Exam Week

Sorry it’s been so long since leaving an update. A few weeks ago it was Teachers Day. I was a little surprised at how big of a day it is for teachers. We began the day with a football (soccer) match of the teachers playing the students. I played sweeper and had a blast. I find playing sports one of the best ways to bond with the teachers and students. Due to some unfortunate circumstances (the students cheating and not such a great referee…Mitchell) we lost to the students 4-1. Next year we will be sure to put the students back in their place. After the match all of the teachers spent a few hours eating lunch and drinking soda or beer…mostly beer. It was a fun relaxing day and awesome to see all the appreciation here for the teachers.
Mitchell and I continue to work with the student during the week and lead groups of students to work for a few hours on Saturday. During the week, work is a bit lighter…mostly preparing the land for cultivating and planting. I enjoy Saturdays more; usually we have bigger projects to work on. A few weeks ago we cleaned the “Grand Canal”. This is the main canal that all the water that enters our compound (tons and tons) leaves out of. Needless to say, the canal is very big, very dirty, and extremely important. We need to keep the canals clean so that our land does not flood too much and the water can drain. 2 Saturdays ago we were waist-deep in very muddy water cleaning out weeds, trash, shoes, jackets, etc (you would be surprised what you find in a drainage canal). I had a lot of fun working hard and getting dirty.
Mitchell and I have officially started driving around Kigali. One of the Salesian brothers here has been taking us with him to run errands in the city and always asks us to drive. We are becoming more comfortable with the city and the streets. It is easy to get lost in the city. The streets all wind left and right, and there are absolutely no street signs. Eventually you just recognize things and start to get a better feel for where you are.
Sundays we continue to get a taste of America. We continue to watch American football at the embassy. Last week we bought some ground beef and made some hamburgers. It was great to relax with fellow Americans and chow down on some juicy hamburgers.
This week the students are taking their final exams. Just when I was starting to get into a good daily schedule things change a bit. Now I try and help around the farm and often during the day just try and find a few things to keep busy with. I have decided that during the school break I want to help teach the teachers English and AutoCAD. Next year school will only be taught in English, so it is imperative that the teachers can speak English well. As of right now, very few of the teachers know English at all, so this could be a big help. I also want to teach AutoCAD to the construction and electrical teachers. I am hoping that over my year here I can start an AutoCAD program that will continue when I leave. I hope that by teaching the teachers, the will be able to continue teaching their students. Hopefully we can work it out here.
I have taken a few pictures and I will try and post them soon so that you all can see a little bit of my world here in Rwanda.