This may seem like a weird title, especially since I am a pretty big Paul Simon fan. However, I have had his song 'Homeless' from the Graceland album in my head non-stop for the past four weeks. It is a great song, but a little depressing when you are essentially homeless.
But no more! We found a house!! It is a really great place and our patience (or impatience...) has paid off. It is right beside the church where Pip works, and we both attend. It is very near the centre of town, close to public transit and the house itself is great. The landlord originally wanted 500$ more than we could pay a month. When we explained that we are essentially volunteers he brought the price down. He is replacing the stove and the fridge with new ones, adding screens to the windows (hallelujah!) and basically redoing the kitchen. So even though the house itself is not that old to begin with, we are essentially going to move into a brand new house! Pip is in Kenya right now so I will move it next week when all the work is finished. The house has three bedrooms so there is a place for visitors, or maybe another roommate, and three bathrooms. It has hot water (sooooo excited) and showers!!! No more bucket baths for me. Really, this house is more luxery than we were looking for so we are incredibly blessed. We even get an oven so I can bake bread and stuff. Mmmmm.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Ranguage Chan be Rots of fun!
The small idiosyncrasies of language intrigue me. For example, in Kinyarwandan the letters ‘L’ and ‘R’ are often interchangeable. This means my name is exceptionally difficult for some people – Rola, Lola, Rora – not to mention being called Nora, Laurant and other weird variations.
It also makes for some minor, though amusing, misunderstandings when speaking with my Rwandese friends. For example:
Walking in the city centre with Pip and David
David to Pip - “Don’t walk on the glass!”
Looking around our feet I cannot see any glass. Then it occurs to me – we are walking on the grass J
Two weeks ago I did not go to church since it was pouring rain and I would have had to walk up the muddy hill to get to the bus. So Pip and I stayed home, listened to some Rob Bell sermons and had church in the living room. The next day I was talking with one of my friends, Enok.
He said to me “ So you and Pip played in your room on Sunday?” I looked at him in confusion.
- “Um, we did what?”
-“You played in your room.” Silence and a confused look. Finally understanding dawned.
-“Yes, we did. We prayed in our room.”
It is interesting to me though that although read can become lead and there are many other examples where the R and L are switched, Rwanda is never called Lwanda.
Another interesting language variation comes with the Ugandan accent. Many Rwandans found themselves on the Ugandan side of the border when the Europeans drew their arbitrary lines (this also happened with the Congo). So these Ugandan Rwandans speak Kinyarwandan but with a different accent. This is most obviously manifested in the pronunciation of the letter ‘K’ and the ‘CH’ sound. For some reason sometimes the ‘K’ is pronounced as a CH – Chigli instead of Kigali. Also the ‘CH’ is often pronounced as a K – KaCHyiru instead of Kacyiru (the area of town where WV head office is located). This is most amusing and confusing with Kitchen and Chicken. Kitchen (the place where you cook) is often pronounced as Chicken and Chicken (the bird you eat) is pronounced as Kitchen. This can cause a little bit of confusion when talking about what is for dinner
It also makes for some minor, though amusing, misunderstandings when speaking with my Rwandese friends. For example:
Walking in the city centre with Pip and David
David to Pip - “Don’t walk on the glass!”
Looking around our feet I cannot see any glass. Then it occurs to me – we are walking on the grass J
Two weeks ago I did not go to church since it was pouring rain and I would have had to walk up the muddy hill to get to the bus. So Pip and I stayed home, listened to some Rob Bell sermons and had church in the living room. The next day I was talking with one of my friends, Enok.
He said to me “ So you and Pip played in your room on Sunday?” I looked at him in confusion.
- “Um, we did what?”
-“You played in your room.” Silence and a confused look. Finally understanding dawned.
-“Yes, we did. We prayed in our room.”
It is interesting to me though that although read can become lead and there are many other examples where the R and L are switched, Rwanda is never called Lwanda.
Another interesting language variation comes with the Ugandan accent. Many Rwandans found themselves on the Ugandan side of the border when the Europeans drew their arbitrary lines (this also happened with the Congo). So these Ugandan Rwandans speak Kinyarwandan but with a different accent. This is most obviously manifested in the pronunciation of the letter ‘K’ and the ‘CH’ sound. For some reason sometimes the ‘K’ is pronounced as a CH – Chigli instead of Kigali. Also the ‘CH’ is often pronounced as a K – KaCHyiru instead of Kacyiru (the area of town where WV head office is located). This is most amusing and confusing with Kitchen and Chicken. Kitchen (the place where you cook) is often pronounced as Chicken and Chicken (the bird you eat) is pronounced as Kitchen. This can cause a little bit of confusion when talking about what is for dinner
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
What is the deal with Rwanda anyway?
I have said over and over again that I love it here in Rwanda, but since work is often frustrating and the housing hunt has become epic some may wonder WHY I love this place so much. what is the deal with Rwanda anyway? I find it very hard to articulate but here is my effort:
Mountains – everywhere you look, there are hills upon hills. Terraces of maize, cassava and various other crops can be seen along with banana trees and tea. Everything is vibrantly green and even on cloudy days when it is raining there is an element of otherworldly beauty in these hills. I can go for a few days without really noticing it and then suddenly I turn around and it takes my breath away.
Kigali Traffic – I have a friend currently in Vietnam and I read in his blog about traffic in Hanoi and count myself blessed - traffic here in Kigali is crazy enough. While for my friend dealing with the traffic is taking his life in his hands, for me it is a source of amusement, wonder and occasionally pure terror. Some examples:
Lanes are just lines on the road, they are suggestions but really don’t mean anything.
Right of way goes to whichever vehicle is bigger, faster or more reckless.
Motorcycle taxis can go anywhere – including the wrong side of the road, sidewalks, gutters and just about anywhere else you can think of.
Bus taxis – large vans that serve certain routes – pay little attention to pedestrians, fit up to 25 people ‘comfortably’ and I am never certain if the banging sound I just heard was not in fact some vitally important piece of the engine falling off.
Honking is a language unto itself. It has its own grammatical structure here. There are honks that say “I am passing you on the left”, or on the right or “move over”. There are honks that say “Do you want a taxi?” or “I know you!” or just “hey look at the mzungu!” (mzungu is the word for white person or foreigner but it is not derogatory)
The Streets – There is always so much going on in the streets. People selling clothes -jeans, shoes, suit jackets; selling food, things for tourists, airtime etc. The streets are always full of people. Even at 10 pm or 1am, there are people walking from place to place. Kigali is one of the safest cities in Africa so crime is a minor concern. While walking home it is not uncommon to come across a couple of goats happily grazing on the street or several cows wandering through. While this does not happen in the city centre like it does in Mthatha South Africa, it happens often enough.
The people – Rwandans seem reserved and dignified when you first meet them – and they are. But they love to laugh and joke and have fun in a way that blows your first impressions out of the water. The Rwandans that I work with are warm, friendly and hard working. My Rwandan friends make sure that I am taken care of and fine. Despite the tragedies of the past, Rwandans have a hopeful and positive vision of their future and are working hard to make this future a reality. It is amazing to watch and a genuine honour to be a part of.
So, now maybe you can see a little of why I love this place so much. I have been here a month and already it feels normal and comfortable. I feel very much at home here, at least most days. Of course there are still cultural things that confuse me – the greetings and the language, but slowly, (bohora bohora) I am getting it.
Mountains – everywhere you look, there are hills upon hills. Terraces of maize, cassava and various other crops can be seen along with banana trees and tea. Everything is vibrantly green and even on cloudy days when it is raining there is an element of otherworldly beauty in these hills. I can go for a few days without really noticing it and then suddenly I turn around and it takes my breath away.
Kigali Traffic – I have a friend currently in Vietnam and I read in his blog about traffic in Hanoi and count myself blessed - traffic here in Kigali is crazy enough. While for my friend dealing with the traffic is taking his life in his hands, for me it is a source of amusement, wonder and occasionally pure terror. Some examples:
Lanes are just lines on the road, they are suggestions but really don’t mean anything.
Right of way goes to whichever vehicle is bigger, faster or more reckless.
Motorcycle taxis can go anywhere – including the wrong side of the road, sidewalks, gutters and just about anywhere else you can think of.
Bus taxis – large vans that serve certain routes – pay little attention to pedestrians, fit up to 25 people ‘comfortably’ and I am never certain if the banging sound I just heard was not in fact some vitally important piece of the engine falling off.
Honking is a language unto itself. It has its own grammatical structure here. There are honks that say “I am passing you on the left”, or on the right or “move over”. There are honks that say “Do you want a taxi?” or “I know you!” or just “hey look at the mzungu!” (mzungu is the word for white person or foreigner but it is not derogatory)
The Streets – There is always so much going on in the streets. People selling clothes -jeans, shoes, suit jackets; selling food, things for tourists, airtime etc. The streets are always full of people. Even at 10 pm or 1am, there are people walking from place to place. Kigali is one of the safest cities in Africa so crime is a minor concern. While walking home it is not uncommon to come across a couple of goats happily grazing on the street or several cows wandering through. While this does not happen in the city centre like it does in Mthatha South Africa, it happens often enough.
The people – Rwandans seem reserved and dignified when you first meet them – and they are. But they love to laugh and joke and have fun in a way that blows your first impressions out of the water. The Rwandans that I work with are warm, friendly and hard working. My Rwandan friends make sure that I am taken care of and fine. Despite the tragedies of the past, Rwandans have a hopeful and positive vision of their future and are working hard to make this future a reality. It is amazing to watch and a genuine honour to be a part of.
So, now maybe you can see a little of why I love this place so much. I have been here a month and already it feels normal and comfortable. I feel very much at home here, at least most days. Of course there are still cultural things that confuse me – the greetings and the language, but slowly, (bohora bohora) I am getting it.
Monday, November 19, 2007
A few more pictures:)
My first night in Kigali Pip, David and I went to a wedding wearing traditional Rwandese Mushanana. Normally only guys IN the wedding wear this, while most women guests dress this way. Needless to say we got a lot of stares walking down the street like this!!
Isabella is the daughter of Jen and Serge, the people I am staying with while I search for a house. She had her first birthday a couple of weeks ago - huge party and her first time eating cake!
She was enthralled by the candle and shortly after this picture was taken she knocked over the cupcake and the candle hit a little girl beside her. Scared the girl but she wasn't hurt.
Isabella is the daughter of Jen and Serge, the people I am staying with while I search for a house. She had her first birthday a couple of weeks ago - huge party and her first time eating cake!
She was enthralled by the candle and shortly after this picture was taken she knocked over the cupcake and the candle hit a little girl beside her. Scared the girl but she wasn't hurt.
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