Let's Stay Together

I am thoroughly sorry for all my loyal fans (mom and dad that's you!) for not updating this thing in a month, and it may be too late to apologize, but I really am sorry.

Well, we have officially just celebrated our 3 month anniversary of African living here in Rwanda. A colleague of mine noted that if we were in a relationship, the 3 month mark would be sort of the “make it or break it” point. We would be deciding if the relationship would be going anywhere, or if it would be worth it to stick around or if we need to “go our separate ways”. Well, since that time is upon us, I have come to decide that I think this “relationship” is indeed a solid one, and well worth the effort. Basically, I think I'll stick around :).

Life here has been flying by. I truly and am loving it more and more each day and am so excited to see what each new day brings (cue the cheezy music as I segue into a song about birds singing in the dawn and the sun brilliantly shining over the hills or something equally as cliché),

Let's start with life in the 4^th grade. First of all, I just need to get it out there that I have the absolute most incredibly fabulous class imaginable. They are hilarious and adorable and so eager to learn. Now, I don't want to be too ridiculous here, because of course there are days when I want to lock them all out of the classroom, or ask the PE teacher to keep them forever instead of just an hour, but I really do enjoy them so much. They are a great and lively bunch that get excited about the nerdy things I get excited about (e.g. class elections, math games, political debates, Holes by Louis Sachar, etc.). They preformed a traditional American square dance routine a couple weekends ago at the KICS International Fall Festival and tore it up! They seriously brought the house down, and were definitely a a crowd favorite. I was so proud. They had only been practicing once a week for about a month, and did so great. We also just had a our first G.O.O.S.E. Day to end our social studies unit on being a good citizen. G.O.O.S.E. was our acronym to remember how to be a good citizen (they Get involved, Obey laws and rules, Outreach and serve, Show respect and concern, and are an Example for others – get it? GOOSE. That's strictly copyrighted by yours truly, by the way). We went all over the school and did mini-service project stuff and helped out teachers and classes wherever they needed. Again, my proudness meter just skyrocketed that day, as the kiddos rose to the challenge. What more could a teacher ask for? :)

Last weekend, to celebrate our monumental 3 month anniversary, some friends and I drove about an hour outside the city to Lake Muhazi. We planned the trip kind of last minute, so we didn't really have a plan of what to do, or even where to go. When we finally go to the lake area, we pulled over at what we presumed was a rest area or restaurant or something of the sort. It actually turned out to be a camp that was being used as a Christan sports camp run by a group of people from Canada. There were about 100 kids from nearby villages that were at this camp and they let us join them as they played musical chairs and dodgeball. Then we joined them in this AMAZING song/dance/worship time. We didn't know hardly any of the songs, of course, as they were all in Kinyarwanda (although I did know one of them from church, and being able to sing along was one of the proudest moments of my life). The kids taught us all these dances to go along with the songs, and let's just say, we all were in need of hydration after that workout. It was by far one of the funnest days I've had here :)

We have school off today – part of the reason I have the time to write in this silly thing. It was kind of an abrupt day off, as we just found out about it yesterday. The reason is a bit lengthy, but I'll give you an abridged version of what I know. Last week, a Rwandan official named Rose Kabuye was arrested on a business trip to Germany. She is kind of a national hero here, as she was key in helping end the genocide in 1994. She was also on a list that the EU put out of suspects whom they thought played a part in the killing of the former Rwandan president in early '94 (his death was one of the biggest acts that was the catalyst for genocide). She was arrested in Germany last week and sent to France today to await trial, I believe. The situation has the people here very upset, and has become a very big deal. Today, there were several peaceful demonstrations and marches planned around the city to protest Rose's arrest. The Rwandan government was encouraging businesses to close for the day so people could protest and march. The US Embassy sent out messages to all registered Americans encouraging us to stay inside today and avoid the marches, so school was canceled for the day – just to be on the safe side. No one is anticipating anything dangerous at all, but it's always good to be on the safe side. I know I would appreciate prayers for this situation, as it affects a lot of things in the government, etc. here. Here is a more comprehensive article if you want to know more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5haUdjw4-6WY87o2iVjPynUtDWGWg  and googling her name will turn up with more results as well.

Next week is our Thanksgiving break, and we're planning on traversing across the border to Uganda. We're hoping to go to Jinja, where the source of the Nile river is to go whitewater rafting, and then a day in Kampala, the capital. Unfortunately, we don't have concrete plans yet, so hopefully everything pulls through and we get to go. Again, another prayer there would be highly appreciated ;).

So to wrap up, looks like I'm ready to commit to this relationship with Africa, and we'll just have to see what God has in store.

Love love love you all!

Cady