Goodbye guesthouse, hello homestay!!

Sunday was our last day in Solace guesthouse, which we will all miss a lot! I spent the last day packing and desperately trying to get my laundry to dry, haha. I said goodbye to some of our neighborhood friends named David and Machavelli.
Then Caitlin, Amber, Menna and I piled into a tiny taxi with allllll of our luggage to head to our homestay (I had to sit on my suitcase, haha)! The woman we are staying with is named Rose. She is about 60, and is seriously sooo nice and so cute. She reminds me of my Grandma! She is trying to learn English, and she likes to practice talking with us. I think her favorite word is "system" because she has said it about five hundred times since we have been in her house! I am sharing a room with Caitlin, and Menna and Amber are right across the hall from us! We have our own bathroom, which is really nice, even though there is basically no running water, ever. Once in awhile we can get the toilet to flush, but the rest of the time, we have to pour a bucket of water down it. The shower never ever works, so we have to bathe by pouring a bucket of water on us. I have only done it once this week, haha, so I guess I am kind of smelly and dirty.
The first night, when we were eating dinner, a mouse jumped out near us. It was really really funny, until the next morning I found mouse poop in my bed. EWWWWW. There are also bugs/cockroaches crawling all around, but I am getting used to them. We are pretty lucky though, the house is definitely nice compared to some other ones and I have been having a lot of fun!
Even though we are in homestays, we still have to go to class, sniff sniff. But the classes have been really interesting! One day, someone came to talk to us from USAID, and a few Rwandan government ministers came on other days. We also had a class activity, where we were given a summary of the situation in Northern Uganda (the civil war and the massacres of the Acholi ethnic group), and we had to look at the statute defining genocide to determine if there was genocide going on the Northern Uganda. It is so hard to tell, because the Acholi ethnic group is really being treated horribly because the LRA is killing, raping, and torturing them, and recruiting child soldiers. Basically, it is only happening to the Acholi ethnic group. I personally don't think it is genocide, although it is most definitely crimes against humanity. I just think that the Acholi group is not being targeted because they are acholi, I think they are being targeted because they are the only group living in Northern Uganda (and the LRA is made up of Acholi people). I don't think the intent is to destroy the ethnic group. There has to be intent to destroy a group of people in whole or in part in order for it to be labeled genocide. That doesn't mean I dont think it is an incredibly awful situation, I just don't think it is genocide. I would say about half the class thinks it is genocide, and half the class doesn't think so.
After class on Monday, we hung out with Innocent and Charles, some of the artists we met last week. We went to a restaurant and I got an absolutely delicious delicious scoop of brownie ice cream. Then I went with Innocent to a music library right next door and he helped me make a mixed CD of East African hip hop! Isn't that soooooooooooo awesome!!! I haven't listened to it yet, because I have no CD player, but I can't wait to hear it when I get home!! Some of the singers are people I have met, how cool is that?
Nothing too exciting happened Tuesday after class, except that we accidentally flooded the bathroom in our homestay. I walked in, and stepped in basically three inches of standing water, which was really bad! but good thing it was clean water, because it was overflowing from the top of the toilet. Anyway, we helped clean it up, so it was ok, haha. We also hung out with Rose's children (who are actually adults), which was really fun. We had a lot of good conversations with them. I talked to Samuel about marriage and divorce in Rwandan society, which is what I am going to write my research paper on for our class. It is really interesting, because you cannot get divorced in Rwanda if you just feel like it, you have to have a major reason like violence or adultery. But if you are not in love anymore, you are just stuck in the marriage! I also have really enjoyed talking to Jackson, who is about 25 and lives with Rose. He isn't blood related, but he is basically part of the family. He basically showed up at Roses's doorstep after the genocide, even though he had never met her. He had no where to go, so Rose "adopted" him. Jackson hasn't really told anyone the story about what happened to him and his family during the genocide, but I'm sure it was soooo incredibly awful.
Wednesday after class was amazing. I got another ice cream cone, then we all went to the secondary school where we have been volunteering to have a talent show. It was so cool. The kids did a traditional dance performance, and they taught us too. Then we all got certificates and letters from the kids thanking us for helping them. It really made all of us feel good!
Today (thursday) is our last day in Kigali, and I am sooo sad! We are all going to miss it so much, it is really a great city. But at least we are not leaving Rwanda yet. Tomorrow we are heading to Butare for more classes and to hang out there. Then we are going to Kibuye, which is near Lake Kivu, for one night! It is going to be awesome, but I may not have internet for awhile, maybe not even until we get to the netherlands! So don't worry if I don't blog for awhile, haha!
love Colleen