Wednesday, October 14, 2009

First Few Days

Hey all! or should I say: Muraho!

I've not even been in Rwanda for a week but it already feels as if a month has gone by. So much has happened since I arrived last Thursday evening. The 36 other volunteers and I went and stayed at a nunnery for a couple of nights after flying into Kigali. As we came in there was a major storm brewing and we managed to fly over volcanoes too! Nice introduction to the country! We visited the Genocide Memorial (extremely heart-wrenching but incredibly valuable experience) and went to a charity soccer game where the players did a little dance every time they shot a goal: tres cute :)


After Kigali we drove 2 hours south to our training facility. Classes started yesterday and let me tell you--my brain hurts from overload of information. So far we've learned introductory phrases and a little technical training about TEFL etc.



I have to say that I feel like a total hotshot celebrity here--the kids follow you around yelling Msungu (white person) or some people address us in french (this used to be a francophone country but part of the reason we're here is to switch to English) or my favorite is when they say "Good Morning" at 8:30 at night! We are completely alien to these people and I've never been so blatantly stared at before in my life, I guess I'll overcome any remnant of shyness I may have!


Volunteers live in 4 houses, all divided up randomly. Every morning I've woken up at 5:45 to the sounds of goats, people talking, and a mixture of birds tweeting. Needless to say, the days are full of learning...a lot about a lot. Sorry this is so sporadic and pretty bland, I had a better one but the document could not be opened on the computers at the internet cafe.

Talk some more soon! Hope all is well back in US of A!!

PS

Address is:
Avery Miles
Peace Corps Trainee/Rwanda
BP 5657
Kigali, Rwanda

5 comments:

  1. the birds in rwanda use twitter? that's awesome. hope you are having an amazing time!

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  2. hey!! i'm glad to hear everyone is pretty good.
    .... the part about making the country english speaking sounds kind of creepy lol.
    keep having fun and posting more updates :)
    ~colleen

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  3. Avery, I look forward to reading about your experiences !!
    Barb Lemmon

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  4. hey avy, i know this comment is a bit late, but i'm so happy you made it there safe and sound. I love reading what you have to say. It is all very interesting! cant wait to hear more! love you

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  5. OMG you stayed at St. Francis!?!? That's where we stayed in Kigali!!!! I can't say I miss it too much since I definitely didn't shower for like 4 days because there was no water but still...brings back memories!

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