Welcome to Kirinda

Our swear-in ceremony was much like graduation. After what seemed like forever in training, we were finished with the ceremony quickly and it was on to volunteer status. The ceremony was lovely; it was at the ambassador’s residence in Kigali and there were news reporters, a few NGO workers, some host-family representatives, and many of the previous volunteers who had helped during our training. We were all excited and loved getting a little dressed up for such a graduation-like event. If you’re interested, here’s a little press we received here in Rwanda: New Peace Corps Volunteers Sworn-in

After 3 days of celebrating and playing in Kigali, eating food that wasn’t rice or beans with tomato/oil/water “sauce,” and going dancing- yes, dancing(!), I awoke early Sunday morning to load up a car and be taken 3 hours west. My site is in Kirinda in the Karongi District, which is in the Western Province. On a map, it’s most likely invisible, but it’s in the middle of two larger towns, Gitarama and Kibuye, not far from the river that runs between the two. Good luck searching.

Kirinda is a nice village. It’s quiet, small, and absolutely beautiful. My home is at the top of the hill, so the view is spectacular, especially on a clear day. Kirinda is about 2 hours from the nearest paved road, so I’m out there a bit, but I like it a lot. Although I am farther away from things like real restaurants, banks, or post offices, it’s got it’s perks! I am only a minute walk from the school, so that’s extra convenient on days I sleep a little past my alarm. I live behind a hospital and health center, and the village shops are only 5 minutes from my house where I can get the necessities. There is a market twice a week that is set up about 10 minutes from me, so it’s only a quick walk to all sorts of fresh produce and goods.

My house is, well, it’s pretty much awesome. It’s far larger than necessary, but that just makes it even more OK for you to come and visit. I have a grassed front yard, which is rare by my account of Rwanda, and a big bean garden in the back yard. Lucky for me, I was asking a neighbor when I should start my own garden on the side of my house, and she told me to just use the bean area since the harvest was finished. Woohoo! GIANT garden is on the way… as soon as the rainy season starts up again. Anyway, back to the house. I do not have running water, but I DO have electricity, which is a luxury that I don’t take for granted. It’s really, really nice. I have a living area, 2 big bedrooms, and 1 huge bedroom that is used as my indoor kitchen, instead. I have a more traditional Rwandan kitchen outside, but I opt to use a hot plate inside most of the time. For things that take a long time to cook (beans, sauces), I go with the charcoal stove outside.

Although my initial idea of housing in the Peace Corps was removed from just about everything around, my house is part of teacher-housing and I have neighbors on 2 sides of me. There are kids in my area, so they have become my buds, we draw, color, and dance around on a regular basis, and they don’t seem to mind my crappy excuse for Kinyarwanda. I’m still waiting for this language to click. The neighbor mamas have all been very nice, too. They occasionally check on me to make sure I’m surviving, but they don’t baby me or think I’m completely helpless, which is appreciated. They seem to get a kick out of my American-isms though. Like hanging things on my walls- I have photos everywhere and all visitors come over just to check them out, laugh, and go.  They also seem to get laughs out of all the coloring things I have around for the kids (and myself), that I don’t drink my tea with milk and a ton of sugar, that I actually like when the neighbor dogs come by to visit, and that I always have a bag of coffee on my kitchen table. These things are a riot.

So, welcome to Kirinda! I can’t say too much, since the majority of entries will be all about this place! Plenty more stories to come from…

OH! Wildlife update: There are a lot of goats here. And chickens! But the chickens don’t have a vendetta against me as the Karama chickens did AND they don’t shit all over my yard. I kind of like these ones. Who knew?