Just to catch you up to speed...

Life has more or less continued on the same path since my first week. French is getting easier, and I’m making my students do more and more in English. I’m teaching the full load now, and so far, it hasn’t killed me. I’ve also been spending time in the teacher’s room, trying to be less ‘invisible.’ My house is all moved in – three little rooms with an outdoor cooking area, a food storage room (not the kitchen if cooking is done outside) and a bathroom (with water connected to toilet and shower – luxury! – though I have to wash my hands in the shower, haha). I spent my first full weekend at school but ended up spending most of it inside watching Grey’s Anatomy (in my defense, it was pouring rain – apparently it’s already the rainy season). I did come out to watch movies with the students at night; we saw Stomp the Yard, Mission Impossible and the second half of You Got Served. They seemed to really enjoy all of them. As did I. This past weekend I went to Butare with Claire and Shira who came down south for a visit (Claire actually spent a day at my school which was so fun – we had dinner with the sisters and taught two of my classes the funky chicken dance when they asked for the “traditional dance of America” – sorry USA). When we went with our group (to Butare) we met all these guys from the university who then came up to Kigali to see our whole group off our last night, anyways all these guys just found out they have to move to Kigali so they were having a party- naturally we had to come! It was a really fun weekend, though it’s too bad that they’re all leaving. That brings my nearby friend count down to two (Arwen and Martin, the two Europeans who are living in Butare for the next few months). But now at least I’ve figured out the transport to Butare so I’m free to go whenever I feel like shoving my way onto an already crowded minibus for the sake of molasses-like internet. Haha, I complain but you get used to it all pretty quickly.