A New Beginning

Today I’ve had a lot of time on my hands considering today is a National Holiday in Rwanda… otherwise known as Election Day. Westerners were instructed to stay in our homes for the day just for precaution of potential violence occurrences because of the political election influence.  Outside of all that, it’s been nice to spend a day in the house, sleep in, finish a novel, and start planning for the first day of school coming up on Tuesday, August 17th. 

So far, on this adventure, I haven’t spent a whole lot of time in my classroom preparing for the teaching part of this experience.  Rather, I have been getting to know the other new teachers and the environment that is produced in Rwanda!  I have been in my classroom long enough to take note of all the supplies available to me until the shipment of supplies arrives in the next two months, and to take pictures! 

It’s a decent sized space and before I arrived, there was not a teacher desk!  For the time being, I will be using two student desks put together to make my desk. 

The people I’ve met here have already made me certain that I will be encouraged and sustained by Christ through this community.  I was so nervous about jumping into a new community when I dearly loved and valued the fellowship I had in good ole Bloomington, IN.  God has reassured me that fellowship is not limited to a place or a time.  It is available in any body of believers whose ultimate goal is to grow in the Lord. 

One thing I have the desire to accomplish here that is fresh and new upon my arrival here is to learn Kinyarwanda, the language spoken by Rwandan locals.  Generally, learning language has been stressful and difficult for me in the past.  Then again, I never really saw purpose in the process until now.  The school has provided us with the opportunity to learn the language, which for that I am grateful!  We have already learned basic greetings, like “Thank You” and “How are you?” but practicing it by just spitting out the words to local people is quite scary to me!  What if I say it wrong and it means something completely different?  Could cause for some good laughs, I guess :)