2 Weeks Until Swear-in!

Jarod here…So it has been another busy week of language language
language.  I don’t want to talk about it.  Anyway, we only have a
little over two weeks left until we officially swear in as Peace Corps
Volunteers.  It is hard to believe that our training is coming to an
end.  To be honest, it is going to be a little difficult to tell all
of our PST staff and friends goodbye.  They have become our family
away from home.  And even though we are never far away from each other
in Rwanda, it will seem like it because we will be in such a remote
and mysterious place.  Oh well, that is what the Peace Corps is all
about right?

Anyway, today my training director called me and another girl into his
office to talk.  He mentioned that at our swear-in ceremony someone
always gives a speech in Kinyarwanda and another person in English.
Before he finished the sentence, the girl in the office with me
shouted “I call English”.  Now I’m thinking he’s going to ask me to
give a speech in Kinyarwanda at the ceremony (which in the past has
been filmed and shown on national TV) and am starting to get a little
panicked.  After a few seconds and after I cleaned my pants up, he
asked us both to give a speech in English to which I replied, I can do
that!!!  So, I am excited and honored to give a speech with Portia (in
English) at the swear-in ceremony.

Tomorrow we have our mock LPI (Language Proficiency Interview).
Before we can be sworn in as official Peace Corps Volunteers we have
to receive a score of “high intermediate” or better on the exam.
Tomorrow is just practice but in two weeks we have the real deal.  It
is crazy to think we can be at high intermediate in 9 ½ weeks of
training but that is where we need to be.  Wish me luck (or say many
prayers).  As I have said in the past, this language is insanium in
the cranium.

Anyway, here are a few random facts and observations of Rwanda:

-       If I haven’t said this before, there is no deodorant in Rwanda,
therefore people don’t wear any…enough said.
-       Most children don’t start school until they are 7 or 8 or sometimes
even older.  So, it is not uncommon to find someone who is 23 still in
school.
-       Our future site in Banda has the first apple trees in the country.
They are still young but should start producing soon.
-       Some Rwandans eat food with their hands only…all food!  It really is
an art.  The language trainer that lives with us says the food taste
better that way.
-       Sometimes, people do not know their ages here so you may ask a 5 or
6 year old their age and they might respond with 11…don’t ask me!
-       Rwanda is known as the safest country in all of Africa and has an
economy that is growing faster than most countries in the world.
-       It is not uncommon to see 4 people on a bicycle…simply amazing!
-       Church services (at least the Pentecostal ones) can last up to 5 hours.
-       It seems that most plants and shrubs double as a latrine.
-       Rwanda is 2 degrees from the equator but because of its range in
elevation from a couple thousand feet to over 13,000 in the North; it
has a perfect average temperature of right around 75 degrees.
-       And my favorite fact: For a people that possess so very little, they
possess an unbelievable amount of joy and happiness.  It really is
contagious.

That is all she wrote…stay tuned next time for more stories on the
Rwandan adventures of Jarod and Sarah!

Be blessed!