Alive

Living in Rwanda has made me feel more alive than I have ever felt. 

Even though I am living in Kigali, full of people, cars, shops, motos and traffic lights…just when I think I am cruising along worry free, the pavement ends and I am off roading once again hoping the SUV doesn’t get stuck in a ditch or tumble into the embankment on the right. The thing about life here is that its not simple like cruising down PCH along the coast at home. The littlest tasks take effort… having nothing to eat and having to climb up the hill to a crowded market where you are getting bombarded left and right.

 Some mornings you just don’t feel like bartering. The same goes for then bringing the food home and having to boil water to kill the bacteria. You are more aware of your body and your life…where eating is necessary to stop hunger pains (still not even comparable to those who suffer this everyday). Brings you back to reality when you are starting to get sick and hope its not cholera or that maybe your malaria pills didn’t work for the mosquito bite on your right toe. At this point you are almost praying for the flu. Luckily, I have yet to get sick. The same goes for doing business here. The processes for getting permission for the simplest tasks to build a business take forever. These are just a few things that make me aware of my life and how much is taken for granted back at home. When life is simpler you almost forget what it takes to live…if that makes any sense.Having these feelings is not a bad thing…for those that may take these as negatives…I am enjoying them. I am in my element and LIVING.

On the days that I have gotten a full nights sleep, I really do LOVE my outdoor marketplace, and I know in the three months I am here I will never stop loving my job. These are some pictures of my grocery store or your Ralphs, Dunnes, or Tom Thumb. And these are the beautiful women that I am fortun

ate to 

bond with everyday as they roll our paper beads. I absolutely adore them. On Friday th

ey tied a baby on my back

 African style! I wanted to keep the bab

y back there for hours cause it 

was actually very comfortable and secure… I think we should bring this one back to America. They all couldn’t stop laughing

 at

 me calling me Mzungu Mama Christian. (that’s the baby’s name J)

On Sunday I went to my first Rwandan we

dding…. The longest weddi

ng of my life! First of all… I didn’t’ even know the bride or groom and was invited! In our community there is a little bootleg video shop owned by Frank and his wife JoJ

o. JoJo inv

ited us last week to her sisters wedding and insisted we came, and I am so glad we did! When we got there they dressed us in traditional wear. The day was full of cultural traditions that they made sure we were a part of. It was like we were in the wedding! The day started out at the Mother of the brides house. They fed us lunch and then the groom and his groomsmen came over to the house to meet the bride. They sat on the couch and drank a glass of milk. This was symbolic of bringing yourself back to nature and preparation of the day ahead. From there we all went over to the church and had a traditional Catholic wedding. Not much different except that the bride and groom came in together cause they had already seen eachother…their wedding party followed. After we caravanned to Novahotel to take pictures. From there we caravanned again to the reception 

which was much different from home. Everyone sat in rows of chairs facing the wedding party. We were served bottled soft

 drinks in our chairs while we watched Traditional African dancing….kinda like warrior dancing. They then cut the wedding cake and passed around a slice piece by piece to some 200 guests. After the cake there was more traditional dancing and then a presentation of the gifts. The reception where we just sat there went on for abo

ut 4 hours. Then a small group would go back to the bride and grooms new house for dinner. Rwandan style did not mean dinner right away… it was already 9:45 at night and had not eaten sine 11 when all of these festivities started. Before we could eat there were more speeches in Kinyarwanda and then the 

bride and groom were taken to their room to perform some cultural traditions with the father of the groom and some other close family members. Surprisingly the

y made us come too and watch. In the room the bride and the groom sat on the end of their bed with a boy and a girl sitting at

 their feet. This was symbolic of the children they would bear…hopefully one of each sex. They then had to give the children milk…keep in mind these children were like 8 years old. Then they clipped a piece of the brides hair off saying that now she was a women. Short hair= woman….long hair= girl. After this rite of initiation the

 women carried in baskets of food and house supplies to the new house that would last them for a

 month, then we ate dinner and did some traditional dancing. I got up there and danced for the bride with about 6 others. You 

do this thing where you just kind of put your arms out and move them in flowing motions haha Everyone loved it. The whole day lasted til midnight and although that might sound normal…when the majority of that time is all spent sitting in silence….it is the longest day of you life. Still, nonetheless I am glad I pushed through cause it was a once in a lifetime experience. I conquered my first Rwandan Wedding and might as well been a bridesmaid. Beautiful day…..