Malawi, Kickball, and Construction

The vacation request was just approved! Going next week! Malawi, here we come!

On another note, the kickball tournament last weekend was fun. It was very well organized and it was great to see PCVs from the different training groups.

Construction has begun at my health center; they should have running water in the lab, the maternity ward, and one of the counseling rooms by the end of August!

Brandon has let me borrow his harmonica and its 'How to Play' book. We'll see if I can make more of a contribution to the band besides singing.

I still haven't received my photos and video of the white water rafting trip on the Nile River. Once I do, you'll know.

More to come soon!

Uganda

Pictured here:

The Nile River and July 4th dinner.

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Groast 2 took place on the 4th of July weekend at Tom and Malea's house. It was a great time; we drank, ate a bunch of food (not just goat), and Brandon brought his guitar and we sang some songs we have been practicing.

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The next weekend (July 9th), a bunch of us went into Uganda - the country directly North of Rwanda. We traveled from Kigali straight through to Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The trip was like 9 hours - not all that bad, really. We hung out in Kampala that first night after we arrived. We had Mexican food and it was freakin' spectacular. I had not had Mexican food in almost two years, so I ate ferociously.

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The next day (Saturday) 'Adrift,' the company we hired to give us a tour down the Nile River, picked us up from our hotel in Kampala and took us to the rafting outpost. The drive from Kampala to the outpost was a couple hours; the trip was okay. Uganda's weather is very similar to Rwanda's, but the landscape is different; specifically, there are no hills in Uganda like there are in Rwanda. So, the scenary was kind of bland.

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We arrived at the outpost and got our stuff stored in our rooms at the lodge. We changed our cloths and immediately prepared to hit the rapids; this was going to be an all day event.

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Just a couple of quick notes. The source of the Nile is actually in Rwanda (or so say the Rwandans I know), BUT the white water part of the Nile (where the river gets really serious) starts in Uganda.

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Also 'Adrift' does have a place where people can bungee jump into the Nile; seriously, like into the Nile. They can adjust the cord so that you can touch the water if you want. Anyway, Tom and I were signed up and ready to do it, we even paid our money, BUT the guys at the outpost said that we couldn't do it as soon as we got there, which is what we were told initially. They said we would have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to do our jump. Tom and I had scheduled some activities with the rest of our traveling party the next day (Sunday). We didn't want to wait around all of Sunday to jump; we wanted to see some more of Kampala AND we still needed to figure out how we were going to leave Uganda on Monday. We begged and pleaded to jump as soon as we got to the camp, but they said it would be too much of a time crunch.

Tom and I think we'll hit up the bungee jump another time. Rafting was a blast and we both agreed we want to do it again with the same company - 'Adrift'. Anyway, we decided that we'd try to organize another outing to Uganda, but next time we will make sure we have plenty of time to do more stuff. We totally want to raft the Nile again, and we want to bungee jump over it, but we also want to see Lake Victoria (the largest lake in Africa) and I want to go on a safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park. I heard that in this park you can see lions and elephants; Akagera National Park in Rwanda has these animals, but I haven't seen them yet. I heard that in Queen's Park in Uganda, you see them all the time.

Sorry, I got kinda side tracked there for a minute. Anyway, we got ourselves all geared up and we hit the river with our raft guide, Big J. There was eleven of us in the boat - Big J, me, my 7 other traveling companions, and a couple from Estonia. The Estonians were pretty cool. Apparently, they were both actors in a horror movie being filmed in Uganda; they had some spare time and the director let them have some R and R.

For the first hour or so, Big J kept us in still waters and reviewed with us what to do if/when certain things happen - what to do if/when you fall out of the raft, what to do if/when the raft flips, and so on. He introduced us to a couple of the kayakers that would be ahead of us in the rapids; he said that these guys would be plucking us out of the water if/when we fell out of the boat. Once the safety demonstrations were finished, we hit the river.

White Water Rafting the Nile River was amazing. We rafted a bunch of baby rapids (class 2s and 3s) but we hit five different class 4s and as many class 5s. There were some class 6s on our run, but we dodged them because they would have killed us. Seriously, Big J, our guide, said that he had done them in a kayak, but never in a raft full of inexperienced rafters. He said that even in a kayak, a class 6 rapid is not something an experienced rafter does every day.

It was a lot of fun, though. In the morning, I was sitting on the middle of the raft, across from Tom. We flipped over once in the beginning during a class 4 or 5 rapid, I can't remember. The last thing I remember before we flipped was that it looked like we were falling into a huge washing machine - like it was the belly button of the world, or something. Anyway, we were tossed over and I was trapped under the raft for a bit, but I was able to free myself and grab a kayaker.

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Once we made it through the rapid, we just got back on the raft and kept going. Later that day Big J told us that he flipped us intentionally, 'just for fun.'

In the afternoon, we stopped at an island and had lunch - probably the best lunch I have ever had in my life. After lunch, Tom and I were asked to take the front two seats on the raft; we accepted the positions. We got in the boat and hit some more rapids.

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The front seat was awesome! And sitting across from Tom the whole trip down river was really an experience in itself. After the flip we had in the morning, I started trying to time my breathes so that if/when we flipped the next time, I would have a lung full of air; thus, preventing another near-death experience. So the whole time we were hitting the rest of the rapids, I was holding my breathe in intervals, but Tom was screaming at the top of his lungs, 'It's wet! It's wild! I love it!'

The afternoon was fun. There was this one rapid that was a waterfall; it was a class 4 or class 5 and it began with a 12 foot drop - that was a fun one. At the end of the day there was this loooooooooong class 6. Big J pointed it out and said, 'Okay, guys, let's paddle to shore as fast and as hard as we can!' We had to get to shore, pull in the raft, and walk it further down river, past the class 6. At the end of the class 6 there was a class 5 (they said it was a class 5+, I don't know if those exist or not, but whatever). Once we got past that last rapid, we were finished. And right where we finished (on the shore) there was a BBQ with cold beer and roasted meat waiting for us. It was a delicious ending.

'Adrift' was a great company - very well organized. I felt safe and I had a great time while I was on the river. I totally want to go back and bungee jump, though; I hear that its pretty cool. They used to let people do the bungee jump naked. If you did it naked, then you didn't have to pay. My eyes light up at the possibility of doing something cool AND doing it for free. Big J noticed the look on my face and said that they don't do that 'offer' any more; he said too many people were doing it naked and they weren't making any money. Damn.

Anyways, the facilities were pretty nice too, though they were swarming with Vervet monkeys. The guides themselves were characters. Seriously, they were fun, knowledgeable guys.

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After rafting, everyone showered and hit the bar. We got seats, ordered food, and watched the World Cup match between Uruguay and Germany. After the first half of the match, one of the guides turned down the television and announced that the video was ready at the other end of the bar.

Oh Yeah! I forgot to tell you, 'Adrift' had people taking pictures and video of us from the shore the whole day. They made discs for everyone to buy. My picture disc and my video disc have not come in yet, but when they do, I will post what I can on here and on facebook.

The video was great; it was very well done. After that, we finished watching the game and went to bed. We got up early the next day (Sunday) and headed back to Kampala. Once in Kampala, we went to the big market they have (I wasn't impressed), we hit up a mall (a real mall, like in the states), and ate some really good Indian food. That night we saw the World Cup finals match at a bar.

The next day (Monday) we woke up super early, got on our bus, and went back to Kigali. We were a few hours into our trip home when we heard that bombs had gone off in Kampala Sunday night during the World Cup finals match. An Ethiopian restaurant and a Rugby bar had been suicide bombed by Somali terrorists and about 60-70 people were either dead or wounded. Later that week we received a message from PC stating that travel to Uganda was prohibited until further notice.

We made it back safe and sound. And that was our trip to Uganda.

As far as future trips and events are concerned, this weekend I am going to a Kickball Tourney in West Province Rwanda and the guys and I are still trying to finalize everything to go to Malawi in August.

As far as work is concerned...well...its work - same routine, different day. Its great and I love it, don't get me wrong, but there is really nothing to write about that I haven't already written about.

I am still helping out at the health center, though we aren't seeing as many patients now as we were a few months ago. This is because its dry season now (seriously, it has not rained in months) and malaria outbreaks die down a bit during this time. The staff at the health center are doing just fine. No news there.

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Oh yeah! There is news. Jenny, a volunteer in Rwamagana city, and I are working on a grant to get running water to the health center in my village. Jenny did a lot of the leg work because I don't have a computer or Internet access. She just told me that we got the money too; we need to get the money to the health center so they can hire local contractors to get the work started.

The adult English class I teach in the evenings is still in session. Everyone is doing well. Participation has dropped, though. This is mostly because everyone is so involved in the presidential election that is happening in August. There are a lot of community meetings happening in the evenings to prepare for the event.

Rutambi and his family are doing okay. Rutambi's English is getting better every time we meet. He is on vacation from school now, along with his brothers and sisters, so we get to hang out a bit more now-a-days. And, most importantly, his family is still giving me free bananas...

...and I'm still eating them.

Yolanda's Visit

Pictured here from top to bottom.

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Top: Yolanda teaches 'La Loteria' game to my evening adult English class, which, temporarily, was the evening adult Spanish class.

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Second down: The tea fields of West Province.

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Third down: A racecar flooring it down the main street of my village.

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Fourth down: Zebras from Akagera National Park in East Province.

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Fifth down: Umulisa, a nurse at the health center, prepares for her civil marriage in Kigali. This ceremony was held about a week or two before Yolanda came to visit.

These past few weeks have been pretty busy. It is time for an update, my friends.

Yolanda came to visit me in Rwanda from 05/28/2010 - 06/12/2010. Before I begin telling you what we did, I want to thank everyone that made this trip possible for her. Thank you to the friends and family members that encouraged her to visit. Thank you to the people who gave money to Yolanda to help my community. Thank you to my fellow Peace Corps volunteers who helped me to welcome Yols and show her a good time. Thank you to the people of Rwanda, especially those in my village, that opened their country to us. And, of course, thank God for our safe travels, clean water, and delicious food. God, thank you for putting Yolanda in my life; she is a great friend and has blessed every life she has touched.

Yolanda's visit.

Yols arrived on the night of 05/28/2010 at Kigali International Airport. We took a taxi from the airport to a restaurant called 'Heaven' to have a beer and to grab a bite to eat. 'Heaven' is a pretty expensive tourist place, but I encouraged her to enjoy it while we were there. Once we got to my village, we would be in a whole different world.

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From 'Heaven', we went directly to the room I reserved for us at St. Paul's (a hostel located in downtown Kigali). I could only get one night, though; these summer months are a popular time for tourists to visit Rwanda and St. Paul's was booked for the rest of the weekend. This was no problem, though, because the next day we would be on our way to Akagera National Park in the East Province.

We met up with Malcolm in Kigali the next day, then traveled to Rwamagana city and stayed the night with Brandon. The day after that (Saturday), we all went to the park and made camp. Camping, as always, was a blast. One friend in particular, Miles, really made the evening a memorable one...hilarious guy. Hilarious.

I didn't think that going on a safari the next day, right after camping, would be the best idea. After camping (and drinking - let's be honest here) you're tired, you smell, maybe your back hurts from sleeping on the ground, and so on; all you want the next morning is a shower and a cup of coffee. You do NOT want to get up at dawn to travel a bumpy road to see animals. I tried it before in January and I just remember falling asleep in between animal sightings. I had fun, but I missed the view.

After camping, we packed up our gear and Yols and I made our way to my village. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of that week consisted of touring the village, visiting some neighbors, and giving her a sense of what life is like for me and the community. Yolanda was great about everything; she even helped out at the health center AND she taught Spanish to my adult English class in the evenings.

Everyone that met Yolanda loved her. The only problem she and I had in my village during the trip was explaining to my neighbors and co-workers that Yols and I were NOT married, nor were we dating. They just couldn't understand why a woman would travel so far to visit a male friend. I figured we would run into this kind of confusion.

In Rwandan culture, men and women visit eachother, but they generally don't stay over night if they are not family. If a man does stay the night at a woman's house (or vise-versa) and they are not related, it is implied that their relationship is sexual. Before her visit I even explained to my students and the staff of the health center that Yols was a friend...ONLY a friend. They said they understood, but when they met her they began to bombard us with questions regarding 'our relationship'.

Some people even thought we were married and that our marriage contract was for only two weeks; many Rwandans think that Americans sign marriage contracts for various amounts of time - 2 weeks, 6 months, 5 years, and so on. When the contract is up, the two people split up and marry other people. (We have our incredibly high divorse rate in America to thank for this little piece of misinformation.) It was bearable the first week, but people just kept pushing it and I was getting a bit frustrated with the questions and comments towards the end of the second week.

Moving on.

Before Yols came, she asked that we accomplish three things while she was visiting; she said that if she was able to do these three things, she would consider the trip to be a success. These activities included seeing a market (we finished that one right away), going on a safari, and attending a wedding.

Like I said before, going on safari is difficult if you were partying the night before. So, I decided that on Friday, the 4th of June we would rent a car, get up super early, and go on a big game safari in Akagera. We did it and it was awesome. We couldn't get close to the giraffes like I did before, but we got some great photos of zebras and hippos.

Oh yeah, I have a side note for you all. So the last time I went on safari I listed all the animals I saw (I am not going to do that here because I pretty much saw the same animlas), and there was some confusion about the type of giraffe I saw. Well, I got the answer for you. The giraffes in Akagera are Maasai Giraffes. These giraffes are actually not native to the area; they were brought in from Kenya.

Yeah, Yols and I had a VERY knowledgable park ranger accompany us on our tour; he was full of bits of infromation about the park and its animals. The most exciting pieces of information (to me, at least) was that the park is planning on introducing Black Rhinos to the area AND the park rangers want to start giving night tours so people have a better chance at seeing the predators.

Anyway, after the safari, we returned to my village and began making preparations for the wedding the next day. The wedding was for Emmanuel and Nikuze; Emmanuel is an accountant at the health center that I work at. I invited a bunch of Peace Corps volunteers and friends from other organizations to come out to my village that day, see the wedding, and hang out; I got a couple of takers.

The wedding was to begin at the local Catholic church at 2pm, or so said the invitation. Yols and I went to the church at 2pm that Saturday afternoon (06/05/10) and no one was there. I totally should have figured that we would be on 'Africa Time', which means the wedding wouldn't begin for another 3 hours. So we returned home to wait. During those next couple of hours Malcolm, Brandon, Chrissi, and Kate showed up; an hour after them Miya and her friend arrived.

We had a couple of beers at the bar that Rutambi's dad runs/owns and spent some time catching up and hanging out. Well, it started getting late and I heard from some of my neighbors that the wedding was over but the reception was still in swing at the groom's house. Jean-Marie was in town and he was happy to walk our group to Emmanuel's home. The reception was fun and when it was finished JMV walked us home and we all made dinner - a delicious stew of everything we could find!

On a side note, JMV told me that he has a new job in Kigali. I forget the name of the organization, but they are flying him out to South Carolina for a week of training. He is VERY excited.

The next morning we woke up to the sound of hundreds of people in front of my house. We all went to my front gate to see what the deal was. We soon learned from Rutambi that a Rally Race was taking place this weekend. Racecars were flying down the the dirt street through the main part of town and turning left on the street towards Rwamagana city - so pretty much right in front of my house! We stood out there for a couple of hours and watched the cars go past; we got showered with dust.

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Another side note. It was a very exciting day for Rutambi because he got to see racecars, meet my friends, AND play video games for the first time ever. He was VERY excited. So excited, in fact, that he asked his dad to give us a gift - a whole vine of banana bunches!

After the race died out, we had lunch, and said goodbye to our guests. Yols and I then began to clean the house from top to bottom. Everything was covered in dust!

The following few days Yolanda and I helped out at the health center during the day and taught Spanish in the evenings. Yolanda was a great teacher. She taught them numbers, greetings, and the 'La Loteria' game, which is kind of like the Mexican equivalent of 'BINGO'. The game is a great learning tool because there are pictures that explain what the words mean. We gave out notebooks, pens, pencils, and crayons to the winners. We had a bunch of stuff left over at the end of the class, so we just gave the rest of the items out to the teams that didn't win. The class enjoyed it very much.

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The class loved her. Seriously, they loved her; they pooled their money together and bought her some going away gifts. They were so happy to meet her and learn some Spanish from a native speaker.

On Wednesday she said goodbye to my village and we traveled to the West Province to visit Kate at her site near Nyungwe National Park. We spent a day and a half walking through tea fields and the jungle. We didn't see any animals, but we did get an awesome tour of a tea factory from Kate's host mom. We also made 'umugali', a traditional bread made from casava, for dinner with a delicious meat sauce. It was pretty awesome for our first time making it.

On Friday (this past Friday), we got on a VERY crowded, very hot bus and headed North from Gisakura, Kate's site, to visit Mark at his site. Mark's birthday was last week and he invited us to go to Lake Kivu for his birthday. Kate, Yols, and I took him up on his offer and went to see him and the lake. We met up with a bunch of Peace Corps volunteers at Kibuye, had some beers, and watched Mexico and France tie their opponents in the World Cup.

The next day (yesterday) we got up early, went to Kigali, finished packing everything up, and said our goodbyes at the airport.

All-in-all, I think the trip went well. We got to do everything on Yolanda's wishlist and we didn't have any sicknesses or unpleasant events. Yolanda did get all chewed up by mosquitoes, though (yeah, sorry 'bout that, Yols), and there was a time or two we thought we were going to drive right off the side of a cliff when traveling from Kate's site to Kibuye...but we lived.

Yeah, it was great. I tried to write down everything I could remember, but I am sure I missed something somewhere. I will probably be updating this entry as I remember events and such. Yols, help me out here. What am I missing?

Super Quick April/May Updates

My friend Yolanda is coming to visit me at the end of May for two weeks! Karibu Sana kandi Murakaza Neza, Yols!

A new class of Peace Corps Rwanda Trainees are now officially Volunteers! Congratulations, new PCVs!

My boss at the health center was recently elected the MAYOR of Rwamagana District. There are 30 districts in Rwanda; he is one of only 30 mayors in the country of Rwanda! Nuko Nuko, Nehemie!

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Dieudonne, whose wedding I attended a while ago (a picture of him with his bride is on an older blog post of mine), has recently been appointed the new supervisor for the health center in my village. Felicitacion, Dieu!

I'm now 28! Bon Anniversaire!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love and miss you! Hurray for Mom!

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Going to Uganda in July to raft the Nile.

Possibly going to Malawi and Tanzania (again) later in the year.

Life is good.

Camp GLOW-Rwanda

Check it Out.

http://campglowrwanda.wordpress.com/

A Controlled Explosion

As I was writting my last blog entry, a landmine went off.

The internet cafe that I frequent while I am in Rwamagana is right next door to the city police station. I was there on Friday writting about how Rwamagana and my village are so peaceful, when I heard a very loud explosion; the air pressure changed, the windows shook, and there was a faint smell of smoke. No one in the cafe made a move in panic or fear; they merely looked up from their computers and went back to typing after a minute. Not knowing what to do and with no specific knowledge about what just happened, besides there being a very loud noise, I did the same.

Later that day, I found out that the city police practiced a 'controlled explosion' of a landmine. Judging from people's reactions, I assume this is a very routine procedure. That is all the information I got on that. Not much of a story, I know; just something I had never experienced before.

The Groast, The Gauntlet, and My Indestructible Friend

(Pictured Here: 'The Iron Cross')

Things here are going well. I am still going in and out of being homesick; I'm told this is a natural phase for all volunteers. I'm pushing through it, though. I've been reading a lot - and I mean A LOT. It has helped me keep my mind off of things - specifically, America.

My best friend in my village was moved to another health center; I think I mentioned this in a previous entry. Now he and I get together every other week or so, but it is just not the same as joking around with him all day in the lab while we work. When we hung out earlier this month he had some bad news to tell me. He was working in his new village, testing people for HIV, when he accidently stuck himself with one of the needles. It turns out the needle with which he stuck himself was one used to test a person that ended up being positive for the virus. He got on emergency ARVs right away, but it will still be a few months before he knows whether or not he is positive.

He is taking his situation very well, though. He is telling everyone about what happened to educate them. He told me the same time he told the other lab technicians; he wanted to make sure that we continued to take all the proper safety precautions so that this doesn't happen to us. Please pray for my friend.

In other news, next month is the 16th anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Peace Corps Rwanda has asked us to stay out of Kigali unless we have written permission. This is because of a few incidents that happened there these past few weeks. I will not write about anything specific here; they are all incidents I am sure you can look up on the internet. Nothing to be worried about, though. Apparently, incidents like these happen every spring in the major cities of Rwanda. I do live close to the East Province capital, but nothing has happened in Rwamagana. And my village...my village is just as it was 6 months ago. No problems.

Staying out of Kigali for a while is fine with me, though. That place is so expensive compared to my village. The only thing staying out of Kigali is preventing me from doing is posting pictures, which should be coming some time in April.

I should have written this entry like a month ago, but I just haven't had the energy for it. I have a pretty set routine now as far as work, teaching, and life in general goes, but this past month I always found a reason to not write. I think a part of it was that I didn't want to come off sounding depressed or anything, though I think that is EXACTLY how I'm sounding. I am not depressed, however. I am very much enjoying my time and work in my village. So much so, in fact, that I am considering extending my service for a third year. Nothing is for sure yet; I'm just researching all of my options.

What has prompted me to write this entry, you ask? A delicious event I attended last weekend at Tom and Malea's house (PCVs in Kibungo) - 'The Groast.' Goat + Roast = Groast. That's right, we roasted a whole goat. It was awesome. Tom hired someone to bring the goat over to his house Saturday morning and slaughter it in his backyard. The people that skinned the goat kept the head, hide, and the guts (though we got the kidneys, which tasted pretty good). Tom then strung the goat up on this contraption he made called 'The Iron Cross.' This 'Iron Cross' was used to prop the goat over a pile of hot coals.

It took like five hours to roast the whole goat, but it was worth it. This goat, though a bit gamy, fed like 20 people. We even had leftovers the next day; Tom, the master chef that he is, put the bones in a pot, added a little onions and noodles and, baby, we had ourselves a stew goin'.

Let's continue the good times, shall we. I sat down and thought of some humorous things that happened to me recently.

1. I was teaching my evening English class before I left for Zanzibar a few months ago and a bat fell through a hole in the ceiling. I stopped class to investigate it, ignoring my students' request to ignore the bat and continue the lesson. Well, on the third poke, it proceeded to fly around the classroom like that scene from 'The Great Outdoors.' Fun times.

2. Another time (before I had left for Zanzibar), I was walking home after my evening English class with some students (I usually get walked home by at least 3 or 4 of my students after every class) and I walked in a puddle. Wait. Puddle is the wrong word here. It was on its way to becoming a pond. And I didn't just step in it, but WALKED through it - calf deep, baby. I saw the puddle, and I wanted to get out of the way, but my legs just continued to move. I walked through the whole damn thing. As I walked, I thought to myself, 'Oh my goodness! I've lost control of my legs!' My students thought I had 'become a foolish man.' They had a good laugh.

3. You know how I know I need another vacation? Because just this last week I said hello to a goat. I was walking home, after my morning's work, through a part of the village I like to call: 'The Gauntlet.' 'The Gauntlet' extends about a quarter of a mile from my front door to where the shops end and the residential houses begin. Most people like to refer to this area as 'The Market' - where goods are bought and sold, but to each their own. 'The Gauntlet' is nothing bad, mind you, it is merely the area of the village where I get attacked from all sides by friendly neighbors wanting to greet me - especially children on their way to or coming back from school. 'The Gauntlet' is normal to me now, but when I first moved in it was a bit overwhelming.

Anyway, I was greeting everyone as I was walking home and I saw a goat mixed into the crowd of people. I saw the goat and my brain announced: 'Goat = Eat. Do not greet!'' Well, it was too late, I was already greeting the goat and asking it about its day. I turned quickly to make it look like I was greeting someone that was approaching me, but the damage had been done and the neighborhood kids saw a white man trying to talk to their dinner. I need another vacation. HA!

4. Rutambi is awesome and he always makes me laugh. At least once every week he comes over to my house to visit me and to practice his English. Usually these visits begin with a surprise. He sees me walking 'The Gauntlet,' runs over to my house, and is let in by Emmanuel, the guy I hired to watch the house and take care of it while I am out. Rutambi then finds a good place to hide in either my yard, one of my storage houses, or my kitchen. As I walk into my yard and pass said areas, he jumps out and yells, 'Hello! Emmett, my friend!.' Which usually scares the crap out of me, even though it has happened so many times that I should be expecting it by now. He thinks it is hilarious.

Wait a second. I don't know if I have ever written about Rutambi before. Meh. I am too lazy to look through my old entries to check, so I'll introduce him here. Rutambi is 12 years old and a son of my neighbor across the street, Tharcisse. Tharcisse (I think that is how you spell his name) owns the best bar in my village, which also happens to be across the street from my house (SCORE!). He is a very nice, very well respected man in my village. Rutambi, which apparently means 'unbreakable' or 'indestructible' in kinyarwanda (what an awesome name!), is very intelligent. He speaks English VERY well, studies very hard, and catches onto social cues very quickly. He wants to be president of Rwanda some day and, let me tell you, this kid could pull it off.

Anyway, just yesterday I was telling him about how I have been tired lately because my sleep has been so restless. He asked me why and I said it was because I am a little homesick; I miss my friends and family. He proceeded to try to make me feel better by naming people in the village that are really happy I am here and then he thanked me for all the time I have spent with him studying English. I was kind of blown back by how he articulated himself in English and how heartfelt his response was.

Before I could even respond to what he had said, he changed the topic back to dreams. He said that he had a bad dream recently, too. He said that in his dream he beat up one of his favorite action movie stars, John Rambo, in hand-to-hand combat. He said people chased him through the jungle to try to catch him. When they had him cornered, however, he said that he then became 'HUUUUGE with muscles and everyone ran in fear because [he] was doing kung fu so, so good.' Hearing his rendition of this dream was hilarious. He told it with such vigor and in such great detail; I was captivated. When he finished, which was after several minutes, he paused and smiled devilishly. Then he asked me if I believed him. I said yes as I laughed. Then he began to laugh heartily while saying, 'No, no, my friend. I lie!'

Oh Rutambi, you got me again!