Yes, I'm still here!

Greetings from a busy and tired first year first grade teacher!

I apologize, once again, for waiting so long to update my blog.  A lot has happened so hopefully the stories make up for the lack of news.  It’s a long one so get ready!

Here we go… in no particular order…

I named a baby today!   No, I didn’t have a baby.  I’ve actually never met the baby, or the mother. Douglas (my boyfriend, you may have figured this out by now) has a worker named Emmanuel.  (If you’re thinking… worker?!? What? Are you living the high life?  The answer is no, but you would have a worker too if it was this affordable and you didn’t have a washer or dryer.) Anyways, Emmanuel came the other day and told Douglas that his wife had a big belly and she was 7 or 8 months pregnant.  It’s part of the culture not to really tell people, but to just have them notice instead.  Anyway, on Friday she had the baby (a c-section, which could not have been pleasant in Africa) and Emmanuel told us about it on Saturday.  I, of course, asked about the little girl’s name and he didn’t know.  This is also normal here, and I’ve been told they often wait about a week or so to name babies.  Anyways, Emmanuel’s wife had named the first baby, he had named the second one, and now they were done with names.  He said it was up to us to name the baby.  After me asking many times, “Don’t you want to name her?  Are you sure your wife doesn’t want to?” Emmanuel assured us that we should definitely name the baby and tell him the meaning so he could share that with people.  So, Douglas and I, having no prior baby naming experience, set off to trusty google and found 6 cool girl names with awesome meanings.  We showed them to Emmanuel today, he chose his three favorites, and insisted that we made the final call.  We decided on “Zuri” which means “beautiful one” in Swahili.  Pretty amazing, huh?

Last weekend we had the opportunity to go to a Rwandan wedding!  Jean de deiu, from our Bible Study, was getting married so we all got invited.   We took a taxi to the church, where the reception was held.  (We didn’t go to the actual ceremony.)  They sat us in the second row, behind family and we stood out as there were only three mzungus there—Douglas, our friend Jon from California, and myself.  Others who went from our group were from Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, so they blended in quite nicely! J ha. They had a processional where the bride and groom came down the aisle to the melodic tunes of a choir (turns out it was the college choir of Charlotte, the beautiful bride).  Next male representatives from each family took turns talking and giving speeches about the families.  They all spoke about how good God was for bringing these two people together and how they knew that Charlotte and Jean were going to honor and glorify God in this sacred act of marriage.  They had arranged for us to have interpreters, which was really nice since the whole thing was in Kinyarwanda and they had really cool things to say.  Next there were more songs and then the cake cutting.  They passed out the cake (each guest got a small 

piece served on a napkin, no silverware) and a fanta (glass bottles, as per usual in this country).  Next there were more songs and traditional Rwandan dancers.  The most entertaining part was these drummers from Burundi (located directly south of Rwanda).  They were INCREDIBLE.  The guys balanced huge drums on their heads (drums on the side, so that the head of the drum was kind of like a headlight) and they played on the top of them as they walked in.  The most extreme part was that they also kicked straight up and hit the head of the drums with their feet.  It was seriously insanely outrageous!  The pictures

really don’t do it justice.  Wow,  I was just overcome with awe and in a state of wishing everyone I know could see this guys!  The ceremony continued with some ladies reading a sentimental poem, and then a long line of women lined up, all holding practical gifts such as brooms, cleaning supplies, cooking utensils, baskets, etc., etc.  They all said a nice word about what Charlotte’s friendship meant to them as they presented her with gifts.  It was a really neat thing to watch and experience.  After this people were starting to leave, so we followed the crowd and headed home.  It was awesome to get to go to the wedding and also share fellowship with people we usually only see once or twice a week! 

This weekend we also made quite a big discovery.  Zaffron, an Indian restaurant in town, DELIVERS for FREE!  We don’t go out to eat often, since it does tend to be pricy, but we decided to try this out.  There is a little thing here called “Africa time” which is a nice way to say that everything takes forever.  You learn to expect this and thus, rather than being frustrated, you can just be pleasantly surprised if something takes less than an hour.  So, we ordered three main dishes to share between four people and expected it to take at least an hour and a half (Zaffron is 15-20 minutes away from our hill).  We started making our own rice, since part of our bright idea was to not only save money on transport, but also by having our own drinks and making our own rice.  FORTY MINUTES later the delivery guy arrives, via moto, with our warm delicious food!  It was unexpected, but wonderful.

Every few weeks at KICS we have some sort of spirit day.  The most recent one was “Formal Day” AKA “make all the kids look absolutely precious.”  While some of them had a collared shirt as formal, others wore sweater vests and sport coats, and one of my girls wore her fairy costume, complete with glitter and wings.  It was a delight to see them in their Sunday best, and perhaps most funny when one of my girls, who would never choose to wear a dress, asked to change into her shorts as soon as mid-morning recess rolled around.  Adorable.

It is hard to believe that I’ve been here nearly seven months and I have precisely three to go!  I fly into Detroit during Memorial Day Weekend.  I’m excited to come home to see everyone, especially since I know that I’ll be returning here at the beginning of August.  However, next year will not be the same.  Many teachers are returning, including both of my roommates and several of my closest friends, but some are not.  One of my very best and most dear friends, Hannah, is heading back to England to go to Bible School for a year where she’ll take classes and then plans on coming back to Africa (perhaps Chad or Sudan) to be a teacher for missionary families.  She plans on using the talents that God has provided her with (mainly teaching) so that she can serve families who are going to remote areas, where their children can most likely not attend a normal school.  Part of the reason I love being here is meeting people from across the world with the mindset of following wherever God has called them in their lives. 

Well, by now you’re thinking, “I wish Kerry just wouldn’t have updated her blog.”  Sorry for the lengthy entry!

Thanks, as always, for the love and support.

Blessings, hugs, and prayers from Rwanda,

Kerry