Your faithful RAs settled on the length of time we would be in Rwanda - 3 months - as accidentally as we settled on Rwanda itself; we just let fate and visa rules guide us. As in the case of Rwanda itself, fate's guiding hand intervened perfectly in terms of timing. While one of our fellow volunteers has already left and others leave in a few weeks, we have just settled into a life here, and while there are plenty of exciting things left to do, there's a routine and a sense of calm at times that is really comforting. We generally get up at around 6:30am, not because we're such go-getters or early risers (those of you have met us at 6:30am will VEHEMENTLY AGREE, I'm sure), but because breakfast goes out around 6:30 and when the fruit is gone, it's gone. For Rwandan pineapple and tree tomatoes, we'll commit physical violence if we have to. Getting up on time is just our way of insuring minimal bloodshed.
We leave for the office around 9:00, and it is a 3 1/2 minute walk, or, more aptly, exactly one Beyonce or Better Than Ezra song long. When we arrive, T.I.A. Since the kids have started
school there is actually LESS order to our time with them; they show up as occasion, their mother's mental health, or their own need to pass math demands. We can no longer bank on having child-free afternoons, and have told the FVA office to plan to always have someone on standby, as we cannot abandon our work with the women here in favor of chasing children around all day every day. Four days a week, yes, BUT NOT FIVE. You see our steely resolve. We keep ourselves and the kids entertained on off days by teaching them the difference between "tiger" and "turtle" the best way we know how - WITH RIDICULOUS HAND GESTURES. RA2's father recently asked her what qualified her as a teacher, and we hope this picture will demonstrate visually what we already affirmed verbally: absolutely nothing qualifies us to be teachers. But these kids now know the difference between a tiger and a turtle, and are reasonably certain it involves claws and the word, "GRRR!", and that is something. The tall, gangly, adorable muzungu on the left is Drew, who has graciously started helping us out on afternoons. It's turned out to be great in terms of giving the kids, and the women, a positive male role model.
The length of our stay has allowed us to work some of our personal causes into the program, and hopefully establish a continuity to maintain them after we leave. As of today, we will be teaching a theater class every Friday afternoon at Gisimba orphanage designed to engage the kids in discussions around HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, poverty, and whatever else they come up with. RA2 is glad years of community theater will finally be put to good use; RA1 will be in charge of all things related to crayons, paper, markers, scissors, and "big dish", as RA2 has an aptitude for none of these.
We've also been working closely with Claudine, a beautiful, very pregnant young mother whose daughter Sylvie made off with RA2's heart and has thus far refused to return it. Claudine has recently asked us to be, if possible, present at the birth of her next child. She should give birth in early March. We're incredibly honored that she would want us t be part of such a momentous event in her life, even if all RA2 will be able to do is sit in a corner rocking back and forth insisting she "don't know nothin' bout birthin' babies." Claudine is hoping for a hospital birth, but she lives on a series of poorly designed and labor-inducing dirt roads, so if the baby decides it's coming at home, it's coming at home. We're feeling lucky we happen to know a strapping young gentleman who has helped women through labor before, and hoping he can at least give us some breathing exercises to keep us busy and out of the way if we're actually there when the time comes.
We spend our evenings reading before dinner, which has been served a lot earlier since Ian learned to say, "I am very hungry" in Kinyarwandan and wandered into the kitchen rubbing his stomach and repeating it plaintively. We're all but devouring books here; RA1 is midway through, in the span of a week, a book that took RA2 about 4 months. There's time in the evenings to talk about what work we've done that day and what ideas have been kicking around in our minds. We occasionally break up the evenings by going out. Last night was Tsufit's 25th birthday (happy birthday sweetie!!) and we have many ridiculous pictures of Ian in a hat, and probably some of Drew and RA2's unwise decision to hop on a child's merry-go-round after at least 2 Primus'.
This weekend we're scheduled (fingers crossed) to go see Akagera national park, which is something RA2 has been looking forward to since we arrived. Fingers crossed for amazing animals, particularly a gangly-legged, awkward looking you-know-what. We have been advised not to get between hippos and the water, and our American education says to never smile at a crocodile, so we should be all set.
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