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