first week in rwanda..

Hello friends! I can't believe I've already been here for nearly a week.. there's SO much to tell and not enough time but it's been crazy. Despite being in Kigali for several days now, being here still feels like a dream. up until today, we were just hanging out at the pastor's house we're staying at, traveling around town and running errands so it felt a bit like a vacation. today, though, we started teaching english. I got a bit nervous last night when we found out that instead of just teaching the church staff, we'd be having our own classrooms, but it was GREAT TODAY! I had ten students (all but one were adults and 2 pastors). I'll post a picutre of them next time.. but I teach for 5 hours three times a week which I thought would be such a long time, but it went by very quick today. the students are so great and immensely eager to learn english. I kept wanting to go back and review but they said, "no, no.. we can review at home.. teach us more!!" and after I taught them how to say their first basic conversation in english, their faces lit up and huge smiles spread across their happy faces! Because of that, I could do this everyday.. after we were done for the day you could hear them all outside asking each other, "what is your name? How are you?" it was so encouraging for me to see the fruit of the work even already...

other than teaching english three times a week, hilliary and i will be taking care of children two times a week and teaching an art/craft class once a week for women to learn practical skills. nearly all of the people here don't have jobs--including the vast majority of them who have completed schooling in universities. it's very sad and i can't help but think in the big picture and wonder what needs to happen for the rwandan economy to be rejuvinated.. knowing english helps people get jobs though so i'm honored to play my small role in this. I've also been asked to teach a class to train people how to counsel.. however, i'm not sure if I can do this and will need to decide by tonight. i have some materials with me and some basic ideas of how to conduct counseling but am not sure if i could train church members how to do this.

the women we're staying with are fantastic and have been nothing but supportive and kind to us. our interpreter chantal is with us nearly all the time as well as several other women who are staying at the pastors house to keep us company. hilliary and i thought we might lose weight coming to africa, but the exact opposite is happening! we eat SO much here and when we say no to more food, they hand us more! already hilliary and i are thinking that we are gaining weight haha! we joke that we'll come home 30 lbs heavier at least :)

up until yesterday, i was having trouble staying awake as i was so tired.. all the women kept teasing me calling me a "baby" and "bad." It's fun and I haven't been tired the past two days as bad so that's good! before, everytime I sat down I was falling asleep in my chair!

Hilliary is learning the language "kinyarwandan" VERY quickly. she's amazing and god has really blessed her with language skills. it's astonishing and everyone here thinks so.. they tease me also because I am more slow. they say, "hilliary will know kinyarwandan in one month, but megan will not know by the time she leaves!" I'm trying though!

some other things we have done include going to the southern part of the country to visit one of the pastors sons who is at boarding school. when we walked into the courtyard of the school, ALL of the heads in the surrounding classrooms turned and we heard several gasps at the sight of us.. when class got out, all the students rushed out to stare at us haha. some even ventured over to talk to us and let us take their picture.

everywhere we go here, people stare, point and say "muzungu," the word for white person. at first it was very weird, but i'm getting used to it and it can actually be a little bit funny :) yesterday we accompanied "auntie" who is a sort of maid for our house and while we sat in a shop waiting for her, several people in walking past, came back doing double and triple takes. we've been making lots of jokes about it. OH, and we've gotten asked to marry people twice now!! It's hilarious! while we were at the same market, one man stopped us and said we were beautiful and asked if he could marry us.. but that he only needed one of us :)

our first church service was yesterday and it was 4.5 hours long!! it was the longest service i've ever been to in my life and was possibly the most foreign to me as well. despite my attending a pentecostal church in seattle for about a year and a half, i wasn't prepared for all that went on yesterday in the service. i was very confused and a bit upset about the theology that was presented and asked the pastor if i could ask her some questions tonight. i need to be very respectful though and am praying it goes well. it's so important to see different things not as bad. i have a lot to learn from them and the way they see god and worship him, but i hope they can learn a little bit from me as well.

overall, the people are incredibly hospitable, kind and beautiful. despite being a bit discouraged yesterday, i am doing well and am very much looking forward to getting into the routine of things with the programs we're doing. we're even cooking for everyone on thursday night.. it'll be an adventure for sure.. especially knowing my wonderful cooking skills haha. we'll be cooking american food though which involves going to the market, doing dishes from the spicket etc. we've also been using a tub of water that's heated every morning to wash ourselves and that was interesting on the first morning figuring out how to do that! we got water all over the floor :)

well, I'm runing out of time on the internet.. sorry this was so jumbled and that I rambled for a bit. I miss my family and friends back home and have been deeply encouraged by the cards and everything that you sent with me. i'm opening them very slowly because i want to save them for if i have discouraging days. it's been so encouraging though when i'm discouraged to know that there are so many people at home and all over the world praying for us. so THANK YOU for your prayers. Please continue praying.. here are some requests:

-praise god for the english class today! it is going to be fantastic and fruitful. pray that the students learn quickly and that their english skills will enable them to get jobs.

-I need to decide by tonight if I feel equipped enough to teach a counseling training class. I am doubting myself a bit but think having 3 years of education at an american university has taught me a lot.. please pray for discernment and wisdom about this.

-understanding and wisdom about the theology here and for our discussion with the pastor tonight.

ALSO, I WILL BE BACK ON THE INTERNET WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.. I'M NOT SURE WHAT TIME THAT IS IN AMERICA AS THERE'S AN ELEVEN HOUR TIME DIFFERENCE BUT IF YOU CAN, GET ON SKYPE DURING THAT CHUNK OF TIME!!!! It would be SO great to talk to some of you!!

again, thanks for your support and prayers. love and miss you all at home..

until next time,
megan