I just wanted to relay the events of my weekend in case there were still people out there who thought that I am really sacrificing a lot by roughing it in Africa. On Saturday morning, I woke up early and went for a 7-8 mile run (not sure exactly). Rather than make me tired, it gave me all sorts of energy so I baked some zucchini bread, called some friends to come over, and then made pancakes, eggs, toast and coffee for a breakfast brunch. After that, we decided the only way to continue the day was to lay out by a pool all day. Which we did, while eating pizza and drinking beer. While there, we came up with the brilliant idea of going to a bar that has a big screen tv and convincing them to play a movie of our choice while we laid on the lawn and ate food. We went to bed pretty early because Sunday we decided we wanted to go hiking, so we went to Mount Kabuye, the mountain I climbed a few months ago, and hiked up to the top. After the five hour hike, we rolled back into town and then ate ourselves silly on Indian food.
All in all, it was a great, exhausting, relaxing, food-filled, over-active weekend. I expect more of the same in the run-up to coming home. I will let you know how that works out!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Random thoughts while the internet is down
My time here is quickly coming to a close. By the end of July, I will be finished at PSF and traveling home. So of course, this is a time of reflection as I think back on my last year. In so many ways it doesn’t seem like any time at all and in other ways, I feel as though I have been here forever. When I think back on being here, the things that I have done, the people I have met, I feel like I just got here. There are still so many people that I know, but just on the surface, people who I would like to get to know better. There are people that I meet and want to become better friends with, there are places that I want to visit or revisit. When I think of these things, I feel as though I have just touched down in Rwanda.
But when I think about family and friends at home, that is when I feel I have been away forever. Friends that are celebrating their wedding anniversaries, announcing births or engagements… missing these milestones is when I feel I have been gone far longer than a year. In no way do I want these things for myself, at least not yet (sorry Mom), but to miss them when other people are celebrating, it makes me think that I have been gone for so much, missed so much. So I have mixed feelings about coming home. I am excited to see family and friends, but I will miss this place dearly, miss the family and friends that I have made here.
I will miss the perfect weather, the gorgeous hills, the reserved but incredibly strong people, the generosity that they show us everyday. I won’t miss the stares, the cat calls, the cockroaches. I will miss the peacefulness and relaxation that comes with living simply, I will miss having time to cook meals and bake, run long distances and practice yoga. I won’t miss the boredom when these options are exhausted or the sense of being cheated that comes with negotiating transportation. I will miss the ease of travel and the opportunity to see incredible things, things that are just an hour away for me, but a lifetime away for other people. I will miss the sense that I am living an incredible adventure, even though for the most part it is as routine as the most average life in the US. I won’t miss feeling like everything here is just a little bit harder, takes a little bit longer, and requires a little more patience than anywhere else. Or maybe I will miss that. Because that reminds me how lucky I am, how lucky we all are, that our lives are so simple, so convenient. Maybe having to work a little bit harder for something, or having to wait a few more minutes for something, makes us harder working, kinder, more patient people. Maybe out of everything, the littlest daily challenges are what I will miss most. Maybe not… either way, I know I won’t miss the cockroaches.
But when I think about family and friends at home, that is when I feel I have been away forever. Friends that are celebrating their wedding anniversaries, announcing births or engagements… missing these milestones is when I feel I have been gone far longer than a year. In no way do I want these things for myself, at least not yet (sorry Mom), but to miss them when other people are celebrating, it makes me think that I have been gone for so much, missed so much. So I have mixed feelings about coming home. I am excited to see family and friends, but I will miss this place dearly, miss the family and friends that I have made here.
I will miss the perfect weather, the gorgeous hills, the reserved but incredibly strong people, the generosity that they show us everyday. I won’t miss the stares, the cat calls, the cockroaches. I will miss the peacefulness and relaxation that comes with living simply, I will miss having time to cook meals and bake, run long distances and practice yoga. I won’t miss the boredom when these options are exhausted or the sense of being cheated that comes with negotiating transportation. I will miss the ease of travel and the opportunity to see incredible things, things that are just an hour away for me, but a lifetime away for other people. I will miss the sense that I am living an incredible adventure, even though for the most part it is as routine as the most average life in the US. I won’t miss feeling like everything here is just a little bit harder, takes a little bit longer, and requires a little more patience than anywhere else. Or maybe I will miss that. Because that reminds me how lucky I am, how lucky we all are, that our lives are so simple, so convenient. Maybe having to work a little bit harder for something, or having to wait a few more minutes for something, makes us harder working, kinder, more patient people. Maybe out of everything, the littlest daily challenges are what I will miss most. Maybe not… either way, I know I won’t miss the cockroaches.
Cold War Part Deux
I just wanted to relate what happened last weekend, as it was one of the most bizarre moments of my life.
Lake Kivu separates most of Rwanda from DR Congo. There are a couple main “resort” towns along the lake, one of them being Gisenyi which we have been to several times, and one is called Kibuye. Marta, my roommate, and I had never been to Kibuye so we decided it was time to go as we are both leaving soon. So Marta organized a weekend adventure for us. And since if one person goes on vacation, we all go, there ended up being 14 of us. One of the guys that went, James, organized a boat ride for us on the lake to visit various islands. The boat was essentially a large covered rowboat, although it did have an outboard motor. It also leaked heavily and had an official bailer. For someone vaguely afraid of drowning, it was not the most comforting site to sit next to the bailer, ankle deep in water. Anyway, we were touring around the lake when we came to a small island and there standing on the beach, was a man with flowing locks wearing nothing but a speedo and waving us down. Turns out the island is populated by a group of ten to twelve Russian men, all middle age, most a little overweight, and most wearing bathing suits that left very little to the imagination. There was also a monkey wearing a diaper. Upon our arrival, there was much merriment among the Russian men and invitations to drink Russian vodka with them. Being the well-mannered people we are, we of course took them up on the invitation, and let me tell you, real Russian vodka is delicious. NOTHING like what you get in the US, although I assume the effect is much the same since after we had all shared the vodka, we took part in “Cold War Part II” which was an extended dive competition between America and Russia. I’m not sure that anyone won. Except maybe the monkey because he kept stealing people’s beers when they weren’t looking. It is amazing how much alcohol a monkey can drink.
Lake Kivu separates most of Rwanda from DR Congo. There are a couple main “resort” towns along the lake, one of them being Gisenyi which we have been to several times, and one is called Kibuye. Marta, my roommate, and I had never been to Kibuye so we decided it was time to go as we are both leaving soon. So Marta organized a weekend adventure for us. And since if one person goes on vacation, we all go, there ended up being 14 of us. One of the guys that went, James, organized a boat ride for us on the lake to visit various islands. The boat was essentially a large covered rowboat, although it did have an outboard motor. It also leaked heavily and had an official bailer. For someone vaguely afraid of drowning, it was not the most comforting site to sit next to the bailer, ankle deep in water. Anyway, we were touring around the lake when we came to a small island and there standing on the beach, was a man with flowing locks wearing nothing but a speedo and waving us down. Turns out the island is populated by a group of ten to twelve Russian men, all middle age, most a little overweight, and most wearing bathing suits that left very little to the imagination. There was also a monkey wearing a diaper. Upon our arrival, there was much merriment among the Russian men and invitations to drink Russian vodka with them. Being the well-mannered people we are, we of course took them up on the invitation, and let me tell you, real Russian vodka is delicious. NOTHING like what you get in the US, although I assume the effect is much the same since after we had all shared the vodka, we took part in “Cold War Part II” which was an extended dive competition between America and Russia. I’m not sure that anyone won. Except maybe the monkey because he kept stealing people’s beers when they weren’t looking. It is amazing how much alcohol a monkey can drink.
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