April 2, 2010; 2.26 CST
I did not end up writing about the 1st yesterday evening because I ended up having a rather long conversation. I decided I would just sleep afterwards and catch up later. However, I did not sleep well at all – my stomach decided to start seriously acting up, instead of just the little spasms that had been happening all day, and I tossed and turned all night, very much in pain. Also I am sick of smelling smoke, cigarette or garbage or whatever wood they burn here. It makes me even sicker and it is always around. As long as I lay on my right side it is better, since that makes everything move where it is supposed to. It gets tiring though, and to use my laptop I lay on my back, which hurts but which is much more efficient.
As a result of all this I am staying at the inn today, at least for the morning. We’ll see how I feel after lunch, if I can go and work or not. It is sort-of nice to not have to do anything, but also frustrating that I can’t go out and work ... although I’m sick of working, so I suppose it kind of works out. Also I’d rather get better now and miss some stuff than be sick on the plane and when I get home.
We spent yesterday morning working with the daycare kids, this time out in their playground (which is just a triangle of green space a little ways down the road from the daycare). We played circle games with them for a while, a sort of version of Duck Duck Goose and a sort of version of Red Rover, and then we just played with them in general – soccer balls and small footballs, skip ropes and cat’s-cradle cords, the like.
We then brought them back to the Centre where they did some dancing upstairs and we fed them a rice and spinach concoction (which sometimes had fish in it, or carrots), which they gobbled up for the most part (even the fish heads in some cases). The girl I helped, Nicole, was happy to eat, and found me very funny when I suggested the food go in her nose or her ear or her knee or such. She played along after a while and we laughed together. I told her ura sekeza (you’re funny) and she said I was too; eventually she started saying na haze, which I figured meant “I’m full”, and when I asked Rodrigue, I was right. After food, they danced some more, and then we left.
We also got to give Eric (the employee of the Centre who just lost his brother-in-law) our gift yesterday morning. He was very quiet but I think grateful – I have noticed that Rwandans seem to be very calm when one gives them gifts, or thanks them for a gift they have given. When I gave Rodrigue the $50 USD Dad gave me to give to something that was worth it (I thought The Visionaries would do just fine), he was not vocally grateful about it and seemed kind of aloof actually; when I thanked him for buying me the gift he did, he was again rather aloof. Eric was fairly reserved too, though I guess for different reasons. The only exception I have seen to this is Igor, who stood up at the dinner table the other night and thanked Janelle profusely for singing La Vie En Rose on the boat the other day, and explained the whole affair of how to thank someone for a gift in Rwandan culture; perhaps I am not thanking properly.
In the afternoon we were supposed to go play soccer, baseball and Ultimate at the nearby high school (Excella High), but as we couldn’t get the field until 16.30, we came back to the inn for a bit of downtime. Unfortunately for the downtime plan, we all got called to come share our experiences, mostly about Gisouzi. Many of us did not feel up for it or did not feel like we had anything to say, but as we went around the circle we started getting more and more emotional.
About a quarter of the way through the circle it started raining (I have to find another shirt now that I left on the line and that has been taken in somewhere; I got the other two back), and by a third of the way around it was pouring rain, so much so that when it got to me (I was maybe two-thirds around), no one could hear me over the rain, even if I fairly yelled. At that point we stopped and went to our rooms for real downtime, and as it didn’t stop raining all afternoon we did not go to play sports. I am not terribly down about that since I would not have played much anyway. I ended up listening to music with Roxanne for a while (and driving Caroline and Andrée nuts since we sang along), and then on my own and packing. I am fairly impressed: everything will fit just fine and I will probably have room for some pens if needed. Everything will be well-padded and quite under the weight limit, I think, since there are two large items I have put in that are very light, even if they take up a lot of space, and the clothing is distributed between the two suitcases.
We had supper fairly late (19.30-ish I think), and then we had a circle with the Visionaries, a sort of spiritual reflection on what we’ve been thinking the past couple weeks. Raymond read a few passages from a book he has been reading, not based on any religion in particular, and we commented on them. I disagreed from a Christian standpoint with a few things that were said, but agreed in principle with much of it, and spoke my thoughts on agape in the Rwandan community. The atmosphere was kind of awkward, since I think many in the CL-R community are of no particular faith or are atheist, and the Rwandans traditionally are very religious, mostly Christian and partially Muslim. Our cultures’ attitudes towards spirituality are very different.
After the circle, music started playing and we were supposed to dance – I started talking with one of the Visionaries, Samrey, instead, and found out where he was living (here in Kigali), where he was going to school and what for (Masaka, at St. Emmanuel School, to become an engineer A1 (just below A0, the highest rank)), and that he had a sort of girlfriend (Christine, going to the same school and living in Kimironko, and yes he wants to marry her so he’s going through the whole process, but unfortunately he is rather poor and is kind of stuck). We also talked about seasons (there are two seasons that repeat in Rwanda every three months – rainy and dry) and other such things, and then he brought me over to the dance floor and explained a little bit about the band that was playing at the moment.
I danced a little bit, but felt kind of awkward, so I slipped out and went to talk to the teachers for a bit about nothing in particular (mostly Customs stuff and how the next couple days would go), then went to my room. It was at that point that Myriam started asking me questions and the conversation started; it went fairly late and I just went to sleep after that.
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