Thursday

5:40- Wake up to the sound of birds screeching outside my window.

5:50- Try my hardest to go back to sleep.

6:00- Fail miserably.

6:10- Get up to prepare for the day.

6:40- Eat some breakfast.

7:00- Walk to school with Kerry.

7:05- Catch up with the world’s goings-on on the Internet and prepare for my day’s classes.

8:00- Comparative Governments class.  I’m teaching 10 seniors about British government until the end of September when Ms. Janeczko comes to take over the social studies department.

9:05- Teach nine 10^th graders PE.

10:00- Break time!  Watch all the kids play basketball and soccer and four square and jump rope.

10:20- Teach 6^th grade PE.

11:00- Sneak into my classroom to observe the last 15 minutes of geometry class before lunch.

11:15- Hit up the staff lounge for lunch.  Since I am free 4^th period, I get to have a long lunch.  I end up eating lunch with almost the entire KICS staff as they rotate through the lunch schedule.

1:05- Teach 4^th grade PE.

2:00- Teach 9^th grade PE.

3:00- Bell rings and the kids disappear.  SAT prep!

4:30- Go for a run, usually to a friend’s house… hang out.  Contemplate running home.  Get caught up in conversation.  Oh no!  It’s dark.  Gotta moto home…

7:00-  Get home and eat some food. 

7:30-  Go to school to load the necessary YouTube videos for class tomorrow and plan some lessons and catch up with some folks from home, etc.

10:30- Go to sleep to prepare for my body’s 5:40 wake-up call.

Wednesday

5:40- Wake up to the sound of birds screeching outside my window.

5:50- Try my hardest to go back to sleep.

6:00- Fail miserably.

6:10- Get up to prepare for the day.

6:40- Eat some breakfast.

7:00- Walk to school with Kerry.

7:05- Catch up with the world’s goings-on on the Internet and prepare for my day’s classes.

8:00- Lead a devotion to start Comparative Governments class.  Teach about Britain.

9:00- Teach 10^th grade PE.  This week we’re dancing.  Next week it’s Frisbee!

10:00- I get a nice long break on Wednesdays…

11:15- Go to the staff room for lunch and stay until the last lunch shift is over at 1:05 and hang out with all of the teachers as they come and go.

1:05- Go back to my classroom to prepare lessons for the next few days.

2:00- Teach 9^th grade PE.

3:00- The final bell rings and I meet with some 11^th-12^th graders for SAT prep.  (I’m getting really good at the math section of the SAT.)

4:15- My only free(ish) afternoon/evening!  Run to one of my friend’s houses and hang out for a while.

7:15- Go home and eat dinner and relax for a bit before bed.

10:00- Go to sleep to prepare for my body’s 5:40 wake-up call.

Tuesday

5:40- Wake up to the sound of birds screeching outside my window.

5:50- Try my hardest to go back to sleep.

6:00- Fail miserably.

6:10- Get up to prepare for the day.

6:40- Eat some breakfast.

7:00- Walk to school with Kerry.

7:05- Catch up with the world’s goings-on on the Internet and prepare for my day’s classes.

8:00- Comparative Governments class.  I’m teaching 10 seniors about British government until the end of September when Ms. Janeczko comes to take over the social studies department.

9:05- Teach nine 10^th graders PE.

10:00- Break time!  Watch all the kids play basketball and soccer and four square and jump rope.

10:20- Teach 6^th grade PE.

11:00- Sneak into my classroom to observe the last 15 minutes of geometry class before lunch.

11:15- Hit up the staff lounge for lunch.  Since I am free 4^th period, I get to have a long lunch.  I end up eating lunch with almost the entire KICS staff as they rotate through the lunch schedule.

1:05- Teach 4^th grade PE.

2:00- Teach 9^th grade PE.

3:00- Bell rings and the kids disappear.

3:15- Go to Mr. Dennis’s room for Kinyarwanda lessons with Joyce.

4:15- Run to the LEAF house in Kacyiru.

5:00- Teach my boys English. 

6:30- Try to escape my English lesson.

6:50- Finally get escorted to the main road by 6 of my boys who empower me to climb the mountain.

7:00- Hop on a moto for home or over to a friend’s house to hang out for a bit…

10:00- Go to sleep to prepare for my body’s 5:40 wake-up call.

Monday

5:40- Wake up.

5:50- Attempt to go back to sleep.

6:00- Fail.

6:10- Get up and shower and whatnot to get ready for school.

7:10- Hop on a moto to Sonrise.

7:20- Eat some delicious yeast rolls for breakfast.

7:30- Teach English to my first S1 (seventh grade) class.

8:50- Teach English to my second S1 class.

10:10- Break time!

10:30- Teach English to my third S1 class.

11:50- Hang out with some of my girls for a few minutes.

12:30- Head back to town on a moto.

1:00- Hop on a bus to Kigali.

3:00- Arrive in Kigali and run a few errands on my way back to school.  You know, stop by the post office to see if my package is there.  It’s not.  Check and see if my dress is ready at the tailor.  It’s not.  Go to Nakumatt to buy some flour.  “It is finished.”

3:45- Arrive at KICS for the tail end of the middle/high school staff meeting.

4:00- Plan the rest of the week in my classroom.

6:00- Go home and open the fridge to see what Germaine cooked for us.  Pop it in the microwave and eat it on the stairs (as the light in our living/dining room doesn’t work…).

6:30- Spend the rest of the evening relaxing, hanging out with my awesome roommates, etc.

9:30- Go to sleep to prepare for the fact that I’m going to wake up in T minus 8 hours.

Sunday

5:40- Wake up to the sound of birds screeching outside my window.

5:50- Try my hardest to go back to sleep.

6:00- Fail miserably.

6:10- Get up and shower and whatnot to prepare for the day.

6:40- Eat some breakfast.

7:00- Go to school to take advantage of the free Internet with no one else around to steal the bandwidth.

10:00- Go to church at Christ’s Church in Rwanda (CCR).  My favorite thing about CCR is that we sing songs in English, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, and Lingala. 

12:00- Walk home and grab a quick bite to eat.

12:30- Walk down the hill to a moto-taxi to ride to the bus station.

12:45- Attempt to purchase a bus ticket for the next bus to Ruhengeri only to have the woman behind the counter try to make me feel stupid by speaking the time of my ticket in Kinyarwanda and subsequently lie to me about the time of departure of the next bus which isn’t full. 

12:50- Sit sulkily on the steps at the bus station, fuming about the 4:00 bus ticket I hold in my hand.

1:00- Get out a book to read to pass the time.

1:20- A ticket taker comes and exchanges my ticket for the next bus:  1:30!

1:30- The bus departs for Ruhengeri.  I will spend the next two hours either listening to my iPod to drown out the rest of the world, taking a nap, or grading papers for my classes on Monday.

3:30- Arrive in Ruhengeri and moto to Sonrise to hang out for the afternoon.

3:45- Hang out with my girls at Sonrise all afternoon.

6:00- Eat the beans and rice I’ve been missing out on since I moved to Kigali.

7:00- Head to the house to hang out with Betsy, Anna, and Griffin for the evening.

9:30-  Go to sleep in the other bed in my old bedroom.

A Week in the Life...

Over the course of the next week, I am going to share with you the typical daily goings-on in my life, one day at a time.  I say typical, but let’s be serious… there is nothing typical about my life!

I will write longer more detailed blog posts on specific activities from my schedule if you let me know which ones you are most interested in.

Changes...

Many of you know this already, but for those of you who don't, here are the recent changes in my life that have kept me way too busy to write a blog post....  But soon I'll give you a glimpse into my life as a city girl!

I have been teaching 7^th grade English and literature at Sonrise High School in Musanze, Rwanda since January.  I also work on SAT and TOEFL prep with the older students to prepare them to apply to universities in the US.  I am also constantly approached by students to help them with various other things:  posting their dancing videos to YouTube, helping revise an essay for a competition, advising them on typical teenager issues, even finding a place for one of my orphaned girls to live during school breaks.  Every day is definitely an adventure!  I have grown to know and love many, many students.

I have also had the pleasure of developing relationships with many other people:  other ex-pats who are working or volunteering in various capacities around the country, the teachers at Sonrise, the waiters at the restaurants we frequent, a colony of visual artists, even the Regional Police Commander!  It is these relationships that have sucked me into the vacuum that is Rwanda.

I know you were all expecting me to come home for good in November, but this beautiful country and its people continue to beckon me.  I have been offered the chance to teach in Rwanda in a different capacity for the next school year and accepted the task wholeheartedly!  In August, I started to split my responsibilities between Sonrise High School and Kigali International Community School (KICS).  KICS is an international school that serves mostly the children of missionaries and other cross-cultural workers but also admits Rwandese students.  I am having a blast teaching PE to students from dozens of different countries!  Upon the completion of the Sonrise school year in October, I will be full-time at KICS until at least June 2011.

While it is difficult to leave my precious children at Sonrise, I am very excited about living in the “big city” and teaching very small, diverse classes.  My sphere of influence has increased dramatically, and I look forward to learning even more about myself, Rwanda, and the world in general.