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| Home from home |
Coming back to Rwanda has felt like the next
chapter or possibly a new one? I
left, to come home, feeling tired after my initial three months but, on
reflection, I came out tired after packing-up the house and all the things I
needed to do before I came. Also, there was a lot of emotion to deal with –
saying goodbye to family, friends and Jasper (my faithful four legged friend)
who, I have to say, on seeing him when I came home seemed blissfully happy in
his new home.
I did let the tiredness and frustration build up
but the two-week mission-training course I did has helped hugely. It was great
to be amongst other people who are doing similar crazy things with their lives
too and going off to places including Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Zimbabwe,
Jordan, Spain, Malta, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and China.
I feel I have come back with a different mind-set, more
relaxed (I know it’s early days!) and, perhaps, more of a sense that I belong
here or I can get to belong here. Connecting more with everyone I am working
with and meeting and also being more ‘intentional’ in making a home here and
developing deeper and more meaningful friendships.
There is a sense here of a change coming from the
dry to the wet season. The land has been prepared with fields and plots dug
over so everything, mainly due to the lack of rain, is looking very brown and
dry and so different from other times of the year when the countryside is so
very green and lush. I suppose it
feels like an English September, when we have an Indian summer, still very warm
but with the evenings drawing in but knowing a change of seasons is underway. Everyone
tells me that the rains that come are very heavy so I think I could be in for
an interesting and muddy time.
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| Getting ready for the rains |
The Diocese has started an English service at 8am
on Sunday so it’s good to be able to go to church here and actually understand
something. Spent yesterday morning in a three-hour meeting, with staff from Diocese,
that was conducted, understandably, in Kinywarwandan with bits of it translated
for me but I can see the need for language lessons being a number one priority.
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| Short-cut to the shops! |
Been into town this morning, not my favorite of
experiences, to do a bit of shopping taking the short-cut (coming down is even harder!) and managed to buy some amagi ga-antandatu
(six eggs), using my limited Kinyarwandan. Did come away with six eggs but
think I may have paid mzungu prices! I buy eggs from a place in town where they
come to sell all the live chickens but not at the stage yet where I think I can
buy one as used to them being oven ready!
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| Some for the pot |
More musings next week.
P.S. Click on images to see them full size.
