Ruli!!

Alright, I am living in Ruli for the next two years!! I thought I would tell you all a little about it :) It’s a beautiful little place that is basically only one road!! Hahaha and not a long section of it either :/ its one little top of a mountain in Gakenke District!!

The other night I learned when I am getting on a bus from Kigali to home… I have to say “Dashaka Kurja I Ruli Gakenke” or I end up in the wrong part of Gakenke which actually takes longer to get to… and then I still have to take a moto for about another hour to Ruli :/ I won’t make that mistake again :)

Well, anyways, my house is beautiful and pretty big by Rwandan standards!! I share my half of the house with another American (My supervisor Stephanie) but the other half is left for the landlords (That only visit occasionally on the weekends) and a girl named Brigit, who is Rwandan and pretty nice!! There is a guard that lives outside and he is super nice and does a good jab at guarding!!! He is not totally sure he likes me yet so I always try to talk with him and let him know I appreciate his work!! There is also the umucozi or house maid Betty that lives with her family but is at my house from 8ish AM to 8ish PM. She is great and I love practicing my Kinyarwanda with her as well as learn how to cook all the wonderful Rwandan dishes she is so good at making!!!!

The house is situated behind a Catholic church so basically every morning at 6am I get to hear all the villagers praying (Which actually means singing loudly!!). But it makes for nice, good people around the area of my house… so I don’t mind so much!!

To walk to my office for work every day I pass a nursery school :) The kids there are super cute and I just love them!! If they are not in lines to go into class then they all run out to the fence and stick their fists through so I can “Chance” or pound each one!! I love it and now I have started walking by when I know they will be out and not in class!!! Hahahaha the teachers have even started waving if they are outside when I walk by!!!

My office is in one of the buildings as part of the hospital but not actually in the hospital. It’s just one room with a couple couches and chairs… both made of wood with some foam cushions on them… not all that comfy for sitting in all day… but it works!! To use internet I go behind this building and sit on some back steps right by some giant water storage containers!! It’s nice because while I am sitting in this space there is only one small distant view for people to see the “umuzungu” or white person using her computer :) The rest of the Hospital staff has been super friendly and I am enjoying getting to know them!! Many of them speak a little English and I am working on starting up at least one English class to help them become more comfortable with using English!! It should be pretty great!!!!

I’m not sure how to say this… But Ruli has many orphans!! I think most of this is because of the war AKA Genocide… But it’s weird because there are basically lots of kids from 0-30 years old that are not sure how to treat an American girl… The little ones are running around the streets asking for shoes, balloons or money while the teenagers are asking for my phone number and the boys if I will sleep with them and the older ones try to impress me by taking me on walks and using as much English as they can muster!!!! It’s entertaining for sure :) but at the end of the day I am very grateful for a bedroom that locks and time to gather my thoughts and prepare for the next day!!!

Because of so many orphans there are many opportunities to have awesome conversations too like encouraging them to stay in school and helping girls gain nerve to say “no” and keep guys away till they are ready… and then using protective measures so they stay healthy and HIV free!!!!! After only being here for a short time and already experiencing these things I am really looking forward to the rest of my two years!!!!

To continue with Ruli as a village they have a nice little shop next to the hospital if I am in need of a snack and down in the center they have lots of boutiques with all kinds of things like fabric, soap, notebooks and toilet paper!! I like to visit them mostly to practice my Kinyarwanda and get my face out in the village as much as possible!!!! Last week I wanted to get a notebook but the closest shop only had graph paper, which is not great for writing if you are not used to it… so I started asking around and soon had a guide taking me to a bunch of shops. After some time I learned that there are no notebooks with only horizontal lines in them and went home without a notebook :/ but I had a great time talking with people :)

Well, that’s enough rambling for now!!! I can’t believe how the time is flying by :/ It seems like just yesterday I got here!!! But I also feel as though I have been here my entire life and this is my home :) hahaha Maybe I am just tired and need to sleep more… Then I will remember I am American and America is my home!!!

Talk to you all again soon!!!