Christmas Terror

My colleagues Christmas tree. Dec 2013

Let me start by saying this Christmas was by far one of the best I have ever experienced.  Of course nothing can compare to the holidays spent with family, but this one definitely comes in close second!  Christmas Eve and half of Christmas were spent with one of my coworkers and his family, and the other half of Christmas was spent with a few of my fellow volunteers.  Each celebration filled me with more joy than my little heart could handle...all except for one moment...my moment of Christmas terror! *insert horror music here*

It was on Christmas Eve that I traveled with my coworker to the city to spend the first part of the holiday with his wife and daughter.  They were having a "party" on Christmas day, however I didn't want to be alone on Christmas Eve so I opted to stay the night.  Like Rwandans tend to do, they treated me as nothing less than a guest of honor, tending to my every need (against my wishes), and even gave me a Christmas present, which was an all expense paid trip to the neighborhood bar for akabenzi!! (a yummy pork dish).  I had been talking to my coworker about akabenzi for the past year and he and his wife made me the happiest meat eater alive when they took me out for my first taste of pork in TWO YEARS!  Long story short, Christmas Eve turned out to be a great time, that is until we made it back to their house, well after dark, and I asked to use the bathroom.  There was a slight pause after I asked the question, then my coworker and his wife looked at each other and responded "yes" in unison.  I didn't think much of their hesitation at the moment, but I soon figured discovered why they should have told me  no...or at least added on a disclaimer after they responded yes.  I then

Carpe Diem

The first two visitors I had here made me question whether in-country visits are a good thing or a bad thing.  I can't deny the good time I had during the visits, but when each visitor left, especially my sister, I was left feeling empty, counting the months, and then the days, wishing they both were drastically less.  My mother came to visit for Thanksgiving and my birthday and I'm not sure I can say the same thing this time.  After being here for so long, I kind of grew numb to the experience--I've forgotten to live in the moment. Rather, I have been living in tomorrow, musing at the life I'm "missing out on" in the States.  My mind has slowly begun to ignore the beauties that, before I grew "bored," had the ability to hypnotize me each time I looked far off into the distance.  However my mom was able to bring back the excitement for me.  Every time she looked off into the distance, she was scrambling to retrieve her camera so that she could capture every wonder--every beauty.  And each time she fumbled with the zipper of her purse, I chuckled inside at the thought that I too was once this excited about being in Rwanda and just had to capture everything within the lens of my hand held digital.

During her time in Rwanda, my mom had a chance to