Sunday Visit

We made a pretty fun-filled and exciting outing on Sunday, May 29, to a small village called Byamana, just outside of Gitarama. Gitarama is the second most populated city in Rwanda, after Kigali of course. JP had invited us when we first arrived to visit the boy's home that he co-founded with his brother in 2002. We had arranged to make the trip on this date, and stuck to it. We had planned to be out the door at 8:00 so we could have the day to tour the orphanage and just hang out in Byamana. As it turned out, we didn't leave until about 9:20 (we might be stuck on "African time"), but we were still able to board one of the express buses at 10:30 and got into Gitarama at 11:30. Everything was going well despite the late start. The weather has been exceptionally gorgeous lately with little cloud coverage and a gentle breeze. I think we were all pretty happy about getting out of the city for the day, relieving our noses and lungs of smog and exhaust fumes that linger in the valleys of downtown Kigali.

We decided to stop in for lunch at this hole-in-the-wall restaurant hidden underneath a four story building on the corner of the main street. This was our only chance to eat before we continued on to Byamana, so we took the opportunity. Like most restaurants here in Rwanda, they served primarily traditional Rwandan 'serve yourself' buffet. Although I really enjoy Rwandan food, it feels like we've been eating the same starchy meal for lunch and dinner - breakfast just consists of bread and tea. We've all been so used to having a wide variety of cuisine for every meal in the States that it's still hard to continue eating the same thing here. That being said, I turned down the buffet and ordered regular ol' spaghetti with cheese and a goat kebab. What I sometimes forget is that meals that are not Rwandan take longer to prepare in Rwanda. But I thought, "it's just pasta with cheese!" The hamburger that someone ordered took less time than did mine. After a good hour and twenty minutes passes, the food arrives. It was now close to 1:00 and we haven't made it to the boys home yet. We quickly pay our bill and head to the minibus stop where we take a 15 minute ride to Byamana. We were greeted by some younger villagers who then lead us to the orphanage about half a mile away. Along the way, children who live near the orphanage come out to greet us, latch onto our hands, and will continue to be by our sides for the remainder of our visit.

The day was very pleasant and relaxing as we were treated to a performance of traditional Rwandan dance and song by the Byamana boys and girls dance troupe. JP and his brother, whose name I can't remember for the life of me, started this home in 2002 with only a few orphaned boys, but now the home has grown to house over 30. We were able to tour the facilities with children still attached to our arms. The orphanage consists of four buildings that include dormitories, living area, kitchen, and a separate house for their livestock. The livestock on the property - mainly cows, goats, and chickens - has been donated by support groups in both Rwanda and the United States. I learned that GPE helped to build one of the buildings of the orphanage a few years ago. The property was very pretty, and the people were, as always, so welcoming and happy to know of our support. After a few hours of watching performances and socializing we headed down to the village football field. It was approximately a ten minute walk down a dirt path through some woods that opened up to a spectacular view of five or so miles of green hills. I swear it never gets old. I stopped for a moment to take it all in and to snap some pictures, then onwards to the football fields. Down on the fields there were a couple games going on: one for the high school league, another for an adult league. Next to both fields was another quasi-field with only one goal post and shin-high grass. Not the best for playing football. I've started to use "football" for "soccer" because that's what it really is; you use your feet. American football is American football, but soccer is a misnomer. The kids were running around passing the football back and forth, and we joined in for a bit. The sun was getting lower while we were playing, and almost fell behind the hills when we were done. The sun tends to set around 6:00 here and we knew it was time to start heading back up the hill to the bus stop. We said our goodbyes and promised to return in the coming weeks.

Today is now the First of June, and marks our almost third week in our journey, although it hasn't really felt like it. Time seems to just fly by. It's no good that I've been able to feel the effects of all the pollution emitting from the city. I'm also not the only one who's complained about it either. I often wake up in the morning and walk out to our porch to see a heavy haze waiting to descend upon Kigali. The city is nice, however, because there is a lot to do, but we really enjoy getting out into the rural areas for obvious reasons: less pollution and more greenery. As I mentioned earlier, the weather has been very nice to us recently, after 3 days straight of rain in the second week. I think we're officially in the dry season now. This has been quite the ride and gets better with every day. The English lessons are working out much better than when we began and the kids all enjoy our presence, and seem to be more engaged. We're half way through our second teaching week and I hope we can continue to teach new material even without the use of a textbook or other supplementary materials. Wish us luck!