Lists

Ways to tell you’re a Rwandan Peace Corps volunteer

1) You speak Kinyarwanda like a three-year-old.
2) Six months later, you’re wearing the same clothes you brought from the States even though they’re too big/small and are starting to disintegrate.
3) Unlike the other foreigners (with their big SUV’s and hired drivers), you ride around in the local minivans and public buses, covered in dust and packed more tightly than sardines.
4) Your diet consists of rice and beans and some more rice and beans.
5) When you gather in groups of two Peace Corps volunteers or more, your conversation centers around American food. And Mexican food, and Chinese food, etc.
6) You argue fiercely in the market over a few hundred francs (a few American cents) and get mad when they charge you the foreigner rate.
7) The children call you Muzungu k’uruhu, meaning you’re a foreigner by skin only, not by culture. Translation: you don’t dole out money.
8) You spend more money on the telephone and Internet than on food and other living allowances combined.
9) You develop gross conditions like worms, giardia, chiggers, and more diarrhea than you thought possible.
10) You have gotten your phone or camera or other valuable stolen, at least once, while you’ve been here.
11) You’re so poor that even the Rwandans tell you that you need new shoes. Unfortunately, you can’t afford to buy new shoes because you spent it on Internet and you walk around in shower flip-flops.
12) You’ve become an expert English teacher because everyone in Rwanda wants to learn English.
13) You haven’t trimmed or cut your hair in months because the only person who knows how to cut Muzungu hair is another muzungu.
14) You’re the first muzungu to show your village children a picture of themselves or speak to them in their native language. You may be the first white person they’ve seen.
15) You’re the expert Internet and communications specialist in your village, even though in the United States, your only specialties were Microsoft Word and Facebook.
16) You spend the equivalent of $6 on a banana split when you travel to the capital.
17) You're not insulted when another volunteer offers the remains of a food item to you, such as cookie crumbs or half-eaten cake. This is especially true if it's in a package from the States or if any part of it consists of chocolate.
18) You take toilet paper with you whenever you travel. And laundry soap.


Other random lists

Things I miss from the States, besides family and friends of course

1) Food
2) Vegging out in front of the T.V. Especially watching Criminal Minds, Jon Stewart, and Law and Order.
3) Convenience and speed. If I’m hungry, order take-out. If I need something, I can go to Wal-mart.
4) Being completely understood, at all times. At least language and culturally wise.
5) Always having family at home when I came home from work or school.
6) Having a job I’m really good at.
7) A long, hot shower
8) Having enough money to buy frivolous things.
9) My car

Perks of being a Peace Corps volunteer

1) Having a job that actually matters.
2) Developing all sorts of random skills, like latrine maintenance and bargaining.
3) Being the superstar of a village.
4) Learning a second and potentially a third language.
5) Being the most eligible bachelor or bachelorette in town (This may not be a perk for some)
6) Kids love you. (Well, most do. Some cry.)
7) Having a huge network of other volunteers in other countries to support you when you travel, need information, or a favor.
8) Good healthcare
9) Meeting awesome people you never would have met otherwise.
10) Changing your way of looking at life, rearranging priorities.
11) Learning to appreciate the small things in life, the small victories and gifts.
12) Learning to live on your own, gain independence and maturity.
13) Developing life-long friends.
14) Gaining a new culture.