reverse culture shock

so i didnt really get that o my heavens i cant handle africa and the people and the food and the bugs and i need to go home right now feeling ( i had a second of, my focus is not here, but definately no tears and panic breathing).
coming back though is more when i got the "culture shock." it was not too dramatic, but i landed and was not excited to be back in America, much less the fast paced, traffic filled (and dare i say less attractive) state we call California. thank goodness for my ipod, cause i was able to listen to some favorites while driving back to school. o i missed my ipod! i love music.
k that was random, but i am doing much better today. i love erika and have adjusted to having fast, easily accessible internet, a hot shower, a sink to brush my teeth with, an abundance of cold drinking water and erikas fabulous bed that does not creek!
so just give me some time to get caught up on the blogs and phone calls (cause i am still in the k lets relax for a second mode). i love you all and cant wait to see/ talk to you!
o big blessing, did really sleep at all on the way back, so i dont have jet lag. i did have really swollen feet and ankles though.

"the sun keeps looking at me" -- Pacs

Thank you for the comments. i got a little teary, but it was definately a good thing.

well, praise, im feeling alot better. still a bit stuffy in the mornings, but my head doesnt hurt anymore and i have more energy. i think that not feeling well was a big factor in the longing for home (or at least a nice shower and bed). i spent some good time with God saturday and sunday, and of course, in his faithfulness, he has helped me be completely in Rwanda. it is seriously so beautiful here, and those of you who know me (especially the me in Utah), know i love nature and gods creation. well he is so evident and glorified in his creation here! today Christie and i were taking a break standing outside in the sun, eating the figs we had picked, looking at the banana trees and clouds, and i only wanted to be here, in Africa. that is the quickest example i have of being content, but the last few days have been particularly enjoyable.

we are doing different stuff at the house now, such as painting and painting. its really nice to have a change though. the paint splatters all over us, so now we get even ,ore stares when we walk to lunch or back home. the kids are always facinated with our white skin, and they realized a week ago that the white could not be rubbed off, but we have gone back to being petted, as they all try to rub off the paint. im going to miss the kids... Our relationships witht the workers are growing each day as well.

im not sure i mentioned this, but it is not really that hot here ( i mean its hot, but not unbearable) but i am developing a nice farmers tan. i also might have forgoten to say that they are really modest here, so we definately are not wearing tank tops. the other day though, Christie (aka Pacs) and i were getting hot while painting and she just stopped and exclaimed in annoyance that the sun kept looking at her. i thought it was really funny, and it could have just been the paint fumes, but i was amused. and laughter like that is very important when you are in a foreign country.

sorry for the randomness, i have so much that i want to tell you but so much needs more background info and more internet time. i do want you to know how muchs it means to hear that you are praying for us. i have been learning alot about prayer. and even though i know that we pray for one another all the time, it is particularly co,forting when you are half a world away from the world you love.
prayer requests:
no one else gets sick (a few people have had stomach aches and Christie did actually throw up a couple of times this past weekend... shes feeling better though)

lots of energy so that we can get alot of work done in the next two days

o my heavens, two days (one more cold shower) and we are going back to kigali... so weird... it will be alot more difficult than the cold shower. pray for our hearts then i guess

and just travel safety in general...we fly back sunday.

"the point"

its been a week since i last posted but the time kind of seems to run together. That is partly because we do (and eat) pretty much the same things every day and because of the way life is here. people have said that "Americans have watches but Africans have time." People arent as rushed here; they are not as bound by strict time limits or schedules ( examples: church is 4 hours long and dinner is served when the people here finish preparing it). But the week has been good.
We went to a Pentecostql church last sunday and today. Ill have to devote a post to that later, but you might like to know that the 3 inch wide piece of wood that we sat on today was less slanted than last weeks; therefore it was slightly more comfortable.
As for the week, we continued to work at the house, doing lots of digging, cleaning, hoeing, and planting. on tuesday we basically finished the transformation of a vertical dirt wall into a set of stairs. it was really exciting to see all of us, white, black, child, teen and adult, walk up and down the steps a few times to break them in.
Then on Friday, we got to go to the opening of an art museum and to see the Kings Palace.We were really blessed to see a "ballet" which was basically traditional African dancing (soooo cool!), art, the palace (which is a neat grass hut), get food (including goat)... all for free!
As you can see, the trip, thus far, has been very amazing and rewarding, but there were also times this week where i kind of flirted with "the point." Its thqt place where my attention is not completely focused on the moment, on the task for the day. See, im not fully over my cold, sleep is usually interrupted by weird dreams or a creeky, uncomfortable bed, we take very cold showers, and my food usually tastes best when all mixed together. K, i sound really negative, but lets be honest, there are moments where those facts invade my thoughts. Thankfully, God, my team, and Rwanda are fabulous. So even though I have been at the point once or twice, I am still in Africa. I have no desire to fly home tomorrow, and I am learning and loving differently every day.
I do, hwever, want to tell Jenni and Robin that they are wonderful, i miss them, and I will be praying for them while they are in Turkey. I would like to tell anyone who will see me with in about two weeks of my return to the US that i have no great desire to eat spaghetti, white rice, plain potatoes, or cooked bananas. I will welcome a fresh salad, cereal, and ice cream, though.
keep leaving comments (cause they make me really excited, and Christie is beating me), check out her site (shes a good writer and has the school s link to the ISP update page), and if you think about it ever, call my phone and leave me a message ( i would love to hear your voices and blessings when i get back).
thank you for your prayers... I am so blessed!

communication

the email thing is very flakey, so im just going to use this to say, Happy Mothers Day mom! just know that i love you and i think about you when i look at the beautiful flowers and greenery here... you would love it. i hope you have a wonderful day. you are amazing!

actually the communication thing in general is tricky. most of you know that im attatched to my phone and i love to blog. it has been weird to not be able to talk to people or even text them little inside jokes or let them know what im thinking or feeling. i cant call people and my team is teasing ,e because i write down everything (including planned blog titles) so that i dont forget. warning: i will blog about this like crazy when i have fast internet and a normal keyboard. on top of being slightly out of touch i also dont know either of the two main languages here... o by the way... but im learning.

okay, ill fill you in a bit on the daily routine here in Gitarama. we are staying at a shelter: hostile type place. we walk to work and everyone stares at us. we are building a house and it wILL be used as a shelter/ training center for Muslim converts. we mix cement, carry buckets of water and have cleared ground for a garden. all of those are alot of hard work and we are feeling it. i love our assignment though. a bunch of children watch us work and play with us during breaks. they love to just touch our skin, hair and my nose ring. they are soooo beautiful. we have been trying to teach each other our languages, which has been very fun ahd helpful.

yesterdqy it poured rain on the way home but i think the people that stare at us everyday when we walk to the restaurant for meals and then to work got a bit of respect for us as they watched us walk home soaking wet (normally people come outside to see us and we hear them blatantly just call us white people, and though its a different language, we were smart enough to figure that one out). its just a cultural thing though because they are very friendly and nice for the most part.

blogging is hard because i have so ,uch to tell you. ill just give you a short list of some of the thoughts ive had while being here...

i wish i at least knew French

i wish i could adopt

i wish i never had to use the restroom

i wish i didnt constantly smell of a mixture of purell and deet (occasionally i mx it up with some sweat though)

i wish all the images that are being stored in my had could be transmitted to film

i wish you were here so you wouldnt have to see film to understand

i wish i could carry massive baskets on ,y head

i wish there were more old people here... i wish there was no genocide...

i wish i was not out of internet time

well thanks for reading and praying. check out my friend and teammates blog at
www.christieinrwanda@blogspot.com

dinosaurs

you know when people type but dont know where all the letters are, so they finger peck... yeah the keyboards are different here so i look like a raptor when i type. youll have to forgive me for the typos because i am staring at the keyboard and trying to not run out of time.
i have so ,uch to tell you and not nearly enough time (or patience for this process, which is extremely ironic considering the people and culture are very laid back).
it took us two days to get here with the layovers. i hardly slept, which actually helped me adjust to the time difference (which is nine hours ahead of cali, eight for utah). we stayed in kigali, the capital, for two days with everyone (thats about fifty five white people...) now its just me and my team in gitaramq.
ill post ,ore later, but for now just know that it is a beautiful country with beautiful people.
i would email if i could but its not working, so until then... i love you

Africa

so i leave today for Africa. it sounds so weird.
ill try to blog while im there, so check it every once in a while.
pray for us...

sit on it

i might have to do a little "forcing" if i want the suitcase to close, because though im trying to condense and bring only necessities, its not too much space ( i just took a trial run).

one at a time

at summer camp, everyone leaves at basically the same time on the same day. tears flow, addresses are exchanged and then you go back to the same life you were living the previous week.
college is nothing like that. we are a bit more mature about the moving on process, but its hard to be really upset when you have to just hug one person goodbye, and then in a few hours do the same for another, and then in a few days, still be in the process of saying goodbye to people. its not very real at all to me. not until i sit in my room with all the white walls and boxes and think about what that hug and goodbye just meant. its a bit more emotional then...
i think its tricky too becuase im not going to my other place of familiarity (the place that i havent seen for 4 months that is). instead i will put stuff in the mail, put stuff in storage, and take my backpack and small, carry-on size suitecase that hold my life for the next 3 weeks to the front of campus on sunday.

i just said goodnight to the boys that live across the street the same way that we do everytime we hang out in the lobby until 2 am. i just wont do it again for 4 months.

while i sound completely depressed, i am quite the contrary (but i was a bit 24 hours ago...). i am so excited that finals are over and that i was able to actually sleep for more than 2 hours last night. yes, due to my procrastination and desire to see people before they left, i pulled an all-nighter... even after the 7/11 night. i got an A on the project though. 10 (not consecutive, not between the hours of 9am-1am) hours of sleep in 3 days ladies and gentlemen. i think i am close to having everything packed, and i am going to spend time with 3 of my favorite people tomorrow, so im looking forward to that as well.
sooooo... 2 more days, and then im going to peace out...

one starbucks and one 7/11 trip later...

im going to bed now...
alarm set to go off at 7:45... i can hardly wait.

its like a new world

thats what you will see if you clean your glasses with the super sweet "complimentary" cleaner and cloth that are provided when you purchase the eyewear. i tried it tonight for the second time since having these glasses (ive had them for a while).
...
can you tell im avoiding the paper?