Muraho Rwanda!
Muraho!
I finally got the chance to write my first blogpost since starting my Peace Corps Service in Rwanda! We arrived last Thursday June 5th after 2 flights and 15 hours of flying. My group (health 6) consists of 23 people for around the U.S. and we'll all be working in the area of health once we are sworn into service. We spent our first two nights in Kigali (the capital) staying at a hostel before moving to our training site in Rwamagana District on Saturday, which is just an hour east of Kigali. We will be living in Rwamagana until we leave for our permant sites around the country in August. The Peace Corps staff set up a welcoming ceremony for us to meet our host families on our third day in country. My host mom was the family member at the ceremony, and after I met her we walked back to her home, which is just about a 7 minute walk from our training building. The time leading up to meeting my host family was very nerve-wracking, but I really enjoy my family and being able to communicate with them a little bit more everyday has made things even more comfortable. I have lived with a host family before, but just for a week and with a Spanish speaking family, so I was able to communicate with them and it was only for a short period of time. My family has 6 children ages 3-25 and a 3 year old grandchild. Some of the children either go to school or work outside of Rwamagana so they are only around on the weekends or for holidays, but there are at least 5 children at home most of the time. I spend my evenings at home, usually playing with the children, learning words, speaking (or attempting to speak ) with my parents in Kinyarwanda, and trying to keep in touch with my family and friends back home. Most of my days (8-5) Monday-Friday and a few hours over the weekend are spent in training. Our days for training are mostly language classes, which we have in small groups of 3 with our own language teacher. The other 2 days of the week are spent at the training site all together, where we go over logistical, medical and job related skills and expectations for the duration of our service. Language is definitely the most challenging part of training, learning a new language to be comfortable in knowing day to day conversation is something I've only done with Spanish, and that took over 10 years! It can be stressful to think about how much we are expected to know in just a few weeks, but it's important for me to remember that there are 22 others that are going through the exact same thing as me! I really like my small group and teacher, which will definitely make learning kinyarwanda a lot easier . Besides learning Kinyarwanda, another challenge I've been faced with is the change in diet and foods. My host family eats mainly white rice, fish, and beef which I am not used to eating a lot of in the states. They also drink a lot of african tea, which is mostly milk, another thing I'm not so used to drinking a lot of. They've been very kind about asking me what I'd like and making sure I'm full and am enjoying the food which I am very thankful for! ️ After spending the first few days getting comfortable with my family, I spent the later part of the week learning how to do different chores. Let's just say using an electric/ gas stove and having a washing machine and dryer is something that I definitely won't take for granted ever again! I mean, I used to complain that I had to walk across the street to do my laundry, and now I have to hand wash every piece of clothing for the next two years! One of my favorite days so far was the first sunday with my host family. I spent the morning playing soccer with the little boys in the family and a few of their friends. They cleared out a woody part next to the compound and made a makeshift goal with tree leaves and sticks. Later in the evening my oldest host sister took me out with her to visit all her friends around town, and to see the market for the first time. This is where you can get food, clothes, fabric, shoes, pretty much anything you'd need on a daily basis. I later went back to get a piece of fabric, in kinyarwanda it's called 'igetenge' (may have spelled that incorrectly lol) to be made into a pair of pants! It's been a great first week in Rwanda, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this all progresses over the next 27 months. To my family and friends, I miss you all so much and I will do my best to keep you all updated, and to my fellow PCVs, we got this!
Until next time,
Vanessa
P.S. If you'd like to send me anything-yes, I'm talking to you :)- my address is:
Vanessa Da Costa, PCV
Peace Corps Rwanda
BP: 5657
Kigali, Rwanda
I finally got the chance to write my first blogpost since starting my Peace Corps Service in Rwanda! We arrived last Thursday June 5th after 2 flights and 15 hours of flying. My group (health 6) consists of 23 people for around the U.S. and we'll all be working in the area of health once we are sworn into service. We spent our first two nights in Kigali (the capital) staying at a hostel before moving to our training site in Rwamagana District on Saturday, which is just an hour east of Kigali. We will be living in Rwamagana until we leave for our permant sites around the country in August. The Peace Corps staff set up a welcoming ceremony for us to meet our host families on our third day in country. My host mom was the family member at the ceremony, and after I met her we walked back to her home, which is just about a 7 minute walk from our training building. The time leading up to meeting my host family was very nerve-wracking, but I really enjoy my family and being able to communicate with them a little bit more everyday has made things even more comfortable. I have lived with a host family before, but just for a week and with a Spanish speaking family, so I was able to communicate with them and it was only for a short period of time. My family has 6 children ages 3-25 and a 3 year old grandchild. Some of the children either go to school or work outside of Rwamagana so they are only around on the weekends or for holidays, but there are at least 5 children at home most of the time. I spend my evenings at home, usually playing with the children, learning words, speaking (or attempting to speak ) with my parents in Kinyarwanda, and trying to keep in touch with my family and friends back home. Most of my days (8-5) Monday-Friday and a few hours over the weekend are spent in training. Our days for training are mostly language classes, which we have in small groups of 3 with our own language teacher. The other 2 days of the week are spent at the training site all together, where we go over logistical, medical and job related skills and expectations for the duration of our service. Language is definitely the most challenging part of training, learning a new language to be comfortable in knowing day to day conversation is something I've only done with Spanish, and that took over 10 years! It can be stressful to think about how much we are expected to know in just a few weeks, but it's important for me to remember that there are 22 others that are going through the exact same thing as me! I really like my small group and teacher, which will definitely make learning kinyarwanda a lot easier . Besides learning Kinyarwanda, another challenge I've been faced with is the change in diet and foods. My host family eats mainly white rice, fish, and beef which I am not used to eating a lot of in the states. They also drink a lot of african tea, which is mostly milk, another thing I'm not so used to drinking a lot of. They've been very kind about asking me what I'd like and making sure I'm full and am enjoying the food which I am very thankful for! ️ After spending the first few days getting comfortable with my family, I spent the later part of the week learning how to do different chores. Let's just say using an electric/ gas stove and having a washing machine and dryer is something that I definitely won't take for granted ever again! I mean, I used to complain that I had to walk across the street to do my laundry, and now I have to hand wash every piece of clothing for the next two years! One of my favorite days so far was the first sunday with my host family. I spent the morning playing soccer with the little boys in the family and a few of their friends. They cleared out a woody part next to the compound and made a makeshift goal with tree leaves and sticks. Later in the evening my oldest host sister took me out with her to visit all her friends around town, and to see the market for the first time. This is where you can get food, clothes, fabric, shoes, pretty much anything you'd need on a daily basis. I later went back to get a piece of fabric, in kinyarwanda it's called 'igetenge' (may have spelled that incorrectly lol) to be made into a pair of pants! It's been a great first week in Rwanda, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this all progresses over the next 27 months. To my family and friends, I miss you all so much and I will do my best to keep you all updated, and to my fellow PCVs, we got this!
Until next time,
Vanessa
P.S. If you'd like to send me anything-yes, I'm talking to you :)- my address is:
Vanessa Da Costa, PCV
Peace Corps Rwanda
BP: 5657
Kigali, Rwanda
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