Wedding Confusion

On Sunday, I attended a wedding and got to see my host mom!! Go mee!!  She really is the sweetest lady ever.  She gave me the biggest hug and her brightest smile when she saw me and I greeted her with just the same.  Two other volunteers traveled to the wedding with me...and yes, making my way to the wedding was yet another adventure, but at least I didn't have to go it alone this time.

When the three of us finally found a bus that was going to Kamonyi (a town a little less than one hour away), we had to sit on that bus for 1 hour before it finally took off.  The buses here will not bust a single move if they are not full.  One empty seat means no travel, so it's always best to look for a bus that's almost full (that's if you want to be on time to your appointment/destination).  Anyway, when we finally got going at 10:00am (which was when the wedding was supposed to start) I immediately noticed that our bus wasn't in the best condition.  It was putt-putting very loudly and I was almost certain we wouldn't make it to the wedding...this thing sounded like it was going to break down and blow up at any minute.  Much to my surprise, the bus never broke down (nor did it blow up) however me and the other two volunteers did encounter another problem.  Justin's host dad (the wedding was to be hosted at his house) called us to see how close we were because he realized that we were running a little late.  When Justin hung up the phone, he looked at me and the third volunteer and said, "The wedding is over.  Our families are on their way to Kigali."  I was totally confused as we were leaving Kigali to go to the wedding and the wedding wasn't supposed to start until 10am.  By this time it was about 10:30 and there was no way in the world a Rwandan wedding was over in just 30 minutes.  We didn't know what to do.  We debated getting off of the bus where we were (even though we were already halfway to Kamonyi), but in the end we decided to just continue on our way and hope that Justin misunderstood his dad about the wedding being over and the entire wedding party leaving for Kigali. 

When we arrived to the wedding, we

An Interesting Bus Ride

An Interesting Ride

Here we go!! Yet another adventure into the big city.  My host mother invited me to a wedding near her house on Sunday so I'm going to spend the weekend in Kigali at the Peace Corps Hostel and then make my way out to see her on Sunday.  I already knew I was in for a weekend of fun and adventure, but I had no idea the fun would start already!  Of course I can always count on my bus ride into the city to be interesting.  Not only did I get lost again (kind of), but I also enjoyed my fancy ride on the fancy bus with a few fancy roaches who, too, wanted to get to the big city for a weekend adventure of their own.

At one of the stops, a little boy (maybe 12 or 13 years old) hopped onto the bus and started speaking a whole bunch of gibberish really, really fast.  Everyone just stared at him, and I was a little startled as I didn't know what he was doing or what he wanted.  There are A LOT of strange people that do A LOT of strange things here so I wasn't quite sure what his deal was.  It sounded like he was either casting a spell on us or like he was saying, how much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood in Kinyarwanda.  When he was finished everyone on the bus started laughing and clapping and giving the little boy the loose change from their pockets.  My immediate assumption was that he was a comedian or something and this was his hustle.  I asked the guy who was riding next to me what the kid was talking about and he said that he was just telling everyone the news.  I guess this is how everyone gets up on their current events in Rwanda...sure beats reading a newspaper.

And now the roaches.

Butterflies

I saw the coolest thing when I got home today!  There have been caterpillars and cocoons all over the outside of my house lately and I arrived home just in time to see two beautiful butterflies bust out of their shells to go out and explore the wonders of Rwanda in their newly transformed bodies.  I had never seen a butterfly actually come out of its cocoon so I kind of just stared in amazement.  Seeing this made me think about the way I've been feeling lately.  I am supposed to be going out into the community doing some intentional relationship building so that when it comes time to gather information for my 3-month report, the people will be willing to participate.  However I have been spending much of my time in the health center rather than out in the community.  I've kind of built a comfort zone around the health center and now I've sort of gotten stuck in my box and I'm a little bit afraid to throw myself out there.  I guess part of my growth from this Peace Corps journey will be me learning to come out of my shell and to not be afraid to step outside of the box for fear of what people may think of me.  I'm certain that in due time, like those butterflies, I will come out of my shell so that I can do all of the great things that the Lord sent me here to do.  I can't live my life in fear...and I certainly can't spend two years in Rwanda with fear at the forefront of my thoughts...it will only hinder my actions.  I can do all things in Christ.  All things.  And I will. 

Love and Peace Corps,

Dametreea

The Case of the Missing Clothes

And just when I thought Rwanda could do no wrong...

I woke up this morning, did my laundry, cleaned my house, and did a whole bunch of other "house keeping" type business that I have gotten into the habit of doing every Saturday.  Only today, I was rushing a little bit to get everything done since me and one of the other volunteers decided we would meet up in the town that is between our two villages.  I also needed to go to the market and run a few errands so I wanted to leave my house with plenty of time to get everything done and make it home before dark.  So I called my moto driver (who after today, probably won't be my driver anymore) and he came to pick me up to take me into town.  Before I left, I decided I would leave my clothes outside to dry so that once I got back from town I could put them away.  Good idea right??...wrong!  No sooner than I got into town (which is 30 minutes away from my house), a felt one drop, then two...and then a dozen drops of rain!  NOOOOO!!!! was all I could think as I pondered at making another 30 minute trip and paying again so that I could go home just to take my clothes inside so that they wouldn't be soaked by this rain that came from absolutely nowhere.  I decided against coming back home and thought to myself, oh well, it's just water...they'll dry eventually. 

Once all of my errands were completed and me and the volunteer were ready to head back to our respective homes, we said our goodbyes and I went on my merry little way.  When I got home, the first thing I went to do was check on my clothes that were hanging on the line in the backyard.  (Or SHOULD HAVE BEEN hanging on the line).  As soon as I opened my back door, I noticed all of my towels, shirts, and socks were M.I.S.S.I.N.G!  The raggedy clothes were still hanging there so I just knew something fishy was going on.  Ohemgee!! Where are my friggin clothes??!  I panicked a little bit, wondering where on Earth they could have been.  People in Rwanda don't steal...right??

Bleach

If it did this to my mouth in just one week, I wonder what the long term effects are of drinking bleach EVERY DAY!  Peace Corps has us pour a little bit of bleach into our water before we filter it to kind of give us double security against parasites and microbes that may be in the water here.  We are to put 1 to 2 drops per liter, but seeing how they don't supply us with any pipets (sorry, it's the scientist in me) to get a perfect measurement, we kind of have to just eyeball it and hope we put in the right amount.  This last time, I think I put a little bit too much bleach in the water.  One day when I woke up last week, I noticed my mouth felt a little raw and I didn't know why.  My gums felt a little swollen and were a bit sore.  I didn't know what it was so I figured it must had been something I ate the previous day or maybe something crawled in my mouth and bit me in my sleep (a little far-fetched I know, but it is possible).  Not knowing what it was, I ignored it, thinking it would go away as the day progressed.  But after I brushed my teeth it only got worse.  Thinking that maybe the soreness  had something to do with my toothbrush, I threw my toothbrush away and got a new one.  When the same thing happened again the next day, I assumed I was using a defective floss and considered throwing that away too.  Next up, I thought it was the toothpaste...then, maybe the seasonings I had been using in my food.  After using all new products for my daily and nightly brushing routine, only for the soreness to worsen and my gums to turn strangely red and begin to bleed a little bit, I finally discovered that maybe, just maybe, it was the bleach and water solution that I had been drinking and rinsing my mouth with after brushing my teeth.  When I thought hard about it, I realized that my mouth always seemed to burn the most after rinsing.  So I decided to rinse with regular water and yep...just as I thought...no pain.  So...it was definitely the bleach. 

I May As Well Sleep On The Floor

I can officially say that I am not safe anywhere!! I thought my bed was the one place that I would always be able to go when everything became too much and I could just hide away from all my worries...the critters...the stress...the boogeyman.  I'm supposed to be able to crawl beneath my covers, tuck in my mosquito net (REALLY tight), and fall into a dreamless slumber and awake in the morning without incident.  But...all this, only in a perfect world.

I didn't have to work today due to it being a Catholic Holiday in Rwanda so I went to bed around midnight last night.  When I finally crawled into my bed, I was pooped.  I slept sooo very good last night and even got to sleep in today until 8am!  When awoke, I moved my feet around in the bed so that I could turn my body to get up.  As I was moving my feet I felt crumbs in my bed and thinking nothing of it, I swept my hand across the bed to wipe them off and onto the floor.  However, as soon as I did this, I realized that there wasn't a reason in the world why I should have had crumbs in my bed.  I hadn't woken up for any midnight snacks and my bed was spotless clean before I finally closed my eyes for the night.  A little bit fearful of what I might find beneath my covers, I moved them aside anyway...and found none other than...

Ebola Threat

I was planning on visiting Uganda in October in honor of surviving my first three months at site (kind of the probationary period for new PCVs) with a few other volunteers.  We were going to go white-water rafting on the Nile!!!! (Yess, the NILE RIVER)!!!  That definitely would have been one of the highlights of my African adventure, however on second thought, I think I may go ahead and stay right here where it’s safe.  After seeing the symptoms and long-term effects of Ebola and how contagious it is, I no longer have the burning desire to visit Uganda or white-water raft the Nile any time soon.

The Peace Corps doctors sent out an email last week notifying the PCVs that there has been an Ebola outbreak in Uganda.  Before reading the email, I had heard of Ebola before (I think), but never really knew what it was.  For those of you (like me) who don’t know exactly what Ebola is, I pasted some details from the email below:

Ebola is a viral hemorrhagic disease which may be transmitted from person to person in close contact with the blood or secretions (body fluids) of an infected person.

Symptoms

Security Message from the US Embassy

I thought I published this post a while ago, but apparently I never did.  Peace Corps sent this email out to volunteers last month, notifying us of the events that have been taking place in the DRC.  There is a travel restriction for PCVs to the Congo and they wanted us to notify all of our family and friends that we are safe here in Rwanda.  The rebel activities are taking place across the northern border of Rwanda;  I am living in the East (far from the northern border, Thank God) so I’m more or less safe from all hurt, harm, and danger.  Below is an email from the US Embassy to US Citizens with more details:

U.S. Embassy Kigali, Rwanda

Security Message for U.S. Citizens – Security Situation in the DRC

July 12, 2012

The U.S. Embassy alerts U.S. citizens to reports of ongoing heavy fighting between the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) and various armed groups in many parts of the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). There are areas of high rebel activity in the DRC directly across the northern land border with Rwanda. Some of these armed groups have also attacked Congolese civilians, leading to a number of deaths. A UN peacekeeper in North Kivu was killed this past weekend. We urge U.S. citizens travelling in Gisenyi or the areas of Rubavu along the land border with DRC, including the areas of Volcanoes National Park that are adjacent to the border, to exercise extreme caution. The situation in Rwanda, including the border cities of Kibuye, Cyangugu, and Gisenyi, remains calm. Although there are currently no travel restrictions for official U.S. citizens within Rwanda, we continue to closely monitor the situation.

God's Got His Hands On Me

I may have already said this in a previous post, but I think I’ll say it again.  Pastor Henry was so right when he told me that I didn’t need to bring God with me to Rwanda because He was already here waiting for me.  Before I even stepped foot onto the plane for the day long ride to Rwanda, the Lord was already here and had already set out to protect me from all hurt, harm, and danger.  There have been a couple of times when I have been caught in the dark trying to make my way home due to busses that either came late or never came at all.  The PCVs have been told on numerous occasions not to travel at night, especially being female, but with the less than reliable transportation system here, it can be kind of tough to make it home before he sun goes down.  At any rate, on both occasions that I failed to get home before dark, the Lord seems to have sent down an angel to ensure that I made it to the comforts of my home without a hitch. 

On Saturday, I went to pick up a package from another volunteer who lives about two hours from me.  I had never been to her village before and I didn’t really know how to get there…so I did what every Rwandan does and just asked for directions along the way.  Peace Corps told us that the people here are always eager to help so I guess Saturday was the day that I decided to put that to the test...and Peace Corps couldn’t have been more right.  When I arrived to the taxi stop, I asked which bus was going to Kayonza and when someone pointed me in the direction of a small, overstuffed mini-van (this is what they use for busses here), I walked right over and did my best to squeeze into a seat which I’m certain I created.  No sooner than I sat down, someone else squeezed into the small space next to me and said, "Keza."  I looked to my right,

Friday Adventure

One of the volunteers called me an adventure magnet this weekend and I definitely had to agree with that statement.  I can honestly say that I have yet to experience a dull moment in Rwanda.  Every day seems to bring something new and exciting and today was certainly no exception.  Every Friday, my health center allows me to get off of work at 12 and so today I decided that after work I would visit one of my fellow PCVs.  It's always a good time when she and I are together so I knew the day would go well...but I had no idea it would be so eventful.  It all started with the drive to her site, which by the way is a little over an hour away from my site.  The moto driver from my health center drove me there and as he had never been to her health center before, we had to stop every so many kilometers to ask for directions (btw I have no idea how they give directions here because there are no street signs or major landmarks).  This had to be thee scariest moto ride ever!  We went over bridges that weren't quite bridges anymore, rather they were mere pieces of log scattered about here and there that threatened to break and fall into the rushing river (or creek) that flowed just beneath them if anyone so much as thought of crossing. There was one "bridge" that we came to which my driver stopped right in front of, examined a bit, then looked back at me and laughed so hard I think I saw tears in his eyes.  I found nothing funny so I just stared back with a so-this-is-funny-to-you face.  Apparently my driver was feeling just as unsure of this "bridge" as I was so we sat there for a moment while, I'm assuming, he thought about how we would get across.  While we were sitting there, another moto came up behind us and a girl jumped off and walked up next to us.  Seeing that both me and my driver had no idea how to get to the other side safely, she said hi and exchanged a few words with my driver, and then pulled my hand for me to get off the moto and walk across the bridge.  She held my hand the entire way (she must have sensed that I was scared out of my mind!) and once we were across, my moto driver slowly walked the bike across the bridge, followed by the other driver.  Once that whole ordeal was over and I realized I was safe on the other side, I sent up a quick thank you, hopped back on the bike, and arrived at my destination a short while later.

The huge mountains surrounding this health center created the most beautiful views I've seen since being in Rwanda.  Of course I didn't think to take pictures until I was already on my way back home, but pictures wouldn't have done the views any justice anyway (the sights here really have to be seen in person for the effect to be the same).  The volunteer's house was really nice too.  It's a two bedroom, complete with a kitchen and bathroom with a flushing toilet (yes, I said FLUSHING TOILET).  I must say, I was a little bit jealous at the fact that she has a toilet and I have a hole in the ground, but you can't have everything right?  Besides, I have electricity and she doesn't, and I definitely prefer to have lights over having a throne (I'm sure I'm getting more use out of my electricity than I would a toilet).

After a couple hours of hanging out and catching up, a couple of the volunteer's coworkers came to her house and said that they wanted to take me somewhere.  We each hopped on the back of a moto and when we arrived at the mystery place which turned out to be a

Held Hostage

Ohemgee! I never in a million years would have thought this possible, but I was just held hostage!  In my own house!  By a fourteen year girl! 

Of course on the one day (Sundays) that I choose as my day to relax and get some downtime, pretty much every body and their mama wants to come by and visit me!  Now I don't mind visitors, the company is nice from time to time, but today is my one day to not have to speak extensive amounts of Kinyarwanda and to take a mental break so that I don't go absolutely crazy out here.  First the phone guy came over for me to charge his phone, then some man who wanted to sell me some over-priced eggs, then my neighbor's daughter so that she could ask me if I would braid her hair (at that very moment), and lastly was the girl who held me hostage.  From the phone guy to my neighbor, I did pretty good at getting rid of everyone quickly, but this last chick just wouldn't leave!  Usually when I don't really feel like company, I just sit there in silence, and eventually the guest will get bored and leave.  However this little gimmick didn't quite work with the 14 year old.  We sat for nearly two hours in silence and she never got the point to leave!  Finally, I had to say to her, "I am going to take a nap."  She proceeded to sit there, like okay, I don't mind sitting here until you wake up.  Then I said again, "I am going to take a nap."  And she gave me the same look.  So again I said, "I am going to take a nap."  Only this time I added on, "You are going home?"  This last part was more a statement than a question, but it seemed to work.  She hopped up (unoffended) and thanked me for my time.  I thanked her for coming to visit and quickly shut the door behind her in case she had any fancy ideas to come back in.

That was definitely the worse and longest two hours of my life!  All I want is one day each week to have some me time.  Is that too much to ask??

Love and Peace Corps,

Dametreea

(Written on 8/12/12 at 5:18p)

Sometimes All You Can Do Is Laugh

"You are fat."

This is what one of my coworkers told me a couple of weeks ago...and yes, all I could do was laugh.  I know he didn't mean it in the "fat" sense of the word, and I was quite tickled by his choice of words.  After telling me how fat I am, he quickly added on, "...But not fattest."  He was trying to say that I am bigger than him, but I am not huge (I think).  He's a little toothpick of a guy so I guess I kind of understood where he was going with the statement.  If I didn't have thick skin before, I definitely will have it by the time I get back to America because these kinds of (unintentionally rude) statements are made on the daily.  But...you can't help but laugh because they have no idea what they're actually saying.

"You have the strength of a boy."

I'm pretty used to people telling me how buff I am and how strong I must be by now so instead of bothering me, this statement, too, made me laugh.  My coworker noticed that I prefer to walk everywhere over taking a moto and when he saw me walking back from the market with two bags full of food (it's a 30 minute walk btw), he said to me, "You have the strength of a boy.  If you kick someone, they will die."  I cracked up at his metaphor of my strength.  Can you say a little extreme??

"I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Walking home from work one day, a crazed man runs up to me and says, "I've been looking everywhere for you!"  I just looked at him with an are-you-sure-you-were-looking-for-me face.  He proceeded to say a huge jumble of words in Kinyarwanda, and based on his hand motions and gestures, I understood that he was having joint problems and needed my help.  I did my best to tell him that I'm not a doctor, but he insisted that I help him immediately.  I didn't know what to do.  This man would not let me continue on my way home and was not taking, "I'm not a doctor" for an answer.  All of this was taking place just outside of the bar that is on the way to my house and I guess the bartender could see my discomfort in the situation so she came out and told the man that he would have to wait and visit the health center tomorrow because I am not a doctor or a nurse.  And when I finally was able to continue my short journey home, all I could do was laugh.  Who on Earth told this man to come looking for me??  Out of all the nurses that live in the area, he comes looking for the one person who can't help him.

Love and Peace Corps,

Dametreea

Look What I've Started...smh

What exactly are you supposed to say when your neighbor knocks on your door, hands you his phone, and says, "charge?"  Last week, one of the secondary students who lives near me came knocking on my door and when I opened it, he practically threw his cell phone and charger into my hands.  I kindly obliged, thinking to myself one time shouldn't hurt, right?  I couldn't have been more wrong.  The next day when the guy came for his phone, I tried to hand him both the phone and the charger.  When he took only the phone, I held up the charger so that he would realize that he didn't take it and he said, "No, you keep.  I will charge here every time."  Not sure exactly how to respond, I just gave a head nod and shut my door.  Ohemgee!! What have I gotten myself into!

Love and Peace Corps,

Dametreea

P.S.  This guy was so serious...he comes back every two days like clockwork to recharge...and I'm too nice to say no :(

Night Time Intruder

I think someone tried to kill me last night!  Okay, maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but I did get a little scare.  I have been told on more occasions than one that people would probably come to knock on my door at night, but that I should never ever, under any circumstances, open it.  I never actually thought this would happen, but last night as I was sitting on my bed on my laptop, I heard a soft knock on my front door.  I wasn't sure if I was hearing things so I sat really still and listened a little bit closer.  I heard the knocking again, only this time it was accompanied by a whisper, "Keza...Keza."  I was sooo creeped out at this point!  Who in the heck is knocking on my door and whispering my name at 9:00 at night. (BTW 9:00 is very late in Rwanda).  It was pitch black outside and all I could hear were crickets chirping and my name being called by someone from the darkness.

I sat in my bed for a second contemplating what to do and then I remembered that my room window and back door are made of wood and have little cracks in them that you can see through if you get really close.  I then hopped out of my bed and hid behind my room door (I'm actually laughing now, that sounds silly) so that the intruder wouldn't be able to see me if they walked around to the back of my house.  I kept listening, and when I didn't hear any footsteps or any other sounds, I ran into my living room to shut off the light, ran back into my room, shut off that light, and crawled into my bed.  Whoever it was went away, I think...

My neighbor's house boy comes by in the evening to talk to me sometimes so this morning I asked him if he had come knocking on my door last night.  He only halfway understood what I was asking and then he said, "Me?  I was at your house?"  I said, "No, I am asking if you were here last night." He said no and proceeded to say, "You had thieves at your house last night." 

Cultural Tidbits

Owls

If you see one at night it is taboo.  When an owl comes to visit you, it means that you did something to make your ancestors upset and someone close to you will pass away very soon.

Chicks

Yesterday on the moto, there was a chicken and a few chicks following behind it attempting to cross the road.  When my moto driver almost killed us to avoid hitting them I was a little baffled.  Is it really worth all that??  Then apparently he read my mind because his response to the thought in my head was, "It is okay to kill the big chicken, but when you kill a baby chicken, you will have bad luck."

Skin

Just like many people in America, the people of Rwanda believe that to have lighter skin is to be more beautiful.  Someone the other day told me that I was getting darker and I smiled and told him that it was not a problem and that I didn't mind being dark.  Then he said, "But if you keep getting darker you will no longer be beautiful."  I did my best to explain to him that

OhEmGee What a Day!

My sweet little neighbor (bless her soul) came knocking on my door at FIVE O CLOCK THIS MORNING!  I haven’t been sleeping too well lately and it seems like every time I get into a good, solid sleep, someone wants to call my phone…or come and knock on my door…or bang on my bedroom window to get me to come out and speak.  I wasn’t really in a deep sleep when she came so I heard her walk up to my back door and call out, “Keza!”  I didn’t feel like removing myself from the warm comfort of my bed so I decided that I would ignore her and pretend to be sleeping.  Apparently they don’t care much about waking people up in Rwanda because not even 10 seconds passed before she said my name a dozen times and went back and forth from the door to my room window yelling, “Keza!...Keza!...Mwaramutse Keza!...Keza! Mwaramutse!...” Coming to the realization that this woman wasn’t going anywhere until she got a response out of me, I shouted back, “Mwaramutse” (good morning).  After achieving her goal of waking me up entirely too early, my neighbor proceeded to tell me to open the door so she could give me some water.  Uhmm…are you friggin kidding me??! Water at 5am??!  I finally decided to get out of the bed at this point and open my back door to show this lady that I had water and didn't need any.  I appreciate her efforts in making sure I have this basic necessity, but it would be lovely if she could find a better time to do it..  5am is absolutely positively out of the question and NOT okay.

*     *     *     *     *

Today at our 7am staff meeting, there appeared to be a lot of

Questions (and Answers):

What is the difference between a peck and a French kiss?

My coworker (male) asked me this question, not without showing me an example of what each should look like.  He pecked at the air and then attempted to French kiss Casper.  I laughed one of those uncomfortable laughs and left it at this: they are the same, one just lasts longer than the other.

Slapped

In another conversation, this same male proceeded to raise his hand and lightly slap me across the face.  At the same time that his hand made contact with my cheek, he said, "What is this called?"  A little bit offended at first, but then realizing he meant no harm, I told him that it's called a slap, and in America it is very rude to do that to someone.

Private Parts

Sitting around one day while things were slow at the health center, my coworkers decided they wanted to ask me about private areas.  They asked me what a male part is called and I told them it is called a penis.  And then, instead of asking what a female part is called, one of the female nurses stood right in front of me, bent over, and pointed her finger (not even two inches away) directly at what she was curious about.  (Can you say, too close for comfort??).  I told her it was called a vagina...and then the words penis and vagina became the words of the day...every time I walked by one of the nurses, I would randomly hear one of these two words in English, then in Kinyarwanda, followed by a light chuckle.

What Happened to Your Butt??

And here comes the weight loss :(  ...one of my corkers asked me what happened.  I had no idea what he was talking about so I asked him what he meant.  He said, "When you got here, your butt, it was big...now it is small."  Looks I need to start cooking more because weight loss certainly was not a part of my Peace Corps plan :-/

Are there Goats in America?

"Yes, but we don't eat them like you do here."  Then I was asked, "If you don't eat them, what are they used for?"  I said for milk, but I honestly don't know the answer to this question.  What are goats used for in America??

You Like Blacks??!

Flipping through my scrapbook one day with my coworkers, I turned to a photo of my 'fiancée.'  When they saw the picture, one of them said, "Wow, you like blacks!"  For some reason, my coworkers don't think that I' m black.  They think I'm "hybrid" (whatever that means).  When I show them pictures of my family, they wonder how everyone can be black, except me.  To avoid having to explain the concept of genetics and  go into more details than necessary, I just tell them I look like me grandmother.  That answer seems to satisfy their curiosity just fine.

Love and Peace Corps,

Dametreea

Market Day

I'm pooped.  I just walked 30 minutes to the market and 30 minutes back with two HEAVY bags of groceries!  I was dreading having to go today--not because of the walk though.  I was apprehensive to go alone as the market is soooo very overwhelming.  I feel like a little ant on a picnic blanket full of food and surrounded by tons of people.  I never really know which direction to go in or what to buy next.  It seems like it would be a no-brainer right?? Wrong, going to the market isn't quite as easy as going to the grocery store.  You have to bargain for EVERYTHING to avoid being ripped off and you have to check EVERYTHING to make sure it isn't rotten or no longer edible.  Back in America, I was the worse at picking out good fresh fruits and veggies so here is another reason why I feel so helpless in the market.  How in the heck do I know when something is ripe??! 

When I left for the market, I think the kids had just gotten out of school (yep, on a Saturday).  As I was walking along, a couple kids came to join me (or follow me), and then two more...then four more...and before even 10 minutes could go by, there were about 15 little kids walking with me to the market; and I certainly didn't mind.  I always feel safer when I'm walking smack dab in the middle of a sea of young, friendly faces.  When I arrived at the market, the little kids kept walking down the road to their homes and then the stress came back.  I told myself get it together girl, the market isn't that bad.  I started walking toward the tomatoes to make my first purchase and before I made it there, I heard, "Keza!"  When I looked to my left, I saw an angel (thank God).  Yet another person the Lord sent down right on time.  It was one of the students from my village.  I walked over to speak to him and once we were finished greeting one another, instead of saying bye, he asked me what all was on my shopping list.  I thought, Yess!! I don't have to do this alone!  I went through my list with him and he guided me around the market and helped me pick out good, ripe fruits and veggies (yes I know, I should know how to pick out good food better than an 18 year old boy, but what can I say...back in America, I'm a frozen veggies kind of girl!)

Once we got everything on the list, I thanked my angel and began my 30 minute journey back home. Market day turned out to be a good day (:

Love and Peace Corps,

Dametreea

The Next Three Months (in a nutshell)

As it turns out, Peace Corps isn’t exactly what I expected...but then again, does anything ever turn out the way you want or expect it to?  Coming in, I expected to be trained in a specific area of health (ie. HIV/AIDS, nutrition, etc), however we (the volunteers) are trained on a very broad spectrum of things and are expected to kind of choose on our own which of those areas we would like to focus our work on.  We were trained (vaguely) in HIV/AIDS, nutrition/malnutrition, hygiene (body and home), family planning, and malaria.  When asked what I do or why I am here...it's always tough for me to give a solid answer.  For one, because I'm not sure which of these I will be working with and I don't want to say I'm going to work in a certain area and then later on, not actually work in that area.

In determining what exactly our "job" will be for the next two years, the volunteers are required to use the first three months at our sites to do a Community Health Assessment (CHA).  The CHA is basically a report that we will write at the end of our first three months, highlighting the things that we've found that do and don't work within the realm of healthcare within our communities.  We are expected to meet the important people (Chief, Chair of Social Affairs, etc) within the community during this time so that they can know who we are and why we are here, we are expected to survey the different programs that the community currently has that are doing well and the ones that need improvements, and we are to build strong, trusting relationships so that the people within the community will be willing to open up to us when it is time to find the information to be included in our final reports.  We will submit our reports at our in-service training in October and upon further evaluation of the report by both Peace Corps and ourselves, we will decide on what our major project will be...in other words, we will find out in October what our "job" will consist of for the next two years. 

This method of "work," I think, has it's pros and cons.  It would have been nice to have a little bit more structure to our training so that we would know more about a specific topic rather than a little bit about several topics.  I kind of feel like we as volunteers could be more productive with a more focused training period.  However, the fact that we are able to design our own projects based on our interests and the needs within the community can be seen as a good thing.  I think the volunteers will be much more committed to a project that they have a genuine interest in, rather than being trained in something that they were, more or less, forced to work on.  Also, the needs of each community are different.  For some, malaria is a major issue (like in my village), and for others the issue is malnutrition or poor family planning.  I can appreciate the CHA in that it allows us to take a close look at where we can be the most productive and what will be the most beneficial to the communities that we live in.  Although this experience is 180 degrees different from what I initially expected, it is still very fulfilling.  As with any other endeavor, it has its pros and its cons, but the pros are definitely outweighing the cons.

Love and Peace Corps,

Dametreea

New Address

I have an address!!! Yess!!!!

For any and everyone who has inquired about packages and where to send them, you can send them to this address:

Dametreea Carr, PCV
United States Peace Corps
BP 47
Rwamagana, Rwanda, Africa

Also, letters are very welcome...I have PLENTY of time on my hands to read them and write back (:

Thanks guys!! I love you mucho!!

Love and Peace Corps,
Dametreea

Pictures!! Finally!!

I have finally had the chance to post some pictures!  Blogger takes entirely too long to post photos so I have started to post a few of them on Facebook.  Below is a link to the album.  I made sure to make it public so that even if you aren't my friend on FB you'll still be able to see them.  I'll try to post a few each day, as it took about 2 hours just for me to post the 10 (or so) pictures that are in the album.  Bare with me ya'll, I'm slowly but surely figuring these technical issues out.  In the meantime, enjoy the photos and check back often.  I will do my best to load all of the photos that I have taken thus far by the end of this coming weekend.  Here's the link:

Photo Gallery via Facebook

Here is the URL in case the link doesn't work:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151140946226387.412108.609486386&type=3&l=cd4fe1d196

Love and Peace Corps,
Dametreea

P.S.  The link can also be found in the "Photo Gallery" tab.

No Lights, No Food

Poor little oh me, absolutely positively famished and not exactly friendly with the dark, tonight is a very sad night.  The electricity has been out all day and of course no electricity means no cooking.  I have a plug-in stove and a kerosene stove, however since I don't quite know how to work the kerosene stove, and after an hour of trying to figure it out, I gave up and am going to have to pray extra hard tonight that I don't starve to death in my sleep.  I can eat another PB n J, however that thought isn't appealing to me too much.  I'm sitting here trying to decide what in my house can be eaten cold and all I am coming up with is snack foods.  I have bananas, chips, bread, peanut butter, jelly, tuna, and a small box of snack foods from America.  Decisions, decisions...which of the previous will I have for dinner??  My vote is for none of the above, but since I have to eat something, I think I'll try out my very first peanut butter and banana sandwich.  I've heard my whole life that they are really good...and I can't think of a better time to test it out for myself!

Lord please, please, let the lights come back on tomorrow...a sista's gotta eat!  And anyone who knows me knows that I DO NOT skip meals...next to my mom and sister, food is practically my best friend! :)

Love and Peace Corps,

Dametreea

(Written 7/31/12 at 8:24p)