I returned yesterday from a weekend in Kiboye with the three other girls from the volunteer house. We decided to take a break and head this town on the coast of Lake Kivu. Kiboye is a quiet place, not well known by tourists, so it offered a fantastic opportunity to slow our pace for a couple of days and kick back to relax with a book and to enjoy some sun on the shore of the lake. It was really beautiful, as every place is when I travel out of Kigali. We had dinner at a local buffet, as all the locals seemed to be thrilled we enjoyed their traditional dishes. :-) Sunday morning we did the hour walk on the main road that circles the town, and the views were incredible. The lake just has a way of soothing the soul. Hazy but exciting-looking islands off in the distance; the sound of a fisherman singing his own tune, with the echo reverberating through the hills around us. Approaching the "marina," we saw the wooden fishing boats, narrow and long with sharp pieces of wood extending from both the front and back of each boat, interlocking them together on the shore. Taking in the scenes of the men and women, walking to church in their Sunday-best - the colors so brilliant! We walked by one of the more famous genocide memorials near a church where over 11,000 people were killed in less than three hours during the war. In front of the church, the memorial was established by members of the families of people who lost their lives there. Standing at the memorial, reflecting on the past, my soul was calmed by the incredible singing coming from within the very church these people died. It is magical how the community came together and rebuilt the church, placing breathtaking stain-glass windows in the places where grenades were thrown....and now to hear the beauty of their voices - it is really inspiring and quite moving.............



Completing last week was a nice milestone for me...the first week as a "teacher" and I still have found energy to wake up in the mornings! ;-) I have discovered that in kindergarten, repetition seems to be the key. I went over transportation every day since last Thursday, including today, and some of them the children still cannot seem to recall from the pictures. But hey, I will just blame that on my lack of artistic ability and less on the children's learning :-) But really, I do find that this will likely be a pattern over the next couple of months, which is actually a relief in some ways as I know that it is okay if not every child is getting it the first, or even the second day. Since I work on bringing kids up to point to the board and tell me the drawings, it helps me to know which ones are not getting it and then I can really have them watch my mouth as I speak so they can learn to say the words correctly - so really, it is a win-win.

Last week we introduced writing the little letter "a". I walked through the class while they practiced their writing and I have to admit, even that was more challenging than I thought it would be. You would be shocked at how young children interpret the little "tail" on the letter a LOL It is so adorable, but I end up with some kids drawing a circle with a tail coming from the top, out right, and looping down and around - so creative they are!! ;-) So for many of them, I would stand behind and hold their hand for one or two tries and then watch as they do a couple on their own. I found this to really help quite a bit, providing they could focus....for instance, there was a girl I was working with and as I stood behind her to help her right, I had a boy behind me continually tapping the back of my leg, a boy to my right calling "teacher! teacher!" grabbing the same arm I am using to help the girl write, and then a boy to my left who bent his head forward and proceeded to bite my stomach!! I pointed and looked at all three, "Oya, oya, oya!" and what do you know, they all erupted in laughter!! LOL At the moment, I was losing patience a little bit, but just bent down to each, said oya with a look of "I mean it," tapped their heads to show I still love them and then proceeded with the girl :-) It worked...for that moment anyway...it is fascinating how the children all look to me as "teacher" but they still try hard to get away with so many things. I think too, though, that some of it is cultural...they don't really have a sense of being quite while the teacher is talking - there is always a handful of kids having their own conversation. Also, whenever you see a raised had, it is 95% of the time accompanied by, "ME TEACHER! ME TEACHER!!!" It is soooo cute but a bit challenging to gain control of the class...

Last Friday was so exciting as they made more progress on "Farmer in the Dell!" I really must try to get a video of them singing before I leave here. But really, what has made me smile the most has been while teaching them, "I'm a little tea pot" and the "I love you" song from Barney. So, for the teapot song, I drew first on the board a tea cup and tea pot and pointed out the handle and the spout. I taught them the first two lines with clapping, "I'm a little tea pot, short and stout." For the handle and the spout, I have them do really full movements to get their arms in the correct places, one hand on one hip for the handle, and one hand pointing out by their shoulder for the spout. "When I get all steamed up, here me shout," is accompanied by shaking their hips...and they LOVE it!!! Their smiles are so bright that I cannot help but smile this very moment as I remember it....and then for "Tip me over and pour me out!" I won't be surprised if one of the kids lands on their head!! LOL They really enjoy that!! Even as of today, they need more practice with the words, but they sure make some fabulous dancers! :-)

The excitement with the Barney song was a bit less, but it was easier for them to catch on to the words. "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family! With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me too?" So for the "hug," I have them wrap their arms tightly around their shoulders and for the "kiss from me to you," they blow a kiss to each other :-) Soooo adorable too! I don't know if the idea of blowing a kiss is something they know or not, but they really had fun with that.

Today I had the chance to try and learn some Kinyarwanda songs...though I know I still have a lot to learn!! :-) My goal though, before I leave, is to learn at least one, though I will try for two, songs in Kinyarwanda. The teachers were helping me today at recess too. How fun it will be the day I sing along with these kids with their own songs....I am very much looking forward to it!

I tell you, each day as I drag myself across the city for an hour and a half, fighting through crowds, breathing in exhaust and dust, sweating under the sun...I just think of the laughter of these kids and it makes the day come together just right! :-) I cannot thank you all enough for helping me to get here....I really believe they are teaching me as much, if not more, than I am teaching them!