From Rwanda: with Love.

Rwanda Night One:
Got up at 4.30 in the morning to drive 12 hours to somewhere in Northern Rwanda on a dusty, dirty, cramped bus piled with USP students and the Ugandan Honours students that came with us as well (about 42 of us?). It was an interesting trip before we even hit the main road as Fahad and Eddie (Honours students) had a bit of singing war and Fahad's voice stopped the engine of the bus to a dead halt (that's the story we're sticking with for explaining the bus dying). It was nice to sit on a high city wall eating gas station lunches and talking politics with the Ugandan students while they fixed our bus. The border crossing was a little intense, having to present our passports to men with rifles across their chests. Between the border of Uganda and Rwanda was this vast dusty space of complete "no man's land" which was terrifying and freeing all at once…

…sitting outside in the African dark on the smooth, cool, dirt red concrete that seems to be the common foundational material of East Africa, leaning against brick wall under one of the few building lights here that reaches outdoors. I can hear chickens, unfamiliar birds cheeping sporadically, a cow moaning and crickets everywhere- until the breeze comes and moves the long, crisp, dry tree fronds and carries children jabbering in Rwandan from across the hill- I hear all of this. But looking out across the deep valley between my hill and the hillside producing this whole African night song- I see absolutely nothing beyond the two inches of pavement past my toes.
I could stay here forever...

Quotes from USP students: "do chickens travel in packs?"
"can you be rabid if you don't have teeth?"
"it was just a hot, sweaty, wonderful worship mess"

...I have no pictures from the first beautiful guest house we stayed at. I feel like I'm so intentionally soaking up everything I don't even have the physical capacity to hold a camera for need to keep both hands always ready for everything else, and to keep both eyes ever fixed on everything happening. I feel no stress to take pictures here, only a burning need to just live every single second. I think Africa and I have an understanding: she is here for me; exposed, raw, presented. But I dare not try and tame her or box her in with a camera lens…

SUNDAY: Today I met the Africa I have always dreamed of. We split into groups to go to Rwandan Anglican churches and as my group's bus turned into the dirt lot for our parish in Gatore- there was a pile of about 60 plus children there jumping up and down and waving and singing in beautiful Rwandan language. Next we were ushered in to meet the reverend by a line of singing Rwandan choir- goosebumps head to tattooed foot. The most beautiful, heavenly sound. We spoke in their service and got to hear seven choirs SING like angels. It was especially cool to see the faces of all the congregation when the children got up to sing and dance- to see that proud parenting and the endearing smiles that watch innocent children stamp their feet translates exactly the same all over the world. I learned that "Neetwa" means "She is called…" as I was introduced "Neetwa Alli" to the congregation. I am learning the flexibility of names in this culture as I seem to adopt a different title everywhere I go… I am called Spartacus by another Ugandan student Joel who discovered I like the movie Gladatior… I am called loca by Eddie since I told him that's the Spanish word for "crazy"… I am Pauline by Timothy who looked at my passport on the bus and thinks I act like an old woman… the list goes on. I also discovered that "hallelujah" esta la palabra mismo en cada idiom (is the same word in every language). THAT may have been the most astonishing, AWESOME part of Sunday.


08.30.10
Squished myself into the back of the bus with Eddie & Fahad (newfound Ugandan friends from the same dorm complex as USP students who went on the Rwanda trip with us) to drive the supposed two hours here to Kigali. Except…after two hours of singing Disney songs and Whitney Houston ballads, we stopped on the side of the road where a little kid had thrown a rock at another bus of ours and shattered the window. So two hours turned into an African two hours…aka almost four before we landed at the marvelous buffet then the Kigali Genocide Museum…

POST RWANDA: 09.06.2010
Everyone keeps asking how Rwanda was. I don't have a lot of words for the trip as a whole. I can say that it was incredible (not like…good incredible…just… undefined incredible) living in the tension that Rwanda presented. On the one hand we were visiting memorials and hearing first hand accounts of people directly effected by the 1994 genocide. I stood in a church (Nyamata) whose tin roof outside the front door still had burned holes in it from grenades that the Interhamwe used to blast open the church door. I walked into a sanctuary and leaned on a wall where various innocent Tutsi people were dismembered and called "cockroaches". I smelled a room piled high of clothes still covered in dried blood from only 16 short years ago and covered in the dust that tries to cover all the history of East Africa. And in that moment, for the first time in my years of being a believer, I found myself incapable of believing that our God is a merciful God. Sitting there, unable to even stand, unable to cry, unable to move- I found I could not let myself believe that He is merciful. Pero en el otro mano, I also experienced the best and most beautiful and sacred of humanity in the developing relationships of our group those nine days in Rwanda. It was amazing to see what came of putting 15 Ugandan students and 32 American students (who still barely knew each other) on a bus to all go experience Rwanda for the first time. To have the variety of interpretations and perspectives of Americans and Africans in this broken country so pushing towards peace and reconciliation in the aftermath of tragedy. Our down time was spent eating, taking tea, doing yoga, playing silly camp games like Ninja, Mafia, zip-bong and blink-you're-dead (kind of appropriately morbid games). Long conversations, theological debates on bus trips and in the open stone courtyard of one of our hostels under a giant red, African moon. As I said- living in the tension of learning about and seeing the results of the worst that humanity has to offer amidst experiencing and growing in the most beautiful moments humans can create- those of developing intimacy and friendship- was breathtaking and bewildering.

communication!

Got the full African experience today after lunch (no Mom, I didn't get hit by a boda-boda).
After classic lunch of rice and beans (which I LOVE- this place is a vegetarian's dream!) I got the full guided tour of campus by Lazarous - picture below- and then he even took me and another USP girl Becky down the hill into Mukono town to find the post office (finally!) and some other cool shops he knew about that we absolutely could not find on our search yesterday. And he even kept us from getting run over in Mukono traffic- no easy feat. People here are not phased one bit if you get within 5 inches of their vehicle- be it dump truck, car, or boda boda. They don't slow down, and you better book it. Everyone and no one has the right of way (sounds like Boston traffic).
On the way back to campus, Becky and I passed the library window and both caught ourselves looking in the windows as we passed and realized we have no mirrors anywhere on campus. It's so relaxing though to roll out of my creaky metal bunk bed in the morning, wrestle with the mosquito netting, and throw my hair back, clothes on, and just leave the room. I'm so much more relaxed throughout the day when I have no clue what I look like. And, oddly enough, I find my confidence is so much greater- especially in interacting with strangers here (which is often). I laugh easier, I talk more freely, and embrace everyone without a thought about what's on my face, what my hair is doing, nothing- and apparently there's nothing too drastic happening because people seem very friendly and not to be staring at anything in my teeth when I'm talking with them. :)
After town Becky and I went to play volleyball with the Ugandan team- which ended up being really late to their practice, so we played 2 on 2 with Edwin & Jeff- - two very intense, very hilarious, very patient Ugandan men who cut us NO slack. Ha ha
Also met a beautiful little boy called Rollins tonight. Before dinner as I was waiting for Lazarous to finish up with basketball to head over to dinner- I was sitting on the stone bleachers looking through pictures I've been taking here and this kid from one of the courts below came bounding up the stone steps to my side, a huge smile on his face. He sat right next to me wanting to see my camera and look through the pictures I had so I let him take a few pictures and he was in all in his glory :) He got a huge kick out of the zoom button on my dear ol' Kodak.
Time is flying here. The common room at night has become skip-bo & dutch blitz tournament zone as well as technology central as we get wireless up here more often than anywhere else. Playing a card game tonight we were talking about some conversations we'd had today and realized they only happened today, when it feels like things have happened weeks ago. Lunch today with Lazarous, Michael & Alan- new Ugandan friends- jumped all over from comparing the pros and cons (I almost made a Gilmore-style list Hannah & Lacey & Lynnsay!) of living on and off campus at college, to African politics surrounding the upcoming elections and about the LRA's movement, to American dress and the reasoning behind the naming of African children in families here. It's so enriching to be able to sit after a meal and just engage in these kinds of conversations that last for hours with the other Ugandan students here. In general they are so receptive to learning about the cultural differences between here and America and genuinely want to get to know us (USP students). One Ugandan student here is majoring in political studies and international affairs and is forever encouraging us to communicate! Communicate! Communicate! With people back home to tell America that Africa is not just a place of suffering and hurt- Africa is a beautiful, thriving, alive continent. He is constantly pointing out that America's perception of this country especially, and Africa in general, is based solely on what other people say so it is our duty to communicate the truths and the beauty of this place to our family and friends back home. So this is for Alex- this is my communication.

Operation: Expectation Destruction

I finally took off my spoon ring today that I usually wear on my ring finger. It was getting to be too long of a pointless, confusing conversation had with all Ugandan men around here as to why I wore a ring if I was unmarried- it was seriously confusing them since men here as a general rule do not even converse with married women beyond "Wasuze otyanno, nnyabo" (good morning, madam) or "Osiibye otyanno, nnyabo?" (good afternoon/good evening madam). So now I'm sporting the even more hilarious tan line from my ring, but the conversation flows much easier now- and one, Michael, calls me "free agent" now to mock me.
Today was the first laundry day for all of us USP ladies, since we FINALLY got into town yesterday to actually buy laundry detergent. It's slimy feeling and leaves a cool, shimmery effect on your clothes when you hang them out to dry (yes mom, I even hung my underwear out here- you thought it was bad enough I did it at home!) in the sun. So our tiny washroom is littered with basins (aka baths) of dirty laundry hand swirled in powdered laundry detergent, soaking until we convince ourselves it's clean enough to rinse & dry. It's a long stretch from my faulty spin-cycle washing machine and ink spotted dryer at home. But my arms are getting a workout with all the scrubbing and wringing and swirling. I AM the spin cycle. Spin cycle…free agent… I wonder which nickname will stick. Any votes?
We were talking about expectations in Day 2 of our Orientation here-- and it was interesting as we were all talking about how we really expected to be able to get away with wearing the same clothes repeatedly, not needing to shower all the time- because hey! We're in Africa!
Big fat dumb muzungo lie.
Ugandans are very attentive to detail and prideful of their appearance. At least on the campus. It's typical for a Ugandan to shower two or three times a day, iron all their clothes, very meticulously dress themselves. So it's nice to keep up with them and not feel excessive for wanting to bathe every day. although for us, our shower is still completely out of commission and we are still reverting back to toddler practice of washing our hair in the sink and sponge-bathing with basins in our prison-cell size cement shower (which the geckos find very nice to hang out in at night). Some of the girls here are completely distraught over this- but others of us have been through worse. There are girls here who grew up in Morocco, Thailand, have been to Venezuela for a summer… and I have built showers out of sheep stalls in a Navajo desert (Dr. Zapps I thought you'd appreciate my referring back to that LOVELY experience!). So this - compared to lean-mud pits for showers and compared to the various places I've lived in around the China Lake campus- is livin' large :)
We head to Rwanda tomorrow about 5am (10pm your time) on a 13-15 hour bus drive plus God only knows how much time they'll hold us at the border. Be praying for safe travel, no car sickness, and that we're all somehow able to emotionally survive the next few days visiting memorials and hearing first hand accounts from the '94 genocide.
Lots of Ugandan love

alli

Day 2: Mukono

I love Ugandan food. LOVE. it's simple, it's portioned perfectly, and it's meant to sustain. it's interesting that here, we eat when we're hungry and we eat enough to get through the next period of the day. no one here overindulges simply because they like the food. eating is practical here.
Woke up to the sound of birds and monkeys screeching, singing, chirping, yelling and laughing in the trees. I have yet to actually see one of the evasive little monkeys though. A failed attempt at hiking yesterday left us covered in red mud and monkey-less, but hopefully tomorrow morning i'll actually get to trek up Monkey Hill behind campus and spot some buggers coming out for fruit at dawn.
Only one mosquito bite, no spider sightings (Fisher Farms you'll be happy to hear that!), and today we finally get to go into Mukono to explore. Started learning Lugandan today- the regional language, and successfully got myself through formal greetings with two Ugandan instructors who congratulated me with "Webalennyo" (good job, thank you).
Had a dance party last night with some Ugandan girls with infinitely better rap music than the US has to offer. score. Had lunch with Lazarus - who has promised me to take me to a club and wants me to introduce him to techno music. Got to go into town today on a "scavenger hunt" with some girls- and we soon learned how to bargain (don't worry Hannah I'm sending you something), where to find the best mango juice (cold), and how to leap across ditches to avoid traffic…which goes wherever it feels like. Got lost on my way back to school, but a nice old man on a bicycle pointed me in the right direction and as soon as I stepped through the gates back to school two small Ugandan girls started yelling at their mother who instructed them to just "go touch her!" by what I could gather of her hand gestures and hearing the distinct word "muzungo" (white person)…followed by the two girls running up to me saying "hello! Hello!" and just holding onto my arm as I walked for a while.


The kids in town all wave and stare and jump up and down yelling "Muzungo! Heya muzungo!" One man asked me how to buy pantyhose for his girlfriend and asked me how to make friends in the United States. I was with two other girls that informed me this was what he had actually asked…I heard "how to you get trained in the United States" (assuming he meant schooling) and answered "oh, it's very expensive." An hour later when my friends told me what he had actually asked I understood his confused expression. Stupid Muzungo: party of one.

Uganda :)

7 hour flight to amsterdam...8 hour flight to entebbe... 2 hour cramped bus ride with my legs out the window (because there was no room in the bus) to the school and it's home sweet home :)
things to love:
the smell of this country.
it's like a mix of burning wood, pineapple, rubber and hazy mint.
palm trees. everywhere.
a beautiful breeze and 70 degree weather :)
cement dorm floors that cool down the whole building

things to get used to:
being nominated dorm-plumber... because my room happened to be the one with a basin. so then i happened to be the one to figure out a way to flush the toilet. ta da.
no running water for showers.
one sink for teeth brushing, one for everything else, neither for drinking.
mosquito netting threatening to entangle me in my sleep.

bring it on.

DC skyline

Part One is complete and after flying in last Thursday I'm flying out of DC this afternoon to finally head overseas. Michael & Mona- thank you for keeping me & Ben and being the incredible couple that you are. Ben- thank you for meeting me here and keeping me calm- always.
Flying through Amsterdam tonight, then off to Entebbe and should be at my new home by tomorrow night :) Ready, Set, FLY.

eat pray love

i leave on thursday morning to go down to DC and leave from there on monday for Africa.


my mom and i went to see Eat Pray Love last night. Julia Roberts traipsed through Italy to eat and learn the beauty of doing nothing, went to India in search of spirituality, and Bali to reflect and seek counsel. i don't think i'll quite have those sorts of luxuries, but i do look forward to just as purposed and intentional a trip. i'll be in Uganda to learn, to study, Kenya to teach (although i expect i will be the one being taught most things), and Sweden to breathe before coming home. but through all this hopping around on the other side of familiarity, i hope i remember to take time to pray- for the ability to mold myself into all these new cultures, to eat- and enjoy all the smells and tastes which America will never be able to accurately replicate, and to love- everyone i meet, everyone i work with, everyone i don't understand.

my laundry is only half done, i'm going to try and fit everything into one (relatively small) suitcase and a backpack, i bought my first pair of Sambas tonight, and i just shut down facebook til january :)
here goes everything.