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.