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. 

I'm pretty sure Rwanda decided to have the hottest day since I've been here on Saturday, with the peak of heat lasting from 2 to 4pm (coincidentally my time of travel).  As me and the translator walked along, all I could think the entire time was OMG its soooo hot!!! Why aren't we there yet??!!  I looked down at my phone and it read 3:00pm.  We've been walking for one hour!!! What the heck?? What happened to "not very far"????...and we still have to walk back!!!   At this point, I was beyond frustrated.  If I don't hate anything else in this world, I hate being hot and sweaty.  And to add insult to injury, about 45 minutes into the walk, the translator said to me, "You seem tired, you are starting to sweat."  You think???!! Instead of verbalizing my thoughts, I did my best to smile and say, "Yes, it's very hot out and we have been walking for a long time."  All the while, this guy is trying to make small talk and I'm more or less giving one word answers, if any answer at all.  I was doing my best to make the most of the situation, but it was BLAZING HOT! 

Shortly after I had checked my phone at the one hour mark, the translator pointed to our left and said, "This house here is my Aunt's.  We will stop here for a break."  I thought to myself, you've got to be kidding me! then said in a very forced, polite tone, "Okay, no problem."  We rested up for about 15 minutes, said our goodbyes, and then started on our way again.  After a while, I checked my phone again, and it read 3:45pm.  We left my house 1 hour and 45 minutes ago and still hadn't made it.  I was definitely steaming by then and believe me, it wasn't because of the heat.  I asked, "Are we close or far from the house."  He said, "We are close."  Then added on, they have prepared milk for you, are you able to drink milk?"  I said, "I am very hot, I can drink water."  He said, "Yes, the milk is boiled so if you are hot it will not be good to drink that."  About 15 minutes later we arrived at the house.

As soon as I was inside, my entire mood changed.  The Pastor kept telling me how happy she was that I came and that she and her husband have so much respect for people who travel out to her house to visit since its so far.  She said the distance traveled is a symbol of how much her visitors love and care for her.  I smiled and told her that I was happy to come and that I appreciated her invitation.  As soon as I sat down, she asked, "What would you like to drink."  "Water please."  But then I immediately noticed the we-don't-have-safe-drinking-water look on her face and immediately added on, "Milk will be fine."  So, here I am, already soaked in sweat, and about to guzzle down some boiled milk.  The milk was literally steaming hot so I decided to wait for it to cool down a bit before I drank up; however, the husband said, "Drink your milk, it's getting cold."  That's kind of the point, I thought to myself.  But again instead of verbalizing my thoughts, I just smiled, picked up my glass and took a sip.  Next up, the Pastor asked, "Can I bring out food?"  I said yes.  She then left the room and came back with beans, rice, mashed plantains, and greens!!!! YESS!!! I was soo excited...I haven't had greens in such a long time so this definitely lifted my spirits.  I started to make myself a plate and as I was doing so, the translator said, "You are only taking a little bit of food."  I did my best to explain to him that in America we don't eat as much as the people here do in one sitting.  "We eat many smaller meals in the day, whereas you all eat one or two BIG meals in the day."  He nodded in understanding.  When I was finished, the Pastor practically forced me to take another plate.  I put a little tiny bit of food on my plate and then she said, "You don't like the food."  I said, "I do.  Your food is some of the best I've had in Rwanda.  I'm just very full."  She gave me a I-half-believe-you-and-half-don't type smile then let me finish up my second plate of food. 

After eating, we looked at some photos from the Pastor and her husband's wedding ceremonies and then she came out with a small bucket and a cup with water in it.  She stood in front of me and told me to put my hands out.  I did, and she proceeded to pour water over my hands and then handed me a bar of soap.  I washed my hands like this and then when I was finished, the Pastor left the room and came back with a bowl of peanuts and a new coffee cup of milk for me.  I told her, "That's okay, I'm very full."  But then the translator asked, "Why did you wash your hands if you do not want peanuts?"  That might be because I didn't know peanuts came after hand washing!  Instead of being rude, I kept my thoughts to myself, opted for gluttony and scooped a spoonful of peanuts into my hand.  I was so full I could barely swallow them so I kind of sat there popping a peanut into my mouth every 5 minutes so I wouldn't run out and have to take another scoop.

When I noticed how far the sun had moved across the sky, I told the translator that I did not want to walk in the dark; he then told the Pastor that we had to go.  The Pastor said, "But you just got here."  Apparently she wasn't ready for us to leave, but I did not want to have to walk back in the dark with this man that I barely knew for TWO HOURS!  She asked us to at least wait until her husband got back, so we waited about 20 minutes for him to return from wherever it was that he disappeared to, and by this time it was 5:30 (it gets dark here at 6:20).  Great, now I'm gonna be stuck walking in the dark, I thought to myself. 

Once we finally stood to go, the Pastor had us close our eyes and said a quick prayer for a safe journey home.  She and her husband walked us to the main road and since it had begun to get dark out, they offered myself and the translator their bike.  I couldn't get "YES!" out fast enough!  Many of the bikes here are made for transporting people (and things) so the bike had a second seat that I sat on while the translator drove...for like 5 MINUTES!  After that, I guess he discovered that either I was heavier than he thought or he just didn't feel like riding a bike, but he stopped, told me to get off, and we proceeded to walk our two hour journey home IN THE DARK.  For the entire time that we were walking, I contemplated asking if he could call a moto taxi for me since the sun had gone down, but I kept changing my mind because I thought it would be rude to leave him walking by himself.  Well, the Lord must have heard me thinking because about 20 minutes into our walk, a motorcycle pulled up next to us and asked if either of us wanted a ride.  I looked at the translator and asked if he would be okay, he said yes and within seconds, I was waving behind me and yelling that I would text when I made it home.

About 15 minutes later, I was safe and sound in the comfort of my home; although I'm not quite sure how I got there since I didn't even tell the driver where I lived.  He must have seen me around before.  It's kind of scary knowing that a complete stranger knows exactly where I live, but I guess that kind of comes along with being the only American in my village...everyone seems to know everything about me.  Regardless, I'm safe, sound, and sun-burned from the LONG "short" walk...but for the GOOD food and how happy the Pastor was to have me visit, it was definitely worth it!  Sun-burn and all!

Love and Peace Corps,

Dametreea