Just another day in Paradise

The road infront of our house.











This is our walkway at the house: my house is on the right, my host parents Gaspard and Donatha live on the left.










The kids love to play on these bike-like things, but the men use them for transporting goods. One of the things I have to dodge on my way to school in the morning.



So for those of you who don't know what its like to live in an African bush village.... We have no electricity, so we have to maximize our sunlight usage, beginning at 5:00am! I'm up just before the sun, going around my little house in the dark to get ready for a run. I leave the house to find the roads surprisingly busy with early morning risers on their way to farm, walking and talking in groups in teh pre-morning sun glow. (They LOVE that I run, always greeting me; one guy even saw me later and thanked me for inspiring him to continue those tough mornings when he just doesn't feel like getting up. go figure!)

After that shockingly cold bucket bath in my living room and maybe some light cleaning around the house, I HAVE to have my morning cup of tea at Brandine's Bar. The 5 minute walk to the cafe usually takes me about 15-20 minutes as I stop to greet, chat, and shake people's hands.

By then i'm inevitable like 5 minutes late to school, which doesn't really matter because nothing starts on time here (except maybe the buses) so my coworkers are still in the staff lounge, kids are still outside of classrooms. The teaching--if thats what you call laughing and having a good time with a group of teenagers--is awesome! My students are all like 16-22 years old, some older, maybe 1 or 2 younger, but all a blast to be with. They are very bright, curious, easy to laugh at/with, and we've all fallen into stride. They did really well on similes and metaphores looking at Paul Simon's "Bride Over Troubled Water." They caught on to using context for discovering vocabulary and meaning with "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." And they totally blew me away with their song creations about love and friendship.

Usually lunch is at school, a crazy mad dash for the daily beans and potatoes.

Lately I've been having my after lunch cup of tea at Brandine's bar, giving me more time to greet people and bond with the village. Once school ends at 4:30pm, its more dillydallying, greeting, walking down our one street, talking to people, seeing students that have left campus for one reason or another, and slowly making my way home. Usually I'm home by like 6pm, just in time for the sun to set and for dinner to start cooking. I love spending my evenings either hanging out with some of the nurses who live down the street or chatting away with my host mom
(one of the most impressive women I've ever met in my life: farms in the am, school secretary all day, milks the cows, cooks, and cleans in the pm. Studies university on weekends, and has political meetings 2-3 times a month as the women's representative. 5 languages, local leader, yet takes time to talk and bond with me. Love her!)

After the local readio station broadcasts the news in English, and maybe some journaling or reading by candle light, its bed time by 9pm.

One year of this and I've only got a few weeks left. I'm going to miss it so much!







Some of my teacher friends relaxing on our bench outside. Good times and some crazy conversations.

Home, Sweet, Home: Bungwe

Arrived: 30 December 2009
Left: 19 November 2010

One year in Bungwe:

freezing rain water bucket baths
no electricity
stopping in the middle of my lesson because the loud rain on tin roofs
cooking on charcoal fires
milk and tea bar, almost like Starbucks!
muddy roads
squatty potties ie) a hole in the ground
boiled beans and potatoes... every day.

greeting EVERY person in the street
school children staring at me, saying "good morning" at all times, and running up from behind to touch my hair
knowing everyone in my community, and then some
everyone knowing me
children playing in the street, but stopping to run up and hug me
motorcycle rides for an hour through scenery you can only dream of

good eats

Rabbit is a common meat in Bungwe; they're small enough --and quick enough in reproducing-- that you can eat it in a day. Cows would be too much meat and money for our little village. I think I can get goat or sheep meat at our market--Tuesdays only, when I'm working!

In my front yard we planted irish potatoes and carrots under the papaya tree. The dark spots on the left are the holes we dug to put manure (fresh from our cows!) and the potatoes in. On the right are the rows of freshly planted carrots.


Ardo is 100% afraid of my hair (he calls it bugs) and is the cutest little helper. He's the youngest of 4 and loves to help my friend Marita (his mom) peel irish potatoes. At 2 years old.


My mom is cooking dinner! This is a cement stove she uses fire wood with to cook quickly-- quickly compared to the small square stove in the foreground that uses charcoal. The pot is upside down to act as a lid to help the food cook even quicker.



I uncovered the pot! Inside: beans, veggies, and sweet potatoes covered in banana leaves to cook even more efficiently.


Lunch at school: they bring out big pots of beans with the occasional vegetable in it. This is another teacher helping me by holding the pot up while I scoop onto my plate.

My food! Today was my favorite: rice and beans with some lettuce. Yummy!

A typical day I'll eat a piece of bread with tea (Rwandan tea leaves, water, milk, and plenty of sugar; the African way) that I buy and enjoy at one of our 4 cafes in town. I usually go to Brandine's as she's got the most centrally located cafe (across the street from the health center) she's my good friend (I put her pic up somewhere on one of these blog entries), and EVERYONE goes there (nurses crack me up: they begin work at 7am, then around 8:30 or 9 they just sort of start wandering over like 1 or 2 at a time for tea).
Lunch starts at 12:25 at school, but the kitchen staff usually brings out the food like 1:00. I grab my plate (bought it at a boutique down the street) and spoon, keep them in the desk I'm sitting and grading at, and as soon as I see the food train come in the door, I grab my utinsils, rush over to beat the crowd, and get the "muzungu" status: they don't push me out of the way, but wait till I finish serving myself before slapping hands out of the way and letting hunger get the better of them. Usually (like 99.5% of the time) we have beans and irish potatoes (basically smaller, round potatoes compared to russet). Sometimes we get cabbage, carrots, or shallots chopped up in the bean sauce, too! Or we get ubugali, a flour and water mixture traditionally eaten with the fingers. But, as soon as the kitchen guys bring in our 3 huge pots of food, its a mad rush of teachers to crowd around, push, shove, and try to get food on our plates (and the floors, tables, and chairs...) Some surprises you may find in the beans: stems, sand, pebbles.
If I want a snack later I might get a hard boiled egg, bread, or tea at Brandine's Bar again.
Dinner is with my best friend in the village or my host family: any variety of french fries (potatoes pulled fresh from the front yard, washed, peeled, fried and enjoyed), rice, boiled bananas (also taken from some local source), beans (definitely grown in our back yard), shallots (even I can pick these: they grow on a vine holding up our fence around the house), and some sort of tomato based sauce.
I love it! Its all so simple and I've never been so regular in 2 years (hmmm.... fancy that! The time I've been in Africa= the time I've not been... "regular") I could eat beans, rice and fries every day.
Sometimes we have milk as a snack or soured milk as a meal. yes, soured milk. It is delicious! In West Africa they put some sugar in it, but here they just drink it straight.
Its a simple diet, but delicious.

Use Water Wisely!

We Californians are always being warned of the water shortage, especially in So Cal, and people are advised to cut water usage by running sprinklers at night, turning off faucets, etc. Even my title "Use Water Wisely" is stolen from my 5th grade poster competition to encourage students to conserve water. Oh, California! This is how I now have to get, use, and conserve my water:

1. I put a bucket under my roof to collect rain water.
2. Water is poured with a pitcher into the "inside" bucket, leaving out any bugs, leaves, or dirt that made their way in.
3. An old shampoo bottle (1/3L)serves as my "shower" to best control the flow's amount and aim.
4. I usually leave about 1/8 of the bottle full to effectively wash some underwear.
5. Rwandan women--and myself--bathe in the saloon/living room so that AFTER bathing, we use the water on the floor to CLEAN the floors.
6. On hair washing days, I double the amount of water I use (up to almost 1L!) but am very controlled, keeping it in a bucket. Once my hair is clean, I use the same water to wash like 3-4 shirts. Then wash the walls and/or dishes and/or toilet.

Ok, so to be fair if I were cooking daily (I eat at school for lunch and with friends for dinner) I'd use much more water, but with this method I survive on like 1 liter per day (washing hands or random utensils adds up, too!)

PS I won the poster contest in my 5th grade classroom, continuing to the school district or something. But I cheated. My mom drew the poster, I just colored it in. (ah! I feel much better now that's off my chest! Does my 5th grade teacher read this?)

Grades in Rwanda

First of all, our grades are done by hand. So in the first trimester I had my little print out of all my students (9 classes, 400 students), complete with little scribbles, crossing outs, side notes, and a pronunciation guide (can you imagine trying to call out names like: Ndasengirumva, Umugwaneza, Irakizamugisha, or Nyiransabimana say them: ...oh, gosh, never mind!) Then I was shamed when all the students want to see their grades and condescendingly look at my scrappy grading sheet. But that was the least of my problems.

After weekly writing assignments, reading each of my 400 students' papers individually and giving out grades for all of them, we were asked to prepare grades before finals. Of course. No problem! But because I teach each class for 2 hours a week, the grades have to be out of 20. Oh. Alright, I can understand its a different system. I get it. And I have to give each of my classes' grades to a different teacher: Each class has a teacher that collects the grades from the other teachers, hand copies the students' grades onto one master sheet per class, then gives THAT to the secretary to type into the school's ONE computer. Right. NO mistakes, I'm sure...

Then, after finals, we have to finish administering tests (different tests for each class, as the kids are allowed to take the test with them when they finish writing their answers onto the provided papers) so that kids can't cheat, we have until Monday to turn in our final grades. I was so ready! 20 point scale! Done! I had my classwork numbers added to my exam numbers, averaged out, calculated, and changed to a 20 point scale, hand written for each student, and given to the appropriate teacher. Oh, but they didn't tell me is 20 points for CLASSWORK and 20 separate points for FINAL EXAMS. ARGH! My students already lost or gained points in my changing scales, "translating" numbers, and doing weird math things to it!

So, unfortunately, some of my grades, well like 99% of them, were WRONG on students' report cards. I'm only totally embarrassed, but the KIDS are haranguing me about what the proper grade should be, and "Teacher! What's wrong with my marks?!" when can they be fixed? how will you fix them? and on and on! And I don't blame them! I'd be totally upset if my grade was lower than what I actually earned in any class!

This trimester I'm ready. I've planned out how many quizzes to give to fit the 20 point scale, when to give them to best prepare students, and just be on top of my game! 5 quizzes this trimester, 4 points each, no problem. Until they just asked for the first quarter of the trimester grade reports. Sigh. Really? So my kids have just one quiz, tongue twisters (graded on pronunciation, capacity to adjust with my help, volume, presentation, and composure). 4 points. So I had to readjust my scaling. Again. Wow.


The good news is that the kids just think I'm a funny American and are pretty forgiving. Teachers must think I'm totally incompetent. And at the end of the day I'm still laughing... at myself!