1/2 way

It is so hard to believe that our trip is half way over. Where does the time go?

Right now the group is staying in Ruhengeri and, as said in the posts below, we are volunteering with the Art of Conservation. Through this organization we are working with school children to educate them about the importance of wildlife conservation. We have been doing this by visiting a couple of local schools and teaching via music, particularly singing. It's been quite interesting trying to sing in Kinyarwandan (the natvie language of Rwanda) as the kids try to do the opposite and master English. It's been fun learning from each other. Our group is still getting swarmed by kids all of the time, being called "mizungus" which means "white people" in Kinyarwandan.

Speaking of the word "mizungu", yesterday myself and a couple other girls had a quite interesting experience on the streets of Ruhengeri.. Anna, Megan, and I had outfits made by some local Rwandan women in a market here. We went to pick them up and tried them on there to make sure they fit. We then decided to just leave the outfits on and walk home in them. At that same time, though, we were out shopping with our two housekeepers (Sophie and Eunice) because it was our turn to pick out dinner for the evening. Needless to say, we received MANY reactions from the locals. We were stared at before for just being mizungus, but at that point we were mizungus walking around town in Rwandan clothing. To say that the Rwandans were happy would be an understatement. Everywhere we went men and women gushed and complimented us, saying in Kinyarwandan that we were "smart and pretty" for deciding to wear Rwandan clothes. Sophie and Eunice were definitely getting a kick out of it. It was so much fun.. We kind of felt like super stars. No one was insulted or mad that we were wearing African clothing, something that I expected at first. Everyone was just proud and happy.

When we leave I am going to miss this inviting culture.