and so I took the oath

“What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? - it's the too-huge world vaulting us, and it's good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.” -Jack Kerouac

This was the card I pulled from a bag of quotes given to me by a dear friend just as I departed from Montana to make the trek to Rwanda as the Peace Corps truck was driving away after dropping me off.  It perfectly describes the way I feel right now (and how I felt leaving Missoula... and Rome... and before that Nairobi... ) and facilitates a sweet mix of homesickness, fear, relief, and excited anticipation.  

I’ve been at my PC placement site for a week now.  It’s been good and it’s already been difficult.  I passed all my tests in pre-service training, including the language test with acceptable scores, but this doesn’t mean the first few months at site are going to be easy or that I’m completely prepared.  I have a long way to go with my language skills and a lot to learn about community health in Rwanda (even though my village thinks I’m fluent and that I’m a doctor).  

This week I have...

... been making babies cry in record numbers as I sit in reception of the health center shadowing the intake nurse.  I’ve also gotten much better at numbers in Kinyarwanda as I tell people what the scale says when they step on it.  They love it and almost everyone laughs at me. 

... been (mostly) successfully cooking dinners on a hotplate in my unfurnished (except for one table and one chair) house.  Then sharing said dinners with the nurse who stays on the compound during the week and shows up at my door at dinnertime each evening.  A few nights she has come over early in the evening and said simply, “don’t cook.”  She cooks for me and I share with her what I’ve made.  So far I’ve been very well fed.  

... walked my ass off visiting folks in my village and neighboring villages.  My health center serves 27 villages.  We are in a volcanic mountainous region.  The soil is crazy rocky and my colleague (who’s legs, in all seriousness, are the same height as my shoulders) is the tallest man I’ve ever met. I’m jogging beside him trying to keep up.  Mostly I’ve been successful at introducing myself, but yesterday at a community meeting (with about 300 people) I was asked to give some kind of health message and I embarrassingly declined.  What do I have to offer yet?  I don’t even know how to say much past wash your hands and use family planning.  

... been labeled daughter, mama, girl, old lady, intelligent person, rich person, clueless person, strong person, available person (for marriage), doctor, foreigner, and probably more that I couldn’t understand. They don’t yet know what to make of me.  One things for sure, though, they’re welcoming me with joy and encouragement. 

... found comfort in pictures, letters, and coffee from home (thank you, my IYFD sisters).

... kept fit by shaking my groove thang in my empty house along to workout videos.  When neighbors show up at my door I am sweaty and embarrassed as I try to explain myself.

... spent too much money today at this cute cafe with “free wifi” that doesn’t work and electricity that’s been out most of the morning. 

... been overwhelmed at the tourist and missionary groups that just came in for lunch. 

... enjoyed the mix of Boys II Men, KC and Jojo, Toni Braxton, and  Shania Twain on the playlist at said cafe. What is it with music in African restaurants?  It's always so good. 

... taken a few pictures, but regrettably have left them in my camera in my house in the village.  Next week... hopefully...

... been surprised by the fact that even after living in Africa for more than 5 years now I still haven’t integrated my understanding of time.  When folks say something starts at a certain hour, what they really mean is that we will start thinking about walking there at that time.  Yesterday I went to a meeting that was more than an hour’s walk away from my health center that supposedly began at 2 p.m.  We left at 1:55, arrived at 3:10, but not to worry, as the executive secretary of the sector didn’t arrive until 3:15 and began the meeting at 3:30.  He also answered his cell phone during his hour-long speech, which bothered no one.  Why I still show up for work each day at the scheduled 7 a.m. staff meeting time I don’t understand.  Perhaps I will integrate... folks in America are annoyed at my lateness... maybe I’m somewhere in between cultures in my understanding of time.


... took an oath to become a Peace Corps Volunteer in Rwanda.

There’s so much more I want to write about, but I’m limited by internet availability, time, trips to town, and your attention span.  I’m going to try to write once a week and I’ll include reflections on my pre-service training experience as well.  But, for now, here’s a little of what I’ve been up to in the first week of being a sworn in, constitution defending, capacity building, culture exchanging, PCV. 

I already miss you!  If you comment, I'll read it and try to respond!