so this is your world

5 january 2010

a hike around the lake,

exploring with Katy.

greeting everyone we meet.

a SUV full of RDF (Rwandan Defense Force) men pulls up,

impressed to find that we are not just tourist passing through,

they offer us a ride back to school in their air-conditioned SUV.

The commander had come to town to meet the new muzungu,

me.

jokes, laughs.

they take us out for fantas on the beach,

lake level.

the noise of waves greets our ears,

the mountains fill our eyes.

beauty beyond belief.

treated to lunch at a fancy hotel,

conversing in english and kinyarwanda.

our table: 2 young American women and 5 RDF men.

more laughs and jokes.

They tell me to call for any safety issues

including, but not limited to:

spiders

mice

mosquitos.

new vocab.

nda shoje

- i am hungry

nda haze

- i am satisfied

inshuti

- friend

umukunzi

- lover

confusion of translations,

talk of fiances coming to visit in april.

(Cono - that's you).

a ride into town

on a truck with open seats on the back,

guarded by military men.

back to Kagogo.

"so this is your world" Commander Jean Jaques says,

as we drive through the small roadside towns.

a story of how two people met

and fell in love:

my friend had a girlfriend.

he told me that she had a sister

who was very beautiful.

so i went to their house

to see this beautiful girl.

she was beautiful,

but i did not talk to her.

twenty minutes or so after arriving,

another girl came in.

she was cleaning the house,

her skin dirtied with charcoal.

our eyes met

and in that moment,

i was attracted to her.

so i went back a couple of days later.

I wanted to get to know her,

talk to her,

see if she had a boyfriend.

she did.

and i waited.

maybe 6 months later,

she was going to school in Butari.

she agreed to be my wife.

she did not have a boyfriend,

she only wanted to see if I was consistent.

you know,

if you put the two women side by side,

and asked which was beautiful,

you would pick the first.

but there was something about her.

in a marriage,

there has to be more there to hold you together.

Claudine and Jean Jaques,

expecting their 6th child,

he hopes for a daughter.

They have also adopted 2.

Wishes to have 10 in total.

He is a good man.

It was an amazing day.