I know I have been horrible with updating this blog, as so much has happened and not enough time for my mind to process what I have experienced as much as I want; I have high expectations for what I want to write to you, the reader. But while I sit here in semi-darkness listening to the sounds of the Rwandan town below, I am just grateful that my time here has been so filled with all sorts of ups and downs, hills and valleys; frustrations and pure joy with myself, with others and with new friends as I have never imagined. There was no way to anticipate anything I have felt nor anyway to know how I would react. Nonetheless, I am alive and well and hoping to learn and realize even more. Without having a lot of time to tell all, here is a quick list of some important, funny, inspirational moments that have stuck with me during the first half of my adventuring: (some may be a bit vague, so please ask me when I get home for the full story...:)
-singing a worship song in Kinyarwandan with the music director at UCC
-mountains, hills, valleys, volcanoes and farms
-making Rwandan coffee from scratch
-visiting Gishwati forest and Cyhimbili region
-being called chinoise, chine, china, chine, muzungu and.... Jackie Chan!
-waking up daily to the sounds of my host siblings jumping around for a new day and roosters crowing
-the sound of rain on a tin roof and the smell of the air after
-cooking for 6 hours straight for a teacher's party
-eating bananas, bread and avocado every morning
-flying a top a safari car (in a literal sense...)
-being greeted ever so enthusiastically every single morning by school children
-peeling of a huge blister on my foot the size of a tin can lid
-being welcomed by people so fully and without reservation or expectations
-meeting lots of people all the time!
-hearing the stories of my family and my new friends
-a morning eating the best breakfast facing the glowing green hills and lake
-attending bilingual churches
-the rocky roads that I walk in every morning
-chasing and playing with Abigaelle on our walks home for lunch
-hearing the hopes and dreams of people here
-being offered men to be married to so I could stay in Rwanda longer
-talking about culture and perspectives with people at the centre
-greeting everyone wherever I went
-being surprised by ever so many visitors at my house
-long walks, long talks
-learning an enriching language
I am hoping this would be only scattered-brain post in this blog and others hope to be more though-provoking and reflective. What I will end with in this particular post is that progress not only looks different from the ground up, but is different for every single person that lives it. Maybe development is more about searching for what is human; the instantaneous growth of a friendship or a connection, with or without language or an anticipated give and take. And the world seems beautifully bigger and grander when you are but a puddle on the ground than on the top of a mountain looking down.
-singing a worship song in Kinyarwandan with the music director at UCC
-mountains, hills, valleys, volcanoes and farms
-making Rwandan coffee from scratch
-visiting Gishwati forest and Cyhimbili region
-being called chinoise, chine, china, chine, muzungu and.... Jackie Chan!
-waking up daily to the sounds of my host siblings jumping around for a new day and roosters crowing
-the sound of rain on a tin roof and the smell of the air after
-cooking for 6 hours straight for a teacher's party
-eating bananas, bread and avocado every morning
-flying a top a safari car (in a literal sense...)
-being greeted ever so enthusiastically every single morning by school children
-peeling of a huge blister on my foot the size of a tin can lid
-being welcomed by people so fully and without reservation or expectations
-meeting lots of people all the time!
-hearing the stories of my family and my new friends
-a morning eating the best breakfast facing the glowing green hills and lake
-attending bilingual churches
-the rocky roads that I walk in every morning
-chasing and playing with Abigaelle on our walks home for lunch
-hearing the hopes and dreams of people here
-being offered men to be married to so I could stay in Rwanda longer
-talking about culture and perspectives with people at the centre
-greeting everyone wherever I went
-being surprised by ever so many visitors at my house
-long walks, long talks
-learning an enriching language
I am hoping this would be only scattered-brain post in this blog and others hope to be more though-provoking and reflective. What I will end with in this particular post is that progress not only looks different from the ground up, but is different for every single person that lives it. Maybe development is more about searching for what is human; the instantaneous growth of a friendship or a connection, with or without language or an anticipated give and take. And the world seems beautifully bigger and grander when you are but a puddle on the ground than on the top of a mountain looking down.