Pics

All those black things are bats!


The back of "Hotel Rwanda"



Front of the hotel

I love the smell of rain!

The rains have come! I'm sitting here in my classroom, listening to the familiar sounds of thunder and lightening....and smelling one of my favorite smells...rain! (in case you were wondering...it smells the same here.) :-) My students have been telling me that the rains were about to come...the short rains. People have been predicting here, even the exact day. Some said the 3rd week in September, some will look up at the sky and say, not till October. A few have said specific dates like Sept 12, Sept 9. I think its funny how they think they know. But God does know, and tonight the rains have come! I've heard they aren't as bad here as I experienced in Mombasa...and don't last as long...just a few really hard rains during the day, but the sun still shines during the other hours. But they do tell me that sometimes it gets pretty bad where the rain seeps through the windows. Ugh! So we'll just have to wait and see.

I'm trying to get to a point...a routine..where I post pretty often, so I don't have to write so much at one time. But I'm not there yet!

I've spent the last 2 Saturdays exploring Kigali town, and attempting to get oriented with what I'll call home for the next year. When I'm exploring a new place, I have to go by foot. If I'm in a car, I won't pay attention to where we are or anything. So...the past 2 Saturdays, I've taken public transporation into the city...either a jam packed-full Nissan mini-van....(they are called matatus in Kenya, just called taxis here.)...or a small motorcycle, moto for short! I get off somewhere that looks interesting, and just start walking. You know, when you walk, you see a whole lot more. And you hear a whole lot more too. All your senses perk up. Jesus walked a lot. Walking up and down these Kigali hills I can see so much of the daily interactions of people in their everyday lives. And I've greeted more people, and met some really nice locals. It's making me realize how much we miss whizzing by in our sweet rides.

One thing, I kind of wish I had my 1995 Tahoe for...last Saturday, I happened along this one street, and I heard this awful screeching noise...it couldn't have been any kind of bird or human being. I looked up in the trees...and every single tree on that road was full of very large fruit bats...I mean there were thousands of them! It was the spookiest thing ever, especially when they started flying around. And it was in the middle of the afternoon! I still haven't figured out what type of tree they were in.

I walked today, up and down hills in Nyamirambo, the Muslim district of Kigali, and also the oldest part of town. I always think mosques are so beautiful, especially old ones....(even though they do wake you up at 5:30 in the morning.) It was good to venture out of the city a bit. I also walked past the Hotel Milles Collines....otherwise known as "Hotel Rwanda." This was the hotel behind the story in the film 'Hotel Rwanda", portraying what happened in the 1994 genocide. I've learned that the film, starring Don Cheadle, was actually filmed in South Africa, and isn't the most accurate movie on the genocide, but nevertheless, this hotel was where the cirumstances in the movie played out.

If you want to watch an incredibly powerful, and very accurate movie on the genocide, get ahold of the film, "Shooting Dogs." It's a BBC film, and when it was released in the U.S., it was released under the title, "Beyond the Gates." So look for either title. We all watched this movie the other night, and there wasn't a peep the whole time. It is super hard to watch, but something I felt was necessary since I'm living here. Prepare to feel numb afterwards and more confused than ever at how something like this happened. This is one of the best films I've ever watched, but maybe the hardest. I was just reminded the other day that the events that took place here 15 years ago, are still fresh and still in people's minds. One of my 4th graders told me she was very happy because her dad was now out of prison, and at home with the family. She went on to tell me that he was imprisoned after the genocide, because at the time, he was a leader in the army, and "things went badly. What an understatement. Watch the movie if you get a chance.

And take a walk this weekend! See what you can see that maybe you haven't spotted before! Love you all!

It's a small world!

I looked out at my kids today....(I had 9 today)...and saw my orange water bottle from Walmart sitting on Norah's desk. I thought I had just inadvertently left it there when I was teaching. But no...it was Norah's orange water bottle from Walmart! Norah is a sweet girl who has lived her entire life in Rwanda and Burundi. But this summer, Norah's mom traveled to Florida and brought back the same orange water bottle that I had! We laughed. It's a small world...but a big one too! I found out today that my 9 kids have lived in 16 different countries on 5 continents! Places my students have lived: Montreal, Los Angeles, Baton Rouge, Annapolis, Haiti, Brazil, Phillipines, Kosovo, Belgium, Paris, London, Ghana, Cameroon, Uganda, Congo, Kenya, Austin, Texas, and of course, Kigali. It's beautiful to see their faces in the morning. They(we) all laugh the same, cry the same, love the same, mourn the same, bleed the same. We're all God's children!

A few pictures

The gardens above the mass burial graves at the genocide memorial.

Looking out from the memorial...part of Kigali town

The KICS staff at Lake Muhazi....kind of easy to find me! :-) (no, you can't swim, unless you want blizharia!)

My first week!

Ok, so I thought I’d hurry and update my blog, since this is a surprisingly “good” internet night. Which means it goes in and out every couple minutes….but hey, I have it and I’m thankful to be able to communicate with so many of you! Skype has been WONDERFUL by the way! What a cool invention.

Today was the first day of school, and it was awesome! I had a great time getting to know my 4th graders….we only had 8 students today, but more should arrive soon! They are funny, sweet, humble, and adorable! (most of them!) I looked out today and saw faces from Rwanda, South Africa, Louisiana, Phillipines, Haiti…and God has chosen all of us for this year to be together here! God is good! I’ve spent all week making my classroom look as colorful and tacky as possible, just like my room at home. I ran out of duct tape on day 2 of decorating. (duct tape is tops on my wish list from home!)

My classroom is painted yellow..its very bright and cheery, and instead of bulletin boards, I have banana leaf boards to hang things on! I brought my “Amazing Work” letters to post above the banana boards, and my “Word Wall” too! Today was a super first day! One thing that all you teachers in the U.S. should not take for granted is your planning period! There’s little to none here! So close your door and make good use of your planning time back home! I had none today, but might get some on Monday and Wednesday when my kids have PE/Music. Enough about school…more later…

I live 2 minutes from school, which is good and bad. It’s very convenient to come and go as I please and work in my room…also school has the only internet. I’m here now at 10:30! But no worries…its safe. I live high on a hill….all I can say about the hills of Kigali are they are worse than hills of San Francisco! It’s crazy! But beautiful to look out in the morning and see the entire city below you. The city is kind of like in a bowl in the middle, and I’m high on a hill looking down into it. The downside though, is that I’m gonna have to be very intentional about getting out in the community and immersing myself in Rwandan culture, and making new friends. That’s gonna be more difficult than it was in Kenya…so I ask for your prayers for that. It’s very important for me to connect with the people here and be involved. I've realized that the Rwandans, while nice, are not as trusting of each other as well as outsiders, and can be more standoffish when it comes to forming relationships. This is, in part, because of the way the genocide was carried out 15 years ago....I don't blame them for being cautious.

I’ve been attempting to run in the evenings…and man, the altitude is no joke! But my body is slowly getting used to it. I think running may be the key to getting involved in the community. I thought I was somehow in this little bubble, but the other day when I went for a run….after a couple miles…there I was….seeing the same sights, smells, noises of the Africa that I came to know and love in Kenya! It’s weird how things and neighborhoods are kind of sectioned off here….all I have to do is branch out! It was beautiful seeing similar sights of mamas carrying their watotos (children) on their backs, smelling those same smells of the market, beans cooking over an open fire, having all the children running after me as I run.

On a more somber note….the first day here, all the new teachers went to the genocide memorial here in Kigali. I really can’t explain in words how monstrous and evil those acts were in 1994. Especially those committed against children, so innocent. And reading up on it, and trying to grasp how it all happened and understand it….I just believe that there were so many ways that it could have been prevented….if the right people with the power stood up, had courage, and made a decision to act and not be bystanders. Hard to believe one million people were brutally murdered in only 100 days. And not once during those 100 days did any international government or organization admit there was a genocide happening. Only 10 years later, did the UN, US, and others admit they committed grave mistakes and serious errors in judgment in not stepping to help Rwanda. A little too late. All I can say is that this was harder to see than the Atomic Bomb museum in Nagasaki, and the Dachau concentration camp in Germany. Amidst all the killings, there were also great stories of heroism that showed that God’s hand was there. I mean, I know God was there throughout it all….I mean I guess He was, but it’s just so hard to comprehend what happened, all the evil…even between neighbors, family members, Christians, priests…Anyway, there were stories of farmer who “hid” people underneath his grass, and then actually planted crops on top of them to prevent them from being found and murdered. And stories where a group of schoolgirls were confronted with machetes by the killers and asked their “tribe.” Half were Tutsi and half Hutus, but they were all friends. None of them would tell, they replied they were all Rwandans. And they were all murdered. Even more chilling was the fact that the memorial museum is placed on top of mass graves of hundreds of thousand Rwandans. The hills I live on now where there are now schools and churches and nice homes…only 10 years ago…some even just 5 years ago…were still forests…many men hid in these hills, and many died in these hills. As I left the museum, this quote from the Talmud spoke to me. “To save one life is as if you have saved the world.”

I have much more to tell you…about Lake Muhazi and Umuganda Day…but it will have to wait! This entry is already way too long! Thank you all for your prayers! Love you!

I made it!

I made it safe and sound to the Land of a Thousand Hills! It's dark here now, so I can't really see them though. :-) It's really late, and I have nothing profound to say cause I need sleep. The flights were ok, except for the $5.87 bottle of water in Belgium! And it was a SMALL bottle too! I'm up early tomorrow to go to school and see my classroom. Thanks for your prayers!

"Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations." ~Matthew 12:18

He has chosen all of us, each and every day! :-) Peace!