One month

I have been in Rwanda for ONE MONTH!!!

Things that still shock me:

• The cows/bulls that pass me through the village on the way to work and then walk through my TTC playing field everyday
• The goats and chickens that appear in my garden on the odd occasion
• The fact that I LOVE meat but rarely have it because I do not have a fridge and to buy it, I need to purchase at least 1kg of it...(perhaps I need to get some multivitamins shipped over?)
• The size of my classes - 60 students in each; 8 lessons a day
• Children greeting me, 'goodmorning' no matter what time of day/night it is
• The fact that my monthly living allowance is more than double the salary of the teachers within my TTC
• My marital status and age are the first questions that I am always asked upon meeting new people
• The rain that leaves me stranded in my classroom because a river forms outside due to the poor drainage
• The fact that even if people cannot speak English here, they know the word, 'money' or '100 money'...I am 'white' so therefore I have money to give?!?!
• Babies and children crawling around the dusty/muddy streets that are littered with sharp stones and broken glass with nothing on their feet and sometimes no nappy (so will often wee over floors without anyone batting an eyelid...) - HEALTH AND SAFETY?!?!?
• Flies - they're everywhere...I need an electric zapper!!!

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I went to church today and amidst the many songs, 'hallelujahs' and bible verses read today, this one struck me the most:

"The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones."  Ezekiel 37:1

I cannot begin to explain what these words meant to me when I read them but truly with a little faith, 'these dry bones will live again' whatever the bones may represent.

Again I was asked to preach in the next academic year...

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I am looking forward to next weekend where I will get to see (an)other volunteer/s when I head into the capital city, Kigali.  I truly am a city girl!  When I visited the town of Butare last weekend, despite doing nothing there but entertain my principal's children, my shoulders relaxed because there was civilisation - everything was easily accessible and language was not (as much of) a barrier.  On the subject of language, I have done nothing since my lessons over 2 weeks' ago - so I have enlisted the help of a teacher at my school to teach me.  We are yet to discuss terms but hopefully with more structured learning, I will be well on my way to understanding people around me better.

I met a Peace Corp volunteer yesterday and she has been in my district for 3 months now - her Kinyarwanda is pretty decent, so it's got me motivated :)

HAPPY ONE MONTH TO ME :)