6 months down!

So I have officially been in Rwanda for just a little over 6 months. It's weird to think that I am 1/4 of the way done with my service. Sometimes it feels like I just got here, sometimes it feels like I have been here forever, and sometimes it feels like both at once. Joining the Peace Corps, I didn't really know what to expect. Although I had been warned there would be down time, I had not really expected it. There have been days where I show up to work, play spider solitaire and dip out by 10 because the thought of staying for another 2 minutes is unbearable and staying till 12 is basically impossible. 

Struggling to survive the workday! 

Although work isn't as exciting as I expected, there are still a lot of reasons I am happy to be a Peace Corps  volunteer. The day to day interactions with the people in my village are easily the main reason I am still here. Because at the end of the day, I didn't come here to help sort files or watch nurses take blood. I came here to get to know people on a person level. That's what service really is about. Showing people you genuinely care about them.

Finding my place in my village has been tough, and it's still something I'm working on. Two weeks ago I had a few items stolen from my house. Nothing major, and all were returned, but it still made me feel as though I was an outsider. As if people saw me only as some rich foreigner to take advantage of. That was my first reaction, until multiple people and authorities went out of their way to find my things and counsel the boy who stole them. In the end it wasn't an action done out of spite, it was the direct result of hunger and desperation. (Since the incident I am on friendly terms with the boy)

My compound has been quiet for the past two months because my neighbors are all teachers and are gone on break. At first I enjoyed the quiet, I finally got some alone time, and caught up on more than a few books. But quickly the solitude became very lonely and I realized how much I had depended on the people in my compound and how I had forgotten to branch out. I didn't know how to fix this. But I soon discovered that leaving your door open, while inviting in flies and the occasional toad, also encourages people to come over. Soon enough I was meeting new neighbors and had more than a couple kids visiting. (Warning: once the door has been opened it is extremely difficult to shut!) 

A few of my little followers

I really had no agenda when writing this post, just a stream of consciousness really. I'm learning a lot about myself in Rwanda and for that I'm grateful. I'm learning how to be alone. I'm learning how to open up to people even when it's uncomfortable. I'm learning that smiles go a long way, cause lord knows I don't know half of what anyone is saying to me in kinyarwanda. I'm learning to appreciate the little things in life, because in the end, those are the only things that really matter. 

So happy 6 months Rwanda. Here's to many more confusing, wonderful, unpredictable, and rewarding moments to come!

On the main highway of the capital. Rwanda never fails to surprise me!