Long overdue update....
So I’ve struggled to write as consistently as I hoped over the past month or so. However, it hasn’t been from lack of internet access or computer power, but more because I question whether what I have to say is worth writing up here for people to read (though admittedly it has been quite a busy past few weeks). Anyway, I’m getting past that and I’ll try and throw up a few things that may be of interest to some.
So I’ve finished my my second week of Model School. It has been full of ups and downs, and it’s quite apparent to me that teaching is far more difficult than I could have ever imagined. If you have never taught before, you should probably try it before criticizing anyone who does. That being said, I’m over the main fears of standing in front of a class, the initial jitters that I felt for the first few days of teaching. I may be very far from actually being a good teacher at this point, but I know I’m at least somewhat competent (I HOPE!), and with lots of effort I think I can hack it as a teacher here.
As a result of such a busy schedule, I haven’t had a ton of time for other more interesting things. However, there has still been time to do some stuff, like going to Butare and then the Murambi Memorial last weekend. I’ll start by talking about Butare.
Okay, initially the trip to Butare was for banking, because we all have bank accounts set up for us by the Peace Corps with a bank whose closest branch is in Butare (which is like 40min by bus). Last Saturday was the day they were supposed to have deposited our money for the rest of training, so we all took buses there Saturday morning. Turns out that didn’t happen, and because of some glitch in the system nobody got money. But really it wasn’t a bad thing, because I got to spend part of the day in Butare, perusing some shops and the best part, eating ice cream. Now, it may have been the equivalent of cafeteria soft serve at a college cafeteria, but it tasted pretty damn good. I mean, it was cold, what more can I ask for?
The next day (last Sunday) I went to visit the Murambi Memorial, which is maybe another 20min further than Butare. It was optional for any trainees who wanted to go, because it’s a busy time right now, and it’s a pretty powerful/graphic memorial. A site where over 50,000 people were killed in 94’, it’s pretty overwhelming. The visit includes walking in and out of rooms where bodies have been preserved with limestone and are laid out on wooden benches. There were many mass graves discovered at Murambi, but all except one had been left uncovered. The one covered grave preserved the bodies enough that they were then preserved with limestone so as to be a poignant reminder about the events there…I won’t go into any further detail, but it was definitely much different than the memorial we visited in Kigali…
I’m beginning to get a little anxious to get to my site (or be “installed”, as they refer to our drop offs as “site installations”), especially with it only being a few weeks away. It has become difficult to realize, but the fact is that this training period will be but a blip in my long experience here. I’ve grown used to where I’m living, the training schedule which we must follow, and all the convenient amenities we enjoy here (like electricity and a nice house and being cooked for at the training center all the time). And I really like my neighborhood here – called Muganda Muri – and I’ll be quite sad to leave it in a few weeks. The other reality is that while all of us trainees have grown more accustomed to living in Rwanda, we’ve grown accustomed to living in Rwanda while surrounded/incubated by the presence of tons of other Americans. In a few weeks, that all ends, and I guess you could say that’s when things get real…Once that white Peace Corps truck pulls away after dropping you at your site…That’ll be an interesting day.
For now, I’m just trying to take it day by day, enjoying these last few weeks of training even though some of it really drags on. With Christmas coming up this week our group is only teaching through Thursday, and then Friday is a holiday for Christmas Eve. After the holiday we have basically one more week of training and that’s it. From what I understand it will mostly be devoted to intensive language training, because we must past achieve an intermediate level on a language proficiency interview (LPI) in order to be sworn in as volunteers. If you fail it once you get an extra week to study and try to take it again, but based on the mock LPI we did about a week ago it shouldn’t be an issue. Anyway, that’s what’s coming up. And then we have New Year’s and all that jazz after that, and then on January 3rd we have our swearing in ceremonies in Kigali. As best I know, we go to Kigali on January 2nd, stay there overnight, have swearing in the next day, spend another night, and then come back to Nyanza on the 4th. Then, starting the 5th they will begin taking us out to our sites for “installations”.
The rainy season is coming to an end here, which I’m quite down about. I enjoy the rain and it nicely cools things off when it pours. Starting in January until about March or so there will be very little rain (some parts of the country are much drier than others), which isn’t something I’m looking forward to. On the other hand the climate is still mild and not nearly as bad as plenty of other countries I could have been sent to. As has become a running joke amongst us PCTs (PC Trainees), “at least we’re not in Niger”. This isn’t a slight against Niger or the PCVs currently serving there, it’s merely a result of our medical sessions with one of the PC Medical Officers (PCMOs). You see, he recently transferred from Niger, and nearly every time we have talked about the risk of some disease or affliction, he would tell us how much higher the risk was for those serving in Niger. Anything from stomach illnesses from the food (much worse because it’s so hot there), to the risk of jiggers (a small bug that burrows into your skin) or bed bugs, malaria, or any other illness you can think of, it seems like the risk is higher in Niger. It’s almost like I was cheated out of the opportunity to experience some real hardcore PC survival stories (ha, haha?)…
Anyway, a small note on packages. So far, I’ve received 3 packages (from Ashley, thanks dear J), and they do take a very long time as I expected. Part of the problem during training is them transporting them down from Kigali, and the massive number of packages sent to PCTs has backed that process up a bit. Anyway, all packages/letters can still be sent to the same address, and that address will always be valid for the next 2 years. It goes to the PC headquarters office, and they will always notify me and either get me the package or let me know so I can come pick it up. That said, I may get a postal box at some point after a while at site, and they want us to get postal boxes eventually so they can reduce the amount of mail traffic that requires sorting by the HQ office staff. However, I’m not certain if/when I’ll get one, so unless you hear otherwise, the same address is still the correct one.
And for anyone who is really interested, I’m planning to post a “wish list” on this blog with some random items that if anyone was really bored and wanting to send me something (J), it will have a few suggestions…
Sorry for the gap in posting anything, I’ll try and work on that…
- Dylan
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