Muzungo, Muzungo!

Everywhere we go we attract a lot of attention from the Rwandans. The kids smile, wave, and yell "muzungo" (which means white person) and "aggichupa" (my awful spelling, which they yell asking for an empty water bottle). The adults usually smile and wave as well.

As our group drives around I feel like I am in a parade, it is so much fun to wave and say hello to everyone we see. I think when I go home I will wave at people as I drive and they will think I'm a weirdo!

At first this attention made me a little uneasy, but as the week has progressed I have become comfortable with it and I really enjoy trying out my Kinyarwandan with the people we meet. Yesterday was a true test of my comfort with attention.

It was my small group's turn to help prepare dinner, so Annie, Megan and I had some free time before we were to go to the food market so we decided to pick up our traditional outfits we had made for us.

While we were trying on our gorgeous dresses, we drew in a crowd of locals who couldn't get enough of us. They all had such huge smiles on their faces and were taking pictures of us on their cell phones. The woman who prepared one of my dresses actually walked us all to a photography shop and paid to have a picture taken with us.

We were having so much fun that we decided to wear our traditional getup to the food market. As I said before, we always draw a crowd, but when wearing the African dresses the locals went NUTS! They loved that we were trying to fit into their culture. Everyone smiled (and laughed) and were giving us the thumbs up sign.

They would say to us how "smart" we looked and how beautiful we were. They would come up to shake our hands and the children couldn't stop staring. It was so much fun, but I know I am not cut-out for a celebrity life, by the time we got through the market and had purchased our food I was so tired!

Every experience I have had on this trip has taught me that when you dive into another culture, they are more likely to accept your culture as well. Everyone I have met here has been so kind and wonderful and ACCEPTIVE of me. This is something different than the American culture. What an amazing adventure.

-Muganga