University

Good morning, afternoon, evening or night, depending on when you read this. Thank you for checking in. Just as a reminder, if anyone reading this would like to comment on something I read or simply pass a greeting, please feel free to click on the "comments" link on the bottom of each blog entry. Simply fill in your name and a brief message, and I will return your comment as soon as possible. Thank you and have a nice day. Whoops, I think that's my answering machine.

Anyways, this weekend was fairly relaxing one, and with all of us interns getting together, we spent Saturday hanging out like a bunch of college students. We did this, of course, by meeting up with our college friends, Emmanuel (not my boss) and Christian, and having them give us a tour of their university, the Kigali Institute of Education. It was very nice campus, located within the city, complete with clipped lawns, open-aired classrooms and dorms. In fact, two new science buildings were in construction, which I thought would look very nice on Alma's campus. Going inside the dorms though, increased my appreciation for my own cramped living space at school. The rooms were a similar size, but housed four people instead of two. Christian's off-campus apartment was only slightly larger, though it housed four people as well. Sitting on their beds, we joked at our inability to annunciate the letter "t" (butter=budder & literature=liderature), and their inability to annunciate the letter "l" (really=rerry & Caleb=Carub). Good times.

But the fun did not stop there. After bidding Emmanuel and Christian farewell, we relaxed until about 10pm, and then we went out night-clubbing. Having inquired others about which night club to attend, we set our sights on the Cadillac Club, which was supposedly the coolest place in Kigali. I must admit, I was impressed. With only a three-dollar cover charge, the Cadillac Club came complete with a great dance floor, mirrored walls and a spectacular DJ. The best part about the club was the laid-back atmosphere. Especially as muzungus (white people), we did not have to impress anyone. In fact, any dance move I did was applauded. My famous white-boy dance, the spin-around, hands-on-the-knees, can-opener, MC-Hammer-stomp... all were appreciated and cherished. As you can imagine for someone as shunned as me on the dancefloor, I loved the positive attention... well, most of it. Apparently in Rwanda, it is acceptable for guys to "grind" other guys in a purely hetero-way. Now, I'm all for embracing Rwandan culture, but I had to draw the line. So, when the moment came and three men approached me with legs opened, I did the only thing a muzungu could do... challenged them to a dance-off. I was moving so fast, I deflected their prowling movements. After a few minutes of learning how I keep rhythm, they accepted defeat and retreated to another territory of the dance floor. Poor Aaron, no one wanted to dance with him, if you'd even call it dancing. For the most part, the Rwandan grooves consisted of gelatin-like contortionist twitches, as if they were mysteriously having seizures in the stand-up position. Yeah, it was cultural experience.

Sunday, admittedly, I failed to go to church, but I did wake to a personal devotion. Around noon, I decided to do my laundry, which is notably more difficult here in Rwanda. I doubt I will complain about Alma's pathetic washers and dryers again... actually, that's not true. But doing your laundry by hand, even with some help, takes a lot of time and energy. Today I found that my back is sore from bending over the washing bucket.


Overall, though, today was a great day. Dwight gave Aaron and I deadlines, something we have been lacking thus far. By Friday, we have to have a Concept Paper drawn up to see if some Swiss organization is willing to support of programs in the resettlement camp. Also, we have to turn in an outline of ideas for a new E-Sponsorship Program. Lastly, Aaron and I have been assigned with selecting furnishings for the new FH Regional Office. So between those three assignments, we will have plenty to do.

Tis all for now. Happy 4th of July for everyone reading in the US! Rwanda is celebrating some sort of Liberation Day on the 4th as well, so we will celebrating liberty to at least some capacity. Thank you for reading everyone. God bless! Enjoy the fireworks!