IST

IST- Interim Service Training…what exactly does that mean?  Well, it means a week in Kibuye at the Centre Bethanie on Lake Kivu.  Which, as you’ll see in pictures below, is absolutely gorgeous.  Of course, that also comes with full days of sessions to see how all of our first 3 months have been going, how integration into site is going, learning about things like secondary projects, etc. etc.  So it by no means has been all fun and games, during the day we’ve been very “busy” (sitting and listening mostly) but luckily we’ve had the nights off.  And I’ve been here since Sunday.  And in the more typical Caroline reasoning, that means I’ve had electricity, running water (which is HOT mostly), free wireless (kind of since everyone is mooching) and oh right, we’re on a beautiful lake.  It’s the little things in life, right?

It’s been really nice to see all of the volunteers from my education group, we haven’t all been together in one place since PST three months ago.  Along with that, I’m not going to lie, it was overwhelming at first to be surrounded by so many Americans and volunteers at one time.  I didn’t realize how accustomed I was to being the only American, actual English speaker and all of that jazz until all of a sudden there were 60+ Americans all in one place.  But it’s been nice to speak English…without any alterations for Rwandan speak and being able to use slang and just relax American style for a little bit.

School starts up again on Monday…or Tuesday, maybe not even next week at all.  That’s the beauty of the Rwandan school system, I never really know what’s going on.  I guess I’ll show up and maybe I’ll start teaching but who really knows.  Ihangane (patience).  If you ask me what I’ve been doing all break, I honestly don’t know.  I’ve been doing something to keep me busy in the 2 weeks of break I spent at site.  But I really don’t remember what I did.  I think I gutembera-ed (wandered) a bit, probably visited some families, hung out at home, went to the market, played cards…I lead a very exciting life.  But the nice thing about staying at site for vacation was to see how happy it made the residents.  They all kept asking “When will you leave? Where will you go? When will you go to America?” and were completely astounded when I told them that, no, I was not going anywhere, I was hanging out in the village until I had to go to training.  And, I would not return to America for 2 whole years because it costs lots and lots of money which I don’t have.  Then, once they got past the astonishment that I wasn’t leaving they were pretty happy with the fact I was hanging around.  I guess that’s good.

I really don’t have that much to blog on unfortunately.  Only other new, exciting things happening right now…my furniture (chairs/table) are finally finished and will soon be arriving at my house, I have to get back there first though.  And then following that delivery I’ll eventually buy the cushions and finally my house will look more like a home.  For me, it’s all about buhoro buhoro and taking my time with things.  Things will get done, they’ll just get done eventually.

Checked the mail last Friday, thank you Grandmommy and Grandaddy for the letter (sent around February I think) with the Lemon green tea, I’m excited to try it out.  I do have 2 packages (maybe more now since a week, has passed) but I did not pick them up because I was heading to Kigali and then to Kibuye and I did not want to lug more stuff around.  Now, when I leave tomorrow, Brittany and I are stopping through Gitarama and hopefully the Post will be open.  But it’s Good Friday…so maybe not.  We’ll see I guess.  If I don’t pick them up tomorrow, I’ll get there again in a couple weeks and pick stuff up then.  Thank you to everyone who has sent things, I really do appreciate it and it’s so nice to see how much people care.

I’ve also decided that my village now is ready to handle my digital camera, after 3 months.  So I will start taking pictures of my site and the surrounding area so that everyone can see the beautiful area I live in.

And now, I will share with you some pictures from my nice week of paradise on Lake Kivu in Kibuye, Rwanda:

Sunset on Lake Kivu

Panorama of Kivu from Centre Bethanie

Fishing Boats!  They row in and out singing and fish for Tilapia all night.

A blurry picture, but this is the fishing boats at night.  They just sit on the lake with their lights fishing.  A very serene and peaceful setting.
The Island we went to on Thursday for some relaxation.  So beautiful.

That’s all for now, enjoy!