Wednesday, April 14, 2010

It’s been quite a long week for me here and I’ve been a bit uncommunicative… but the reality is that I haven’t had a whole lot to communicate either. I’ve been quite sick and my stomach is very unhappy with me… it just hasn’t responded to the food here very well! They cook everything in quite a bit of oil, and very few spices, so my thought is that it’s the insane amount of oil that my stomach just can’t handle. So needless to say I’ve spent quite a bit of time in bed, and I haven’t eaten very much. I live on bread, rice, fresh fruit, and boiled eggs. It works for now. Once I get to site in a few more weeks I’ll be able to cook for myself… and I welcome any and all food supplemented from home! Kashi granola bars and those Fiber One bars with chocolate… are AMAZING and would be much welcomed!!! I received my first care package from home yesterday and it was a definite morale booster, and much needed. After being sick for so long I was mentally worn down and hit my first low here and proceeded to get very homesick. But, it was short-lived and I’m feeling much better now!

So besides being sick, this week was also Genocide Commemoration week, where the entire country mourns the events of 1994. I wasn’t able to attend the events scheduled here, but they were in a language I barely understand anyway. But it was interesting to see that the entire country really does shut down for a half a day every day for activities that encourage mourning and remembrance. The incidences of mental illness go up during this week each year, and it’s the only week where people are really allowed to mourn openly. The Rwandan culture does not really accept crying or mourning in public at all… and when you’re sad, the common result is “Komera,” which translates roughly into “Be Strong.” Openly mourning or crying is not encouraged at all.

But things are back to normal around here, and I’m still looking forward to my site. I was able to send one picture to my Mom, so she should be posting a picture of my house in Gashora on facebook sometime soon! I have more pictures, which I will hopefully be able to either upload to email or to facebook sometime soon. I have, however, given up on trying to post pictures to the blog… the internet connection here just isn’t good enough for that… but maybe when I have my own internet and modem at my site it will be faster… cross your fingers!

Keep commenting, sending emails, and mail of any type… I LOVE hearing from everyone! And keep in mind that internet is slow, and I don’t talk to everyone very often, so actual printed pictures sent in a real envelope would be WONDERFUL! I miss everyone and would like to see your faces over the next two years…
Take care!