Falling in Love

Well. It's official. I'm in love. I know, I know. "It's too soon, you don't know each other that well yet, you're so young." But it's too late. Rwanda has taken a firm hold on my heart. 

Seriously though, it hasn't even been a week and I am amazed by this beautiful country. I have been overwhelmed by the love and friendship my host family has given me. It is weird to think I have been here for such a short time, because I feel so comfortable already. 

I am living in a small compound with my host mom, dad, and three siblings. The parents don't speak any English. Not a single word. Two of my siblings are in 6th and 9th grades but neither of them speak English. They might know some words but if I ask them "how was your day?" Or other simple things, they look at me like I have five heads. I moved in with them on Saturday with a vocabulary of 5 kinyarwandan words. (I now know like 10). So obviously the language barrier has definitely been huge. But my mom is super great and always tries to explain things to me and teach me new words. (She also never hesitates to laugh at the stupid things I try to say). Living with them is great and is definitely motivating me to learn quickly so we can communicate better. 

The road to my house (the one on the left, and our amazing view)

Pictures really don't do Rwanda justice. The hills are breathtaking. 

I am lucky enough to have electricity, but we really don't use it very much. I have a pit latrine (drop toilet) that is made of concrete. Which is considered nice since many other volunteers only have a dirt floor. We don't have a water pump so the kids fetch water everyday. I went with them, it's a little bit of a hike, down to the bottom of the valley. There's a little pipe that has a small stream of water flowing out of it. Everyone takes turns putting their Jerry cans under the stream. The water is basically clear, but it still needs to be boiled or filtered. My brother (who is 1/2 my size) can carry a 20 liter jerry can of water on his head all the way back home up the ridiculously steep hill. They tried to get me to pick it up and put it on my head, I couldn't get it past my shoulders. (This was extremely entertaining for the entire family). It really blows my mind that the kids are that young yet that strong. 

I have learned a lot and have so much more to do and see! So happy to be here :)