Chapter 5: In which Chris and Roberta finish training.

At about a month and a half into our training we took our "Mid-LPI" which was just testing how much Kinyarwanda we learned. Berta placed high enough to where she already surpassed the required proficiency level, I scored just under the level. This was encouraging for both of us since Roberta was already passing and I was very close. Additionally during my LPI I was asked "what is Geology?" so a part of my lower score was my inability to describe the field of geology with my conversational Kinyarwanda. from that point on we had about two more weeks of language before we started our model school. This was a two weekend school simulation where children who wanted a little extra practice in English would come and pretend to learn. This went very successfully and I managed to teach my students some phrasal verbs such as "To throw up" and "To hang out." I was particularly pleased when I learned that in the class following mine, when the students were asked to describe good teachers/students; they responded with "Good students do not make out in class" and "Good teachers kick butt." My work in Rwanda is complete.

After that we spent the last few weeks learning a few more things and preparing to leave our training village. Several of us (ie Dance Team) chose to learn the traditional Rwandan cow dance. This was made especially interesting because it seemed as if each of our instructors had a different idea as to how the steps were to be performed. Basically there was a lot of information and opinions being thrown around and it was up to us to decide which one to follow. after about one hour (over the course of three days) of practice we performed our dance at the "Host Family Farewell." This was essentially saying thanks to all the families for hosting and/or putting up with us. After that we took our Final LPI that both Roberta and I passed with minimal trouble. In fact, as it turns out everybody in our group managed to pass the final test. One of the preparations I took was to get my hair cut at the local Saloon. (They add an extra O to the word salon here I guess) It took about two hours and the coiffure buzzed the sides of my head and didn't touch the top of my head except for a circle right on my forehead that he shaved very short. I feel that I can say with out a hint of hyperbole that this was the worst haircut that I have ever had. Luckily with the help of a fellow trainee, we were able to even things out and make me look at least a little bit presentable. Finally the day came where we were to move all of our stuff back to the Peace Corps hub where we had been learning about teaching, the peace corps, etc. After piling all of our things into the back of a truck and loading into a bus we were on our way to Kigali for or swearing-in ceremony.

Welcome back! We would like to to tell you all about the holidays that we have celebrated so far in Rwanda. After we came back from our site visit, October had arrived and all of the trainees were excited about the prospects of a Halloween Party. First though, I knew that I would have to have some sort of celebration for Chris' birthday on the 27^th. Our friends Scott and Amanda had found some birthday hats, candles, and what they thought was silly string but ended up being “fake snow” at a store on their way back from site visit. They brought it to my attention that it would only be fitting to throw Chris a surprise party since he is friends with almost everyone in our group. We knew it would be, difficult to plan, because I rarely was away from him. When the day came, Chris woke up and was a little bit sad because it would be his first birthday without a celebration, or so he thought. He put on his nicest clothes just to make the day a little more special and I even polished his shoes. While Scott and Amanda got everything ready at Peace Corps, I arranged for our friend Aaron to call up Chris and ask us to meet at the bar for an afternoon of boardgames. We met Aaron, ate brochettes, and played “Kill Dr. Lucky” and “Elder Sign.” Aaron then made up an excuse that he had to go to the hub to pick something up, so of course we went along. When we arrived, almost all the trainees were there for the party wearing hats and singing “Happy Birthday.” Scott and Amanda had even baked the cookie into the shape of Rwanda. Everyone was glad to get a small taste of home, and Chris had a great birthday after all! Anyone who knows me knows that I can't tell lies or keep secrets; I was so proud of myself because I think this was the first time in my life when I legitimately surprised my husband.

A week later, we celebrated Halloween! Chris was in charge of the music and he put together a playlist that included “Elvira's Halloween Party,” “Swingin' at the Seance,” and really any song that was even remotely halloweeny. We had “bobbing for oranges”, face painting, pumpkin carving, very cute costumes and decorations which were made out of paper. Scott and I made a pumpkin pie from scratch using the scrap eye and mouth pieces from the jack-o-lanterns as a trial run for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was our largest holiday we celebrated during training. Everyone signed up for different food preperation duties. The day before, we sent a group of trainees to Kigali to purchase the supplies. That afternoon, we killed 8 turkeys (Chris killed a huge white one) and we started preparing them in brine. That night, Scott and I baked 10 pumpkin pies and the Turkey killing crew put the turkeys in a pit at about 2 am. The next morning, all the volunteers came and we started cooking mashed potatoes, banana bread, mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, apple crisp, deviled eggs, and green beans. It was so delicious and everyone had a lot of fun. Some of the volunteers made decorations and headbands for the rest of us. I am particularly pleased that now Chris knows how to kill and clean a bird, so now our holidays will be a little more special.