Back to Rwanda

I’ve been back in Rwanda for about three weeks now, and things have more or less gotten back to normal here. I spent the first couple days in Kigali, which was a nice transition to ease me back into Rwanda. My first few days back in Nyagatare, though, were difficult. I just felt like I wasn’t ready to be back yet, and I was particularly unmotivated since I didn’t really have any work to do that week. Fortunately, those feelings have subsided, and I’m pretty much back into the swing of things now.

Since coming back, I’ve been able to see many of my good friends in Nyagatare, which has been wonderful. I brought presents back for several people, as well as some donated items for the primary school, and everyone seems to appreciate them so far. School started last week, and my students and fellow teachers seemed very happy to see me again, which felt really nice. I taught my first few classes last week, and it was great to be teaching again. So, all in all, I think I’ve readjusted to life in Rwanda.

Much like going from Africa to the U.S., I think going the other way also gets easier each time, at least in terms of handling living standards and physical difficulty. I’m back to bucket baths, moto taxis, and plantains, back to boiling my drinking water, hand washing my clothes, and waiting an hour for my e-mail to load. Yet, though sometimes annoying, none of these things really seem like a huge burden at this point.

It’s really hard for me to believe that I was actually in the U.S. just a couple weeks ago. It feels a little bit like the refrigerator, Starbucks drinks, carpet, gym, washing machine, and shopping mall were just a weird dream. On the other hand, while I was in the U.S., it sometimes felt like I’d been there all along and like my life in Rwanda had just been a strange – and vivid – dream.

From Rwanda to Montana

I was able to go home again for Christmas this year, and it was a tremendous blessing. Seeing family, friends, Ryan, and his family was wonderful, and it was especially great to reconnect with some friends I hadn’t seen in over two years.

Compared to when I went home last December, I felt less overwhelmed and was less shocked by the general living standards and the availability and variety of, well, everything. Part of this was definitely because, as the school year ended in late October, I had been away from Nyagatare more in the weeks leading up to my vacation. I’d spent more time than usual with other volunteers, speaking English and relaxing. I’d been in Kigali more, as well as in Gisenyi, and, because of that, had had more Western food than usual. On top of that, a few other general improvements have increased my standards a bit. I got more into cooking for myself last year, and have been eating better and healthier food in general. Internet access in Rwanda has improved over the past year, mainly due to affordable “unlimited” options now offered on modems. Plus, the Peace Corps office now has a hostel for Volunteers to stay at when we’re in Kigali, and it has hot showers. Apart from all that, I think going back and forth between the developing world and the developed one probably just gets a little bit easier each time. So, all in all, the U.S. was less of a shock to me than it was last year.

There were still plenty of things I had missed about the U.S., though, and the lessened shock in no way reduced my excitement. I thoroughly enjoyed every clean load of laundry, trip to the gym, trip to the bookstore, flushing toilet, spinach salad, vegetable pizza, peppermint mocha, glass of wine, glass of tap water, not to mention the consistent electricity, hi-speed Internet, unlimited text messages, and so on.

More than any of that, however, the most glorious part was that people didn’t scrutinize my every move. I wasn’t constantly ridiculed for trying to speak a foreign language. I didn’t get phone calls at midnight, or 3:00am, or 6:00am, and I didn’t get calls from people I don’t know (usually male) claiming they “want to be friends” or “need to discuss something.” People didn’t get mad at me if, heaven forbid, I happened to miss their phone call. Nobody watched to see what time I woke up or left my house in the morning, how much time I spent at home during the day, or what time I locked up for the night. Nobody went anyplace just to look at me, told another person to go anyplace just to look at me, or asked another person if they had gone someplace to look at me. For two weeks, I was able to relax and just…be.