A Day in the Life of a "Muzungu"

So life in Rwanda is now becoming very routine. When we first arrived, everywhere we went a crowd would stop and stare at the "muzungus" (white person or Gringo). In fact people would yell out that "muzungus" were coming and a crowd would form. Now, thankfully we are slowly becoming part of the Rwandan backdrop in our town.

Everyday we have Kinyarwandan language class that usually lasts for about 4 to 5 hours. We also each have a Rwandan family that we visit at least twice a week. My family is great! They have 5 boys and the wife is expecting again (she really wants a girl!). This coming week she is going to be teaching me how to cook authentic Rwandan food.

This last week we learned a little bit more about the Genocide and visited memorial sites. In Rwandan culture it is inapporiate to discuss the genocide or politics, so it has been very difficult to be a typical, curious American and ask questions about these subjects. In fact our language teachers say we ask too many questions!

I've tried to upload pictures to show how beautiful Rwanda is but my internet connect is too poor to do that.

Love and miss all of you!

Muraho na Murakaze Neza mu Rwanda!

Hello and Welcome to Rwanda!

So I've managed to survive my first week in Rwanda and let me just say how beautiful this country is. The people are very proud of their country and it shows in the cleanliness of the country and the friendliness of the Rwandan people. After spending a few days in the capital and visiting the Genocide Memorial (it which I was in the local newspaper about going to the memorial) our group is now in a city in the southern part of Rwandan. We will be spending three months learning language and cross-cultural communication. Everyday we spend at least 4 hours learning the language and culture and the rest of the time is spent learning our technical skills.

I miss everyone already but I'm so excited to be here and experience the great things that are happening in Rwanda.