Almost Home

I leave in just one short day. While I love Rwanda and my Rwandan family and I will cry terribly when I leave, I am finally excited to come home. I miss my family, my friends, my cat (of course), and all the comforts of home. I look forward to sleeping in my own bed, eating something other than rice, taking hot showers, wearing clean clothes, having clean feet, using my electric toothbrush, swimming in the pool, exercising, riding my bike, and driving my car.

But even as I write this, I think of all the things I will miss, and I am getting teary-eyed! I will miss my family that I am staying with so much. They have been so kind and really welcomed me into their home. I will miss the children, Angela, Angeline, and Padou. I will miss the fresh fruit. I will miss the friends I've made here. I will miss the thousand hills. I will miss the feeling you get after you wash your hair for the first time in a week. And, yes, I will even miss the food...just maybe not right away.

I will definitely have to come back to Rwanda! This has been a great trip and a wonderful experience. I'll be back in Auburn on Wednesday evening (just in time to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince)!

A Perfect Rwandan Birthday!

Yesterday, I turned 23 years old! I can't believe I am nearing my mid-twenties...I don't know if I like this. However, I could not have asked for a better birthday. I woke up early and took my time to head downtown to meet my friend (Becky) for pizza and a cinnamon roll at one of my favorite restaurants. Even though I had promised myself that I would not buy anymore souvenirs until the last day, we ended up shopping afterward. I figured it was okay to buy myself a small birthday gift...or two. I bought myself some earrings and a necklace, and Becky also bought me a pair of beautiful silver leaf earrings.

We actually ended up shopping and milling around Kigali for a while. Later that night, we headed back to the house where the family was including Patrick and Alex. After Alex gave me my birthday gift, Patrick told me I must come out into the living room. I came out and there on the table was a beautiful display of cookies, peanuts, crackers, cheese, and a big birthday cake with a large flame shooting out of it! Everyone began singing and clapping, "Happy birthday to you!" I literally teared up and was completely surprised. The whole family was there including some close friends. We all sat around eating, drinking (lots of booze!), and celebrating my birthday!

After a while, Patrick gave me the best gift--a Rwandan name! My name is now Rebecca Holly Munezero Macintire. Munezero means happiness--I definitely think it suits me. They also gave me a gigantic heart shaped box full of delicious chocolates. Needless to say, at this point I was on a huge sugar rush! I also have a card from them signed by the whole family.

It was truly the most wonderful birthday I could ask for. I am so happy that I was here in Rwanda to celebrate my 23 years on this earth. And now I get to look forward to celebrating with my family at home in just about a week.

Tom Close

Even though I have no job, I have been keeping very busy! Friday night, Alex, Patrick, a new girl we met named Becky, and I headed to Butare which is about three hours away from Kigali to meet up with the FSU students and go to a concert. Tom Close is a famous Rwandan pop star, and he was putting on a benefit concert to help raise money for GPE. We stood out in the cold trying to sell tickets for about two hours which was somewhat miserable, but finally the fun began. We got to listen to about five other "musicians" first..."musicians" is a very strong term for some of the people we heard. It was so interesting because everybody there just sat while listening to the music--nobody was dancing! I can't imagine going to a concert and not dancing!

One of my friends and I decided that we wanted to dance so we hopped up on stage with one of the singers and danced for a song. It was so exciting! And finally, when Tom Close came out, everyone swarmed to the front and began dancing. We also hopped up on stage with Tom to sing "Si beza" with him, which is his most popular song. After the concert, we continued the dancing at a bar with some friends we had met in Kigali who happened to be at the concert too. It was a very fun night!

Yesterday was of course America's Independce Day, but it was also Rwanda's Liberation Day. Unfortunately, we missed the parade in Kigali because we were still on our way back from Butare. However, later that night, Becky, Patrick, and I went to a Liberation Day concert in Kigali. We were danced out though from the night before so it wasn't quite as fun as the night before! I do enjoy a lot of the music here though, and I was absolutely ecstatic when one musician began to play "Hakuna Matata!" I was finally able to sing along to a song! It absolutely made my night!

Barackin' in Burundi!

On Saturday morning, I went with the FSU crew to Burundi. I had no idea what to expect, but I was told it was like Rwanda was thirty years ago. Bujumbura is much poorer and much dirtier than Kigali. However, it definitely has its perks. We ate so well! We had the best Chinese food, delicious pizzas, ice cream, fresh croissants and pastries, and decent wine! I was so happy for this change because I have literally had the same meal for the past three weeks. And even though we were very close to the only mizungus (white people) in the whole country, we were not stared at nearly as much. It was refreshing to be able to walk around without having masses of people stare you down and shout "Mizungu!" I am not sure what you picture as "Burundi," but google "lake tanganyika" and, hopefully, you will find some pictures of where we spent our days. We basked in the warm sun one of the most beautiful beaches I have seen. If I could upload pictures, you would swear it was Hawaii! It was a great weekend and, definitely, worth the six hour bus ride to get there! Two countries down in Africa! Where will I go next?