visit from the U.S.!!

So I haven’t written in a while…it’s not been because of lack of things happening in my life. I guess my life has been just as eventful as before but because of circumstances, I haven’t felt the urge or had the heart to write a blog.

It was around the middle of June when I got sick for the first time. I developed fevers, chills, and fatigue, which left me bedridden for a few days. I guess it’s not that bad of an illness but when you’re thousands of miles away from home and missing your mom’s care and chicken noodle soup, it can feel a lot worse. I hitched a ride to the nearest town and got put up in a motel for a few days, compliments of Peace Corps. The Peace Corps doctor also gave me enough amoxicillin to treat an elephant so I quickly recovered after that. For some reason, although I recovered physically, the illness left me really down, unmotivated, and homesick. I hope I never get sick here again because it packs quite a punch, physically and mentally.

It’s been over for a month so I’m all better now. I’ve been working some and I also visited two other Peace Corps volunteers on the 4th of July weekend. Many of my projects and lessons have been put on hold because of holidays, going to a Peace Corps meeting and other obligations so I’ve been feeling like a slacker. Next month, however, I’ve already told myself to become a workaholic and really start Peace Corp volunteering in earnest. There can be no American slackers in my town.

In other news, my father and stepmother have come to visit me in good ole Rwanda for two weeks. To be honest, I was a little worried when my father first told me he was coming to visit. After all, my house is sorely lacking in certain commodities and amenities. In addition, getting around Rwanda is not exactly luxurious or easy. Fortunately, they have been really good about adjusting to everything and seem to actually be enjoying the experience. I’ve taken them to visit the university town, my town, and the capital city. We’ve been to shops, a museum, a wedding, walking randomly around my villages, and tomorrow, we will explore Kigali City. Normally, I hate going to the capital because it’s big, intimidating and my monthly salary has a tendency to disappear. Ever since my dad and stepmom have come to visit however, I have been obligated to learn my way around the city and I have been surprised at how much I know and that I can actually get around (well, sorta). The person I usually depend on for everything Rwandan (language translations, bargaining, advice about things mundane and important) has gone to America for three weeks so I’ve been forced to rely on myself for all that. Fortunately, my kinyarwanda was enough to rent hotel rooms, bargain for taxis and find a way to my village 250 kilometers away without losing my sanity. Like I told my stepmom, nothing in Rwanda is ever easy or convenient. I guess it’s just highlighted when you have visitors from the States. I was kinda getting used to the discomfort, dust, bargaining, lack of conveniences (like water), and various mishaps, cancellations, and bad deals that comprise my life now. When my dad and stepmom came to visit, I was reminded again of all those things and the fact that my life in the United States was actually pretty cozy.

They brought gifts from the United States. I gave my dad quite a list to bring me, including: an antivirus for my computer (very important here), a cowboy hat for a friend, my backpack, my good dress, seeds for my garden, movies, songs, and books, and the Catch phrase game (I might use it in my English class to increase vocab.) Dad also brought some English teaching textbooks and cd’s for me, for which I’m extremely grateful and my sister packed some curtain material for me. Before, I just had an old rag across my window and a bedsheet across my kitchen window. When my stepmom saw my bedroom curtain, she said it looked like Pigpen’s blanket (you know from Charlie Brown’s comic). Hehe. Yea, I guess it was pretty bad but I’ve been too lazy to seriously try to find suitable curtain materials, haggle for prices, go to the market to buy rods and rings, haggle for prices, measure the curtains and cut the material, go to the seamstress to get them hemmed up, haggle for prices, then go home to sew on the rings. Too much work for me. I rather just have Pigpen’s blanket across my bedroom window for three months. Well, unfortunately, Dad doesn’t know how lazy I can be because he made me do just that. We finally got all that finished yesterday and now I have brand new curtains hanging up in my living room and two bedrooms. Pigpen’s blanket is the curtain for my stockroom now. It’s an ugly room anyway.

When I first brought my parents to my town, they were surprised I lived so far from anything. My dad said that I lived at the end of the world. I guess it’s kind of true. It’s completely different from anywhere I’ve ever lived. Fortunately, they really liked my small town. We walked to three villages and all the villagers came out to see the strange white people walking through. Children ran, babies cried, and old men delightedly shook our hands. I was quite gratified to realize that the people knew me or at least recognized me. Many of them called me “umuganga” which means doctor in Kinyarwanda. I guess you’re wondering why they wouldn’t know me if I’ve been living here for three months. Well, where I live is composed of 26 different villages or umudugudu. Where I was taking my parents was the neighboring village or umudugudu.

I gave my parents the grand tour of my house and of the clinic where I work at. I suspect they had quite a different idea of where I lived or at least were not expecting what they saw. I don’t know for sure but they quickly got used to living with little water, cooking on charcoal, using a latrine and washing clothes by hand. I thought they would be all impressed by my charcoal lighting abilities but Dad already knew how to light the charcoal the old fashioned way. The next day, he lit it no problem and cooked on it whereas it had taken me two months to learn how to light the charcoal without kerosene.

My parents also made several improvements to my home. Compliments of my father and stepmom, I now have enough groceries for several weeks, two bedrooms and a living room freshly painted in yellow and green, curtains on all my windows, a new set of tools (screws, nails, saw, screwdrivers), a dustpan, three fixed doors that actually close and lock, new sandals (My old shoes were falling apart…literally), and various other things I can’t think of right now. I also think my dad felt really bad about all the children dressed in rags because he left half of his clothes and a pair of shoes to be given away to them. My neighbor’s house-servant will now be walking around in my dad’s clothes. It’s actually a really good thing. I think he only has one shirt and pair of pants.

Well, this blog is already too long. My parents fly away in two days and I will go back to my site the next day. It will be weird living alone again but I will get used to it as always. (I saw a cat today and seriously considered taking it back with me.)