Holy cow, it's been a long time since I last wrote!

HELLO!  Sorry for my silence.  I knew some time had passed since I last had the time to write, but I had no idea it was almost a month.  What has been going on?

Well, the constant activities have been teaching and volunteering at the daycare run by the Brazilian religious congregation.  This week I haven't taught because the students are taking final exams, but before that I was happily teaching nine periods a week.  My mission report will mention some of the topics I've taught recently.  On Tuesday mornings I head over to the Brazilians' place to spend a few hours with children 2-6 years old.  This past week it made me so happy to hold a girl who wanted to snuggle during the play time.  It is so nice to have a child in my arms.

There were some one-time events for the year, such as saying goodbye to the French Fidesco family, hosting a Mardi Gras party, and attending a special retreat in Kigali. 

First, the Fraternity of Jesus retreat on Feb 28-March 2.  The Fraternity of Jesus is a sub-group of members in the Emmanuel Community who feel called to be more radically available for mission in the Church and in the context of the Emmanuel Community.  I made the trial step in the Fraternity in December 2010 and remain in that stage.  Anyway, the retreat was nice.  I had good translators, which makes a world of difference when listening to hour-long teachings.  I still fell asleep sometimes, but I heard enough that I went away challenged to be more faithful to my prayer time.

The King Cake

Second, Mardi Gras!  Rita and I had a dessert and soda party the night before Ash Wednesday.  In attendance were six Belgian medical students we had just met, two novices from across the street, and four young adults from the Emmanuel Community.  I looked around the room with joy as I saw the different groups and nationalities (Cameroonian, Rwandan, Portuguese, Belgian, and American) speaking with each other.  I made an American version of the king cake (minus the colored sugar) and hid a button in it.  Later I cut the cake into 14 pieces and made Jean d'Amour (the youngest) say who would receive each slice.  It turns out I received the button, which means I have to make the king cake next year.  Since most of us won't be here next year, we joked about having the cake the following week, but I told them it would have to wait until Easter, the season of celebrating!

Third, Rita and I said goodbye to our fellow Fidesco volunteers in Butare, Ronan and Segolene des Horts and their four kids, on March 15.  Sad.  They had finished their two years of service so it was time for them to head back to France and resume life there.  Rita and I had them over for brunch on the day they drove to Kigali, two days before they would fly to France, and it was really sad to watch them drive away for the last time.  We know other expatriate families in town, but I think it's fair to say we shared a special bond with the des Horts family because we were part of the same organization and they were the ones to welcome us when we arrived.  Here are some pictures from our time together.

My welcoming team the night I arrived in Butare on the bus

November 2013.  My roommate and I are on the left side and the guy on the right is Timothee, one of the two French volunteers in Kigali at the center for street boys.  Jeremie arrived a little over a month ago so no photos of him yet.

Birthday presents from the des Horts' kids

One final picture before saying goodbye

One new thing is that I am working with the local music team from the Emmanuel Community to teach the members the EC songs in English and to translate songs.  Clearly I am not translating into Kinyarwanda, but I have the desire to take a few of the KR songs that I know the best and to translate them into English, which I plan to work on when Rita and I talk a little vacation next week to Lake Kivu.  As far as teaching the English songs, there is a small group from the university prayer group that I teach every Monday for an hour and then, at the prayer group during Lent, I have taught 1-2 songs each week.  It's nice to be able to contribute to the group.  One of the main frustrations for me in Rwanda is feeling like I have gifts that I can use to serve others but not being free to use them because of the language barrier.  When I get to teach the prayer group a song in English or take a local song and translate it into English, I feel like I am able to contribute to the group.

Educating the Youth

I recently had my six-month anniversary of arriving in Rwanda and sometimes during the past six months, I have been frustrated because I don't feel like I have enough responsibilities at the school or that my work really matters to the administration.  Maybe it's true, maybe it's not, but that is the impression I have sometimes.  A few times this has really gotten to me, but overall I strive to remain positive and not let other people's ingratitude affect me. This may sound like a weird introduction to a post about educating the students at my school, but I include it because in the past few weeks, I feel that I am making a difference in the lives of my students.  Even if it is rarely acknowledged by the administration, even if I don't have a super crucial role to play, I am still able to contribute to the lives of the students I teach.

First major opportunity: coaching one of our students, Marlene, for a public-speaking competition.  The competition was organized by Never Again Rwanda, an NGO that promotes peace-building and tolerance mostly among young people, and the theme was, "How can we, as young generation [sic], deal with the past to build peace in the Great Lakes region?"  The GLR is composed of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  My school sent four students, two who would present in French and two who would present in English, and they each had to speak for 5 minutes and then answer 3 minutes of questions.  Last week the teacher who was in charge of organizing the speakers asked me if I could work with one of the English speakers.  I wasn't thrilled by the idea because that meant more work for me (the inclination to laziness is amazing in a bad way), but I accepted the job.  I mean, Valery was already coaching three students so I could handle one.  So, from Tuesday until Sunday, I worked with Marlene.  We worked through a few drafts of her speech until it was solid.  I coached her on the appropriate amount of movement good gestures, the importance of making eye contact, and smiling.  I challenged her with possible questions that could be asked by the audience.  I recorded her practice speeches with my digital camera so she could watch herself and become her own critic.  Then the morning of the competition arrived and I sat with her as we waited for her turn to present, showered her with praise when she was finished, and consoled her when she did not take first place. 

The experience was really fulfilling for me and I think for Marlene also.  Pretty much all of the activities at the school are group-oriented and the students are scheduled practically 24/7 so very rarely do I get to interact with a student one-on-one.  I try to mentor them through little discussions as we walk together from class to lunch or after the clubs end but before the study period starts, but in general I don't get enough one-on-one time with the students.  Working with Marlene gave me that opportunity.  During the study period we would squirrel away in the staff room or the library to correct the drafts and then perfect her presentation technique.  I would continually encourage her and shower her with affirmation to counteract Valery's statements that not winning equals a failure.  Since each English speaker only had a 7-8% chance of winning, I thought it was possible to be successful without winning and I told that to Marlene.  I told her that, no matter what the final result was at the competition, I was proud of her and she should be proud of herself because she gave a speech in a language that is not her own and her final presentation was 100% better than what she started with and it was true!  When she delivered her speech, she was confident, used good hand gestures, smiled, and made eye contact the entire time.  She was great!!!  This afternoon I showed her the video of her presentation and she said something that made me so proud of her.  She said something to the effect of, "I may not have won, but I feel I did the best job I could do so I have no regrets."  Amen!  That is the attitude I wanted to impart to her and whether it was my doing or not, she has the right attitude.

Second major opportunity: my class periods.  After some schedule changes, I finally ended up with nine class periods a week, one in each of the classes for Senior 4-6.  I try to mingle my lessons so sometimes I am dealing strictly with English and other times I'm imparting tools that will be helpful for life.  Some of my recent favorites have been:

• Your Worth Comes from God: Self-Esteem - The first half of this talk is focused on how much we mean to God (he loves us, he created us, he wants us to exist) so that we can have that as the foundation of our self-love.  I show a video clip called "The Father's Love Letter" to drive the point home and the students love it.  The second half gives some tips from psychology to challenge self-critical thoughts by identifying the underlying lie in them and then answering back with the truth.  I show a great video from a YouTube guy called Blimey Cow about the "seven lies you believe about yourself."  Anyone with a teenager, or rather everyone, should watch it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SpwBmhR1go‎
• The Five Love Languages - Once the students learn to love themselves, I help them understand how to love each other by recognizing how they give and receive love and how others give and receive love.  The students really enjoy taking the 30-question profile quiz that is in the back of The Five Love Languages for Singles and they laugh so much once they discover what love language they have.  If you've never read or heard about the five love languages, I recommend you read the book by Dr. Gary Chapman or check out the website: http://www.5lovelanguages.com/

Soon I will give classes on how to be happy and how to discern the will of God and make life decisions.   After the April break, I will give a long series on human sexuality, love, relationships, dating, and vocations.  Even in Rwanda, the teenagers are fascinated with relationships and love.

What's great about these topics is that they go beyond the classroom, beyond the school setting.  If they can remember what I teach, they can have the tools to battle discouragement and depression, to successfully love and be loved, to strive after the things that will bring them happiness, and to figure out what God wants from them.  These are all tools that I have learned as an adult and sometimes I wish I knew about them a lot earlier than I did.

So, these are just a few ways I have been able to contribute to the well-being and education of the youth at my school.

What I've been up to during my blogging absence

I apologize for my multi-week absence.  As you will discover, my weekends have been full so I haven't had the time it takes to write a long blog entry.

I can begin with February 1-2.  Even though now is technically called a dry season, it is the shorter, wetter dry season so I was informed that seeds have to go in the ground now, as opposed to 1- 1 1/2 months from now when the long rainy season begins.  A few brothers from my Emmanuel Cty prayer group had offered to help me in the garden and even though I am content to spend hours in the garden by myself, I took them up on the offer.  Feb. 1, Saturday, Valens and Onesphore came over in the morning to till and fertilize the soil with me in preparation for future planting.  After we finished, I invited the guys to stay for a late pumpkin pancake breakfast and they did.  The three of us and Rita sat around the table eating and talking for a few hours.  It was great.  Later that same day, I met with the other members of my EC faithsharing group for a festive dinner and time of conversation at a restaurant.  We ordered "Rwandan plates," which consist of beans, rice, green bananas, French fries, and veggies (either cabbage and carrots or green beans and carrots) and can be bought for 800 RF ($1.25).  There should be a few small pieces of meat, but they didn't bring any that day.

February 2 was another day to be with the Emmanuel Cty.  Once a year, each sector of the EC in the country has the responsibility of assisting at a monthly healing Mass and Eucharistic procession in Ruhango.  Ruhango is a town about an hour from Butare and is known as a center to experience the divine mercy of Jesus.  There is a big Divine Mercy Jesus statue there and once a month the people of Ruhango and around the country gather there for a big Mass to pray for healing.  On the day I went, the Butare EC group helped manage the crowds before, during, and after the Mass and procession, and man, were there crowds!  I heard an estimate of 10,000 people and I believe it.  The picture can help you picture the number of people that were there and it shows only part of the crowd.  Since I don't speak Kinyarwanda, I paired up with a guy I know named Olivier (who was really good about translating everything) and we were place as ushers in front of the choir, off to the left of the stage area.  We didn't have to do much, but we did have a good view of the altar area.  When it was time for the collection, we and many other ushers went through the crowd with plastic trash cans with holes cut in the lids for people to drop their money into.  As the only white person in a crowd of 10,000, I definitely caught people's attention.  Later, when the Eucharistic procession began, Olivier and I cleared a path in the crowd near us for the priest and his entourage to walk and we followed after him to keep the crowd back.  It was a long day (7:30-4:30), but it was rewarding.

The following weekend, February 8-9, brought a trip to the northwest part of Rwanda and to the border of Volcanoes National Park.  Rita and I went with three French men: Ronan, the father of the Fidesco family in town, and Jeremie and Timothee, Fidesco volunteers in Kigali.  We planned to climb Mt. Visoke, one of the volcanoes in the park that rises from 8,000 ft to 12,000 ft.  On the best of days, the trail will be dry and not slippery.  On the worst of days, the trail will be a mud pit and super slippery.  Our group had the best of days, which was so great, but unfortunately, Rita and I weren't on the mountain with the men.  We must have eaten something bad at our house before we left (perhaps the carrots from the garden still had traces of manure on them or it was the fried eggplant that didn't taste as good as it normally does) because I was hit with the symptoms of food poisoning on the drive up to Kinigi, the village where we stayed, and they remained severe throughout the night and the next morning.  Rita started to feel iffy on Saturday morning so she stayed behind with me and proceeded to get worse throughout the day.  A test at a local clinic confirmed I was infected with e.coli.  After a restful morning, we felt good enough to walk in the surrounding countryside, which was beautiful.  Volcanic ranges were around us.  We walked in grassy fields that reminded me of Ireland and passed herds of cows and their shepherds.  We came across young children filling containers with water so I helped the smallest ones carry their containers towards their homes.  As Rita and I turned back to leave them, they called out, "Good morning, goodbye!" until we were out of sight.  We walked through a wheat field and a deaf man, who appeared to be in charge of the field, took some heads of wheat and gave them to us to eat.  So, all in all, even though we didn't get to climb the volcano, we made the best of it and took in the natural beauty of the region.

Moving to this past weekend, there was a big EC celebration for Valentine's Day and the visit of our two Fidesco brothers from Kigali, Jeremie and Timothee.  Valentine's Day doesn't seem to be a big deal in the country, but the Emmanuel Community likes to make it a day to celebrate love.  It began with a 6 pm Mass at the Butare cathedral.  During the Mass, there was a time when all the single people went forward and promised to remain faithful to the Lord while they waited for the revelation of their vocation, then the widows and widowers made a similar promise, and then the married couples went forward and renewed their wedding vows.  After the Mass, there was a dance party across the street at the diocesan welcome center.  Rita and I and everyone else sang praise songs and then danced to secular music after dinner until 11:30 pm.  We walked to the French family's home (don't worry, we were with two EC guys) to pick up Jeremie, who would be sleeping at our house.  Once we got home with him, we were hungry because one meat shish kabob for dinner doesn't cut it.  We stayed up until 1:30 am cooking and eating crepes.

Saturday was very full with celebrations of Timothee's 24th birthday and the monthly EC weekend.  After teaching two class periods in the morning, all of the Frenchies came over to our house for a late brunch.  Rita and I made pumpkin pancakes again (we had ~8 pumpkins in our garden) and enjoyed the company of the others.  Then I went to the EC weekend for the afternoon and after that ended at 6:30, I walked to a local restaurant to join the others who were having drinks to celebrate Timothee's birthday.  Afterwards we went to the French family's home for dinner, but before we ate dinner, a spontaneous dance party erupted.  Timothee played music on his laptop and soon all the furniture was pushed out of the way and Segolene and Ronan, Rita, Timothee, Jeremie, the four kids, and I started dancing in the living room.  It was great.  As we danced, I made a point to remember that moment because Segolene and Ronan and their kids will finish their Fidesco contract in one month and return to France.  Then it will just be Rita and me in Butare, Jeremie and Timothee in Kigali.  After the dance and after the kids were put to bed, we enjoyed eating cheeseburgers (yum!!!!) and talking until late at night for the second night in a row. 

Sunday morning I was up early to head off to a full day with the Emmanuel Community and then work began again on Monday.  Now you can see why I haven't been able to write any updates.  Soon I would like to write about the topics of my lessons since, as a teacher, I have the great opportunity to impart wisdom to the students and that is what I try to do.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord

I learned this afternoon that the director of Fidesco USA, Denis Leblond, died in his sleep on Monday morning.  He wasn't sick so his passing from this life to the next is shocking.  I can only imagine the sorrow his wife, six children, four children-in-law, and five grandchildren feel with him being taken from them without warning. 

Even I, who knew of Denis as an Emmanuel Community brother for years but only got to know him during my Fidesco journey, am so saddened by his death.  I can hear his words of encouragement during my decision-making process and his continued encouragement once I was in the mission field.  I heard from him only three days ago when he said he would look over the draft of my second mission report and get back to me after the weekend, but that email will never arrive.

Once again, I am reminded that we do not know how much time we have in this life so we need to make the most of each day: tell our family members and friends that we love them; give ourselves in the service of others; dare to radically live for Jesus; live in such a way that in our last minutes we are satisfied with the life we lived. 

Please pray for the eternal rest of Denis' soul and for the consolation of his family.

How Can Four Hours Stimulate So Much Joy?

One local project I've helped at twice since arriving and have arranged my teaching schedule this term to be free every Wednesday so I can participate in it, is a morning daycare/school for ~ eighty 2-6 year olds who are the children of women who sell at the market or are prostitutes.  This beautiful mission is run by the Servants of Mary of the Heart of Jesus, a religious congregation from Brazil that has both brothers and sisters in it, and Monday through Friday, 7:30 am – 12:30 pm, the brothers and sisters welcome the children to their property for meals, classes, games, and prayers. 

Classroom time

Words cannot describe the beauty of this mission or the effect it has on me.  When I am there, I am full of joy and love.  When I return home, I still feel full, if that makes sense; full of contentment, satisfaction, joy, peace, and other things that make one feel great.  Even looking at photos from my visits makes me happy.

Concretely, here is what the mission looks like and what I have done to help while there.  The children start to arrive at 7:30 am and once they all get there, they are fed breakfast (a roll and a banana).  I passed out the food once and the children would reach out to touch my hand or hold my arm and wouldn't want to let go.  I would caress their faces to show I was attentive to them, but then I would have to pull away to continue passing out the food.  After breakfast, there is some play time as the dining room is cleaned and then the kids take turns going into the bathroom to brush their teeth and wash their faces and then change into their school uniforms.  Once they are dressed, they divide into four classes based on age and are taught Kinyarwanda, English, and French.  My first time there, I grabbed a small white board that had the English alphabet on it and began to teach in the different classrooms.  I taught them, “A for apple, B for bird, C for cat, etc,” and the English names of the safari animals that are painted on the dining room walls.  I made animal sounds and actions when appropriate (such as “L for lion and M for monkey”) and the kids enjoyed acting like monkeys along with me.  After the classes finish, lunch is served (one time it was rice with peas, green beans, and meat mixed together) and then we all go outside to play and to wait for their parents or older siblings to pick them up.

What is so touching about the mission is the love and care I am able to give to the children.  I don't know if it is because I am white, but the kids love to be with, and on, me.  When I stand, they hug me and fight over who can hold onto my hands and arms.  When I sit, they rush to sit on my lap and gather around me.  They stroke my hair, touch my arms and my face, compare my religious medals on my necklace to theirs, pull my arms around their shoulders, and hold my hands.  I don't mind this invasion of personal space at all.  I usually laugh and offer them the affection they want by rubbing my hands through their hair (or stubble), caressing their faces, tickling their necks and sides, and letting them use me as their chair/pillow/backrest.  I look forward to having Wednesdays mostly free so I can serve weekly at this mission of joy.

 

The Joy of Receiving Mail!

There's nothing like being far from home to experience joy from small things, especially when they arrive in the mail! 

Thanks to an email sent out by my mom before Christmas, I was blessed to receive 19 Christmas cards and at least one is still on the way.  Sometimes there would be 3 cards waiting for me in the post office box and I would be so excited to see what was inside.  Even in the States I like receiving snail mail, but it is while I am in Rwanda that my family and friends are really stepping up to the plate.  I started taping the cards to the wall and now we have quite a festive, colorful wall in our living room.  Thank you very much!

Gifts from the Magi in my life

The other thing that is funny to me is how gifts that would be really lame to receive in the States reign supreme in their ability to bring me great joy over here.  Most of the time they are practical gifts for the house, things that could easily be found at Target or Walmart but aren't easily available here.  The packages I received on Monday from my cousin, Nicole, and a Denver friend, Tanya, are great examples of this principle.  These were mystery packages, meaning I didn't know what would be in them, but I squealed with delight as I read the customs lists on the front of the boxes. 

What type of things made me so happy?  First of all, two red cloth and silicon pot holders, to which you say, "Really?  Pot holders were the best part?"  YES!  We use the stove three times a day and most of our pots need pot holders to handle because they don't have handles or have metal ones.  Imagine using thin hand towels to handle these hot pots and you can appreciate pot holders that are reliable.   I was so happy to get them.  Another example: two calendars, one from the Archdiocese of Denver and the other from Holy Protection Byzantine Catholic Church also in Denver.  Not only can I know what the date is easily, but I am reminded of the friends and churches in Denver and the saints that are celebrated each day.  These calendars connect me to life back home.  I was also thrilled to receive other products for the kitchen (like chicken bouillon, chocolate, and resealable plastic bags) and things to share with the students (like movies and snow in a can).  The students have probably never touched snow in their lives; they might have seen it from afar if they live near the mountains in Volcano National Park in the northwest.  I also laughed out loud at the Christmas-themed gifts: a stocking, three pairs of Christmas socks, two ornaments (seen on our sad tree which we will keep up until Feb. 2), and of course, the snow in a can.

Christmas, the New Year, and Everything In Between

I pray that your Christmas and New Year were blessed.  I was able to do and experience many things since I last wrote, including my first Christmas and New Year's Eve in Rwanda, another trip to Kigali, and traveling to one of the three national parks in the country.

First, Christmas in Rwanda.  I was worried that this would be the hardest Christmas I ever lived because of the language barrier, but that was not the case.  Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were very joyful.  Rita and my Christmas Eve celebration didn't begin until 10 pm.  We waited for the sisters next door to get home from Mass and then we went over to their house for a late dinner.  Earlier in the week, the head sister had asked what is traditionally made for Christmas in the US and I told her that for my family, the tradition is to make pizza (my mom's side is Italian).  So she told me to make pizza and the sisters would take care of the rest.  Little did I expect that they would adopt my tradition themselves, but they did.  When Rita and I arrived at their place, there was our American pizza and their Rwandan version of pizza to eat.  I was very touched that they took on my family's tradition.  Before eating, though, we gathered in front of the Nativity scene, prayed, and sang the refrain to "Angels we have heard on high."  After thanking God for the birth of Jesus, we stuffed ourselves with pizza, salad, and desserts Rita had made from our garden's pumpkin.  Sr. Marie Rose, the head sister, surprised the rest of us by disappearing before dessert and returning with gift bags for all of us.  Each bag contained an apple, an orange, and a chocolate bar (it might not sound like much, but all three are pricey so we rarely, if ever, buy them).  

I spent Christmas Day with the local members of the Emmanuel Community, the international Catholic community to which I belong.  120 of us went to a nearby Benedictine monastery and spent the whole day there.  We sang praise songs, had Mass, watched the children perform a Christmas play, ate lunch, played games outside, and danced.  During an interlude between activities, I was even convinced to sing and play guitar for a few songs (how happy I was to play a guitar for the first time in 5 months).  One thing I noticed during the dance is that with the Emmanuel Community members, and in Africa in general, I am willing to risk looking dumb or uncool or whatever.  Normally I don't like dances that are free form, people dancing in a circle, etc.  I always felt insecure and like I wasn't a good dancer, but here, I soon got over it and enjoyed myself.  I think it's because the Rwandans are impressed whenever I participate in their cultural activities so that gives me some street cred no matter how I look or sound.

Only part of our circle as we played games

Dec. 26 and 27 were days to spend around the house.  I spent lots of hours in the garden, including harvesting and shelling black beans.  I tried again to make a Mexican meal and again, it wasn't the greatest.  Chickpea and corn flour crepes are a great improvement on the corn tortillas I tried to make in my first weeks here, but still, they aren't to the level of ordinary tortillas.  Rita and I did venture out to have dinner at the house of an Emmanuel Cty family that is in my small faithsharing group.  They really laid out a spread, as you can see in the picture.  There were French fries, rice, green bananas, meat, sauce, and salad.  We brought a pumpkin cake, again, the fruit of our garden.

On the morning of the 28th, we headed back to Kigali for the second half of our vacation.  This time around, there was a lot of lounging around Megan's house as we talked, read, or slept.  We were graced with the presence of Fr. Mike Rapp from the Denver archdiocese.  He is currently studying in Rome and was in Uganda with a priest friend from there.  He took a short trip down to see Megan and visit the shrine of Our Lady of Kibeho.  One benefit of having a priest around is that we three ladies and Timothee, the French Fidesco volunteer working in Kigali, were able to have a private Mass in English on Saturday night.  This was super helpful to Rita, Timothee, and I because we had an early morning departure the next day to go to Akagera National Park.  Without the Saturday night Mass, which is rare in Rwanda, we would have had to make sure we were back in time to go to a Sunday night Mass, which is also not easy to find.  But since we had our intimate Mass, we were carefree as we were picked up at 5:30 am on Dec. 30 for the 2 hour drive to Akagera NP.

Akagera preserves Rwanda's savannah so we were able to go on a safari drive.  I could call it a poor man's safari because it costs significantly less to go there than a normal safari would, but I guess the animals aren't as plentiful.  I didn't mind though.  I was impressed by what we did see, which were zebras, giraffes, impalas, water bucks, monkeys, baboons, buffalo, warthogs (Pumba, anyone?), hippos, and birds.  The drive took most of the day.  We started with our guide at 8:30 am and finished around 2 pm.  Then there was the long drive back to Kigali.  Here are some of the best pictures of the animals.

Sadly, the hippos didn't get much higher out of the water for us

Two males

Impalas: one male and the rest are female

 

 

Buffalo in the background

After the trip to Akagera, the rest of the time in Kigali was quite relaxed.  I read a book about the process of forgiveness and reconciliation after the genocide.  We visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where there is a museum about the Rwandan genocide and other genocides around the world and the mass graves of over 250,000 people.  The stories really are horrific, but almost as unbelievable as the atrocities people can commit against each other is the forgiveness people have been able to offer their family members' killers afterwards.  Other than heavy stuff, Rita and I visited the home of one of our students, Lisa, who will be in Senior 2 this upcoming year.  She's the one on the right in the family picture.  The family fed us lunch and sent us home with a small bag of peanuts.  The visit with them was very warm and I truly felt the hospitality of the Rwandans and perhaps the pride they had at welcoming people from Lisa's school, especially foreigners.  It was a treat for us and we would have visited other students, but we either didn't have their phone numbers or we had incorrect ones.  I went out to eat with Megan at a posh outdoor Asian restaurant and enjoyed some curry (expensive by Butare standards, but normal for Kigali).  I had lunch with an Emmanuel couple, Edith and Silvere, who are currently serving with Fidesco in Zambia.  I went bowling with Christine and Michael and their kids (that's the Butare American family who is in Kigali after the birth of their son).  The alley has 6 lanes with real gutters and balls, but what is so funny about the setup is the man who hides behind a curtain and removes the downed pins by hand.  I spent the night of New Year's Eve at another EC family's home.  I had met the married daughter and son-in-law and a brother at the Christmas gathering.  They had me over for refreshments on the porch, dinner, and then unexpectedly, a sleepover.  Midnight wasn't a celebratory event like it is in the States, at least not in their house, so that was a bit of a disappointment.  We did drink hot milk from their cows, though, which is a sign of being given a blessing.  The next morning, I volunteered at the Missionaries of Charity orphanage and then made my way back to Butare.  Now I'm preparing for the return of the students this weekend.  I'm sure it will be great to have them back, but since they've been gone for two months, I've gotten used to having a more flexible schedule and more free time.  Surely there will be an adjustment period, especially as I begin my full schedule of teaching!

Judith, Charlotte, and I at the bowling alley.  The seats are way better here than in the US.