then I told her what he said (this conversation was in broken Kinyarwanda since she doesn't speak much English):

The LONG "Short" Walk

One of the Pastor's from  church has been asking me, every single Sunday, when I will come to her house to visit her and her husband.  Finally, I obliged and decided to go on Saturday.  We arranged for a time and the translator at the church told me that he would accompany me.  I didn't know where the Pastor's house was and we wouldn't have been able to have much of a conversation beyond greetings and the topic of food, so I welcomed the translator's company on the journey.  When Saturday, 3pm finally rolled around, myself and the translator started on our way...

...and this is where the adventure began...

Since our mode of transport would be legs, I asked the translator, "Is her house close?" He responded, "No, it is not close."  Then he quickly added, "But it is not very far."  I should have stopped right there and read between the lines, but instead I paid his words no mind.  Not to mention, while we were at church on Sunday, I do remember the Pastor telling me to ride a bike to her house, but again, I paid this no mind.  It can't be too far, right?? I thought to myself.

I couldn't have been more wrong. 

Precious Moments II

More precious moments...

You Are the Limousine of Cars

Four months after all of the jokes from my sister about my "Africa wardrobe," I have finally come to the conclusion that she was absolutely WRONG!  My coworkers seem to love every outfit I put on and they swear up and down I bought all of these clothes here in Rwanda--there's just no way America has all of these wonderful prints and styles.  It's looking like mission Saver's was a success (shout out to my mom)!! lol

One day, one of my coworkers went so far as to say, "Keza, wambaye neza (dressed nicely)...do you know limousine??"  After I confirmed that he was talking about the fancy, long, black car, I responded, "Murakoze (thank you)...yes, I know limousine."  Then he proceeded to ask, "In America, limousines are very nice??"  Again, I said yes and he said, "Well then, you are the limousine of cars."  I responded with a bashful, "Thank you" and proceeded to have a limousine day of days.  (:

Welcome Back!

After being away from my village for a very long and much needed weekend, I never would have imagined I could be so missed.  When you leave the village, everyone and their mama seems to find out so when I came back and walked into work on Monday morning, I felt like I was the favorite little cousin who had left for weeks.  I walked into the morning staff meeting to "Keza!!!! Welcome back!!!" and a million hugs, high fives, and burning cheeks from smiling so hard.  It gets harder and harder for me to ask myself, what am I doing here? when I have all of this waiting for me at work every day.  When I see all of their smiling faces, I know exactly what I'm doing here.  If in these two years all I did was make them smile, my mission will still have been accomplished.  All I want to do is make a difference, and with them I think it's safe to say I already have.

Rwandan Mama's

Precious Moments I

Here are some cute little moments and reasons why I love Rwanda sooo very much!  I have never (before here) met such a people who will embrace you and take you in as their own, knowing nothing more about you than the fact that you are from America.  It's little moments like these that make me feel right at home and so happy that the Lord (and Peace Corps) decided that Rwanda was the best country for me to serve in!

Wellness Check

Me and this not having a fridge thing is hardly working.  I do my best to cook just enough for two meals (lunch and dinner), but sometimes I have a little extra and seeing how I absolutely positively hate to waste food, after letting it sit out all day and/or all night, I end up eating the last little bit.  Well last night something certainly didn't agree.  I don't know if it was the leftover food or the pineapple that I had cut earlier in the day, but something definitely stirred up a rumbly in my tumbly.  I woke up this morning feeling a little under the weather, but I decided to go to work anyway (I spend too much time alone in this house as it is).  As the day progressed, my tummy ache progressed and I eventually told one of my coworkers that I didn't feel well and was going home.  I went home with the intent to nap and rest until I felt better, but just as I had fallen into a peaceful slumber, I heard two people knocking on my door and hollering out, "Keza!! Keza!!!"  When I didn't come to the front door, they went around to the front window and then to the back door to get me to open up.  I didn't feel much like being bothered since I wasn't feeling well, but I got up and went to open the door anyway.  And what did I see?? Two of the nurses from the health center coming to check on me to make sure I was feeling okay and didn't need anything.  In a broken English, one of them said, "We came to see the situation with you."  This warmed my heart.  These two women had no obligation to come and check on me, yet they came anyway, realizing that I am here all alone and have no one to take care of me, but me.  I really appreciate them and their care.  Before they left, one of the nurses said that she was going home to cook and would bring me some food (at least I think that's what she said, this was in Kinyarwanda). My final thoughts on this?? I heart Rwanda...and the people (:  I really do!

Safety and Security

Cows and Constipation

For once, my day started out more or less normal and uneventful, however a couple hours after I got to work, one of my coworkers pulled me in the direction of the health center's cows and told me to come and look.  I wasn't quite sure why he wanted me to go and look at the cows that I had seen so many times before, but I obliged and walked with him anyway.  This was one of my coworkers who speaks pretty good English so along the way, I asked him why we were going over there and he told me, "One of the cows is sick." I asked what was wrong with the cow and he pointed to his stomach and said, "Something is wrong with her stomach.  She can't go..." and then he made a number-two type face and made a sweeping motion behind him with his hand.  I said, "Ooooh she's constipated..." (which btw I had no idea could happen to a cow).  As we got closer to the stable, I noticed the poor cow was flopped over on the ground looking so pained and pitiful (I guess she really was sick).  Seeing how my expertise is not in the arena of cow health, I couldn't for the half of me figure out why he took me over there and after witnessing what came next, I certainly wished he hadn't. 

There were two other men over by the cows: the Cow Boy (that's actually his title, he takes care of the cows) and another man (man #2) who I had never seen before.  I was looking at the cow feeling sorry for it, and when I tore my eyes away from it to look in the direction of man #2, I noticed he was putting on a long blue glove that covered the entire length of his arm.  I wasn't quite sure what it was for, but when I looked over at that poor cow again laying in its own day old mess, I kind of got an idea.  The man began to put a clear gel on the glove and slid it from his finger tips, all the way up to his armpit where the glove stopped.  Next, the man walked over to where the cow was lying down, told the Cow Boy to lift the cow's tail, and then he

Rwanda Facts (or fictions)

I hear so many different stories and tidbits here that I'm starting to have a hard time determining what's fact and what's fiction.  I get the funniest stories and comments at work (funny to me, that is) and then once the story is over and I double over in laughter, my coworkers kind of just stop and stare at me with this I-know-she-does-not-think-this-is-funny face.  I don't know, maybe it's just me, but most of these stories are hilarious (especially when the person telling them is dead serious).  Anyway, I'll let you decide for yourself...here goes:

Millipedes

Little boys must beware of millipedes.  If they are ever bitten by one, their penis will forever be small; the millipede will run off with its newest prized possession and the boy will be left with a malfunctioning penis and the inability to get a girlfriend.  The little boy will love a looooong and very lonely life.

Sex

This seems to be a very popular topic of discussion at work and every time its brought up, I always get a little uncomfortable and (very immaturely) begin to giggle and laugh.  And every time, my coworkers never fail to ask me, "Why do you laugh?? Are you afraid of sex?"  I just keep giggling and proceed to tell them that in America, sex is not an appropriate topic in the workplace.  People don't just sit around talking about sex while at work.  And then ignoring what I just said, they proceed to say to me (in broken English), "You are afraid of sex.  You have a disease."  I say, "A disease?"  They say, "Yes, to be afraid of sex is a serious disease.  It is a terrible sickness."

And now some not-so-funnies, just interesting:

2 A.M. Blues

I woke up about 20 minutes ago with the worse pain in my stomach.  At 2:13 in the morning I'm lying here wiggling my legs beneath the sheets and rubbing my tummy in hope of stopping the pain; I think to myself...noooo, not at 2am!! Please wait until the morning...It's pitch black outside!!!

The PC doctors warned us that it happens to every volunteer--many times-- but I've been lucky enough to escape it for 4 long months, and believe me, it has been great.  Until today.  Yesterday I made some cabbage and questionable carrots (the carrots weren't in the best shape, but I hate to waste food) so I cooked them anyway; and I had my usual tea, but I ran out of Nido, so I was trying a new (less expensive) powdered milk.  My tummy has been acting funky all day today, but ohemgee why did it have to hit me so hard so late in the night (or early in the morning).  Either way, there are several possibilities for culprits.  It could be the fact that all I ate today was toast and tea (with the new powdered milk) for breakfast, Twix and Butterfinger for lunch, and Cheese-Its and Skittles for dinner.  And then again, it could be the cabbage and "bad" carrots that I ate last night.  Whatever it was, it had me up at 2 o clock in the morning, attempting to devise a plan to go outside to my latrine in the pitch-blackness and do so without some crazy person jumping from behind a bush or banana tree to take me out to the far-reaches of Rwanda and leaving me there.

Moment of Truth

There have been moments when I have somehow forgotten that I'm in Africa.  Like, it just doesn't feel like I'm here (minus the fact that I can't see my family, that is).  I'm not 100% sure what Africa should feel like, but I can say that its nothing like I expected it to be. 

Someone asked me, a few weeks ago, if Rwanda is more or less than what I expected it to be and my answer was that it is much more.  I honestly (and ignorantly) had a Discovery Channel-type image in my head of what Rwanda (or all of Africa for that matter) might look like.  I didn't expect a "normal" city (whatever normal is), I didn't expect "normal" houses (again, whatever normal is); however I did expect to see paper-thin children with pot bellies and their parents with torn clothing and no shoes.  The "normal" I expected to see much resembled that of pre-colonized Africa...you know, the stick houses with no ceilings, the men in loin cloths, giraffes and monkeys walking around all over, etc.  I could very easily blame National Geographic and any other sources for my faulty images of Africa, however I think it would only be fair for me to blame myself.  I never did much research of my own on the countries of this continent until it was time for me to come here.  Even still, the images that I had seen throughout my life kept me from believing that any country in Africa would actually have cell phones, healthy babies, tall buildings, or any form of civilized life.  So when I say that sometimes I forget that I am in an African country, I mean it in the sense that its nothing like the images that have been painted in my head my entire life...

Photos and Care Packages

I was finally able to post all of the photos that I have taken so far! Yayy!! If you haven't already, feel free to follow the link under the Photo Gallery tab so that you can see for yourself how much fun I've been having!!

As for the care packages...THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! You have no idea how much joy those not-so-little boxes of goodies bring me.  I appreciate everything from the candy to the lotion to the spam and tuna!  Did I mention the candy??  After a long day at work or dying from boredom and loneliness, there's nothing like a yummy piece of chocolate to bring me back to life.  I tell no tales when I say that it felt like Christmas time at the post office...and my pantry is looking more like an American mini-mart than like something you'd find in a small mud house smack dab in the center of Rwanda.  Again, THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!! I had a rough day today and the goodies definitely turned it around.  As of right now, I don't need anything else...but if you're just dying to get something in the mail, a girl can never have too many snacks (: I love and miss you all soooo very much!

Love and Peace Corps,

Dametreea