Another post, so soon? Don’t worry, it’s only about a tenth of the size of the last one.

School let out on Friday afternoon at 12:00 for Christmas Break. Since then, I have spent my time sitting. Blatantly said, it’s agony.  I’m so tired of sitting. I do occasionally hobble to the bathroom but that’s about it. I sit upstairs on my bed and read or write or do something semi-productive, and if I’m in need of a change of scenery, then I go downstairs and sit on the couch. I’ve only been on vacation for five days, and I’m already tired of it…

I was supposed to get this cast off either this afternoon or Thursday morning, but the orthopedic/physio-therapist thinks that my foot needs at least another week in the cast. My family and I are going to Kibagora (a southern location on Lake Kivu) the week after Christmas, and when she (the physio-therapist) heard this, she said that it would probably be best if I just kept the cast on until we came back, which would mean that my leg would be in this cast for a total of three weeks. It’s very disappointing to hear, but I think it’s ultimately for the best, because I am still experiencing quite a bit of pain and I’ve had three different mishaps in the past few days. I have a hard enough time keeping my balance as it is, but try taking away a leg and adding in a pair of crutches…bad news. On Friday my mom was leaning over the couch, and she lost her balance and fell on my leg. On Sunday I was walking behind my dad and my foot hit the back of his foot and bent my foot up towards me. (Being in a back-slab cast, and not a full cast, means that it has a little bit of flexibility, allowing my foot to be able to be bent upwards by the slightest bit. This is not a good thing.) On Monday I was getting out of the shower and my left foot was still wet. A wet foot, crutches, and tile floors are like oil and water, they don’t mix. In the process of attempting to save myself from falling I whammed my right foot into the door which just sent me right back to where I was the day before: in pain. I was in a lot of pain yesterday (Tuesday) and so I decided to double up on medication. So, I guess you could say, I’m advancing in the wrong direction. I’m not sure how much longer I'll be like this, but God does, and I do know that I will get my foot out of this thing one day.

I’m going to try to brave the market sometime this week. That will be an experience. And you can be sure that I will inform you all of the exciting event. One good thing that has come out of this current state is the compassion from the Rwandans. Each Rwandan that I pass eagerly calls out “Sorry!” Considering the fact that I live in Rwanda, I hear “Sorry!” a lot. The funny thing is, it doesn’t sound like “sorry”; it sounds more like “sawdy” The conversation goes something like this:

“Ooo sawdy! What happened?”

“I was playing football”

“Oh football! That is good. You will get better soon.”

I did get out of the house for a couple hours yesterday…I went and got my hair cut. The man that cut my hair has actually studied in Dubai, so I felt pretty confident that he knew what he was doing. People have always been fascinated with my hair. Even as a baby, complete strangers used to stop my mom in the grocery store and ask if my hair was natural or if it was a perm. People love to touch my hair…I really do not understand why. Anyway, Frank (the guy that cut my hair) could not get over my hair. When I first took it out of the pony-tail he said, “Your hair, is incredible!” He was meaning incredible more in a negative sense… “Your hair is incredibly thick, and I’m not sure where to start.” A little while later he said, “Your hair…it’s too much. It’s hard on the eyes.” Great, thanks. I know that he wasn’t trying to offend me, it was pretty funny. My hair cut was a success all in all. It falls right at my shoulders when it is straight and it’s just under my chin when it’s curly. I will be posting some pictures on facebook of my birthday and Christmas, so you will be able to get a better idea of the “new do” then.

My schedule received a drastic change. Up until last Friday, my life has been a constant flow of school and activities, leaving me little to no free time. I now spend the majority of my day sitting with ample time on my hands. Therefore, you can expect multiple short blog posts over the next few weeks.

With only four remaining days until Christmas, I can only imagine the condition of the over-crowded stores and the congested roads, full of people wrapping up (pun intended) their Christmas shopping. Enjoy the cold temperatures, the over-priced items, and the busy stores. Eat lots of holiday treats and drink lots of Chick-fil-a peppermint milkshakes. Spend as much time as possible with your dear family and friends because you never know when God might call you to Africa, leaving you without any of the aforementioned things.

Getting More Than I Bargained For

Quite a bit has happened in the last two weeks resulting in this incredibly long post. I do not want to deter you or overwhelm you by the length so I’ve chopped the post up into 4 parts in hopes that you will be more inclined to read a section a day and actually end up reading the post in its entirety rather than delving in and discovering that you do not have enough time in your day to complete this post. Pace yourselves…and enjoy!

Part 1

Two weekends ago I had an amazing opportunity to serve in Gisenyi (a town bordering the Northern part of Lake Kivu). I am a Young Life leader at school and our Young Life team (there are eight of us total, but only six of us went on this trip) was asked to help at a weekend retreat in Gisenyi for a Young Life Club that is starting for local Rwandans. We left the Kigali bus station at 4:30 on Friday afternoon and arrived in Gisenyi around 8:00 that night. The bus ride wasn’t terrible, I’ve experienced worse ones, but by the time we arrived, I was feeling rather queasy and I was looking forward to the moment that my feet touched solid ground. Unfortunately that moment did not come as soon as expected. (This is a lesson that I’m continually learning about Africa: Don’t have expectations…in fact, plan on something going “not as planned.”) Just because we had “arrived” didn’t mean that we had actually “arrived”; we still had to take mottos (motorcycle taxis) to the school where we were to stay for the weekend. I think my motto driver thought it would be fun to play a little game of, “Let’s See How Many Potholes I Can Hit Before the Mzungu Tosses Her Cookies”. I kept my eyes tightly shut for the entire ten minute ride, praying that we would get to the school as quickly as possible, but we continued to slam into potholes and my stomach continued to remind me that it was not okay. We did finally arrive though and I managed to stay composed through the rest of the evening. Upon arriving at the school, we were greeted by chanting, banging on tables, and loud music. We jumped right in and began serving dinner to the two hundred or so campers. After they wolfed down their food, we collected their plates, cleaned up the dining hall, and then sat down to our dinner. The campers went off to Club which is basically like a youth group- there is a skit, a game, and a talk and it usually lasts for about an hour. After Club we were sent to one of six stations of an obstacle course. I was in charge of station number four, and the gist of the game was to army crawl under wooden desks. This obstacle course was unlike any I’ve ever experienced. The event took about two and a half hours to complete because they fed each team trough the obstacle course one at a time. I was exhausted by the time all this was said and done, and I believe my head finally hit the pillow around 1am. I was up at 6:30 the next morning (or really, it was the same morning) for a quick leader meeting and then we began serving breakfast to the campers. One thing I learned during this weekend: Rwandans have a lot of energy. Before this weekend I knew that you could eat a meal and I knew that you could dance, but I had no idea that you could do both at the same time. These people just don’t stop moving. They love to dance. I was exposed to all sorts of African dancing and rhythms. They shovel their food in as fast as they can so they can start dancing, and some people don’t have big enough mouths, so they just opt to dance while they eat. After breakfast there was another Club and then more outdoor games. This time my game was volleyball. Before you get a nice picture in your head of a traditional volleyball game, let me stop you. First of all, this volleyball game was played sitting down, second of all, this game was played with about 15 to 20 people on each side of the court, and the third of all, we played with a basketball. Yes, that’s right, a basketball, not a “volleyball”. Another thing I learned this weekend: Rwandans are competitive. They were so concerned that I kept track of the score, and they would yell and scream and argue their case until I gave them a point. After the games were finished we served lunch and then we had a couple hours of free time in the afternoon, so I and two other people on our team decided to go exploring and see if we could walk to the lake (Kivu). We did find the lake after about 30 minutes and it was so worth it. We also saw the boarder of Democratic Republic of Congo on our walk, and I was tempted to run across the border for a quick minute, but the other two wouldn’t let me. Dinner was ready to be served when we arrived back and then we had a third Club. We (our team) had been asked to perform a traditional “American” dance at Club that night so we taught everyone the Hokey-Pokey. I think they enjoyed it, but I think they were also a little confused by it. Sunday morning we woke up and served breakfast, packed our bags, and then boarded the bus back to Kigali. I loved serving all of those teenagers and I loved getting out of the city and seeing more of Rwanda. I was exposed to many cross-cultural opportunities and an opportunity to serve, not to mention five different languages (Kinyarwanda, Congolese, English, French, and Swahili)…we actually had a translator on top of a translator. Someone would speak in Kinyarwanda, and then someone else would translate it to French so that the French speaker (who spoke English) could let our team know what was happening. It was a fabulous weekend.

Part 2

I arrived back into town on Sunday afternoon feeling extremely worn out. I knew that I still had two weeks of school, two drama performances, two band performances, exams and a partridge in a pear tree until I could crash. I planned on making it…but I didn’t get very far. Remember what I am learning? Plan on things not going as planned. (I’ll get back to the “I didn’t get very far” in part 4) My drama performances were great! I played the part of Mother in “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” We gave one performance at 2:00 and one at 6:00 this past Saturday. I was so happy to be a part of the play…it was a blast.

We had our band Christmas concert last Thursday, which also was a huge success. My dad is a very talented man, and he has the ability to pull off a great concert even in Africa. Monday (of this week) was our second band performance which consisted of all the bands playing Christmas songs at Nakumatt. (Nakumatt is most easily described as Wal-mart.) There are two Nakumatts in Kigali and we played at both of them…again it was a huge success a great opportunity and a great way to get the name “KICS” (Kigali International Community School) out there.

Part 3

I’m positive that I will not stop learning lessons until I breathe my last. Life is full of lessons and each one needs to be learned.

“When you go to Jesus for help, you get from him far more than you had in mind….[and] when you go to Jesus for help, you also end up giving to him far more than you expected to give.” Timothy Keller (King’s Cross)

When I began praying for God’s will in my life, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. In actuality I was praying for His “plan” for my life. My job, my future spouse, what my life will look like after high school, etc. I just wanted God to sit me down and tell me what He wanted from me. I really wasn’t thinking that I needed to go through this whole long process where I have a bunch of trials and learn a bunch of things. But, God knows what’s best for me. “He is giving me way more than I had in mind.” I had some things (and I still do have some things) in my life that need to be removed -negative personality traits, to be specific. I need to learn, I need to grow, I need to change. The only problem is, learning, growing, and changing is not easy and it’s not always fun. The other day I was thinking about how I’ve been praying for God’s will and it dawned me on that His will for my life may change over time. I was expecting to receive His will for the rest of my life. Something like, “Grace, you are going to be a doctor in South Africa.” Or “Grace, you are going to be a teacher in New York City.” But I’m learning that sitting down and having a little chat where God clearly lays out the plan is not part of God’s plan. Just because His current will for me is to be joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances doesn't mean that is what I will be doing for the rest of my life. When it comes time for me to fill out a job application, I can’t say “Well, I’m super happy, I’m full of gratitude and I pray all the time.” No one would hire me. That statement right there is where I went wrong, “When it comes time to fill out a job application.” See, I was actually praying for His “guidance” for my future. I was praying that He would “help” all of my plans and dreams come true…“help and guide”, not “direct and control” my life. Two problems with that prayer: it was very selfish and close-minded and it still allowed me to be in control of my life. Ever since discovering that I had been “praying the wrong prayer”,  I have been even more dedicated to following God’s will for my life. Right now, it’s be joyful, pray, and give thanks. Honestly, that’s a tall order, and I have a lot of work to do if I’m going to fulfill His will. I’m okay with not knowing what my occupation will be, who I will marry, or what my life will look like after high school. I’ve spent too long planning my future and wishing my life away. Right now, I’m in Rwanda, Africa, living in God’s will, and there is absolutely nothing else that matters and there is absolutely no other place I’d rather be.

More things I’m learning…

Those who know me know that I’m a believer in confrontation. If I have a problem with someone or something I let my opinion be heard. While parts of this are a really good thing, there are other aspects to this that are terribly wrong. I’ve gotten myself into quite a bit of trouble this year because I’ve been standing up for what I believe in and confronting people. I was talking to my math teacher on Friday and he said something very profound: “Sometimes a situation calls for confrontation, but there are other cases when you need to let things go. You need to learn how to lose your battles.” I cannot even begin to describe the weight of those words. Plenty of people could care less about what I think, and I don’t need to go around stating my opinion. I also don’t need to fight everything that I’m against. I need to learn how to lose my battles.

Before I boarded the plane and moved to Africa, people in the States used to say to me, “This is going to be such a great experience. I can’t wait to see how God is going to use you. Or I can’t wait to see how He is going to work in your life” At the time, I did not fully understand those words, and I’m not even sure if the people that spoke those words knew what they were really saying to me. But, boy, let me tell you, this experience is phenomenal. I’m learning so many things…so many. God is using me, and He is without a doubt working in me. Four months ago, when I said goodbye to my friends, my home, and my life and relocated in Africa I had no idea what I was getting myself into. When I said so-long to myself and began letting God control my life I had no idea what I was getting into. But I’m grateful for every step of this journey, and I wouldn’t do anything over, even if I had the chance.

Part 4:

In the past few months I’ve learned a thing or two about patience, reliance, and perseverance and pain. Now, I’m learning these things in a whole new light. God is saying to me, “Remember Grace, be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances.” I’ve learned a little bit about dealing with internal pain. The pain that comes from being left out, being talked about behind your back, and being made fun of. I’ve learned how to rely solely on the Lord and how to have patience and perseverance through hard times. Now it’s time for me to learn about patience, reliance, perseverance and pain…externally.

About three weeks ago I pulled a muscle in my right thigh during P.E. and I had to take it easy for about two weeks. I rested it, iced it, took ibuprofen, etc. After about two weeks, it wasn’t great, but it was better, and I was tired of not being active so I participated it P.E. Everything was fine during class, but I ended up being a little sore, which was to be expected. Before the start of my next P.E. class I was stretching my leg, and I’m pretty sure that it was telling me to lay off of it for a day, but I didn’t listen. (That was mistake number 1) We have been doing a football (soccer) unit for the past month. I know how to play the game, but I don’t really know any techniques, I just go after the ball and hope for the best. We started the game and things were going well, I was running towards the guy who had the ball and ended up blocking him…with my right thigh. (That was mistake number 2) I felt instant pain and actually fell to the ground, but I jumped right back up and didn’t let it stop me. I continued to play, thinking that the pain would subside if I continued to run (That was mistake number 3) A couple minutes later, I was after the same guy as before and our legs got caught up in each other and in his effort to get himself and the ball away from me he stepped on my ankle…my RIGHT ankle. Now, this wasn’t just a 3-year-old-girl-in-a-fuzzy-slipper step on my ankle, no, this was a 17-year-old-guy-in-a-legit-metal-cleat step on my ankle. (Going after a guy that was wearing real cleats was mistake number 4) My ankle twisted towards the left a little bit too far and the shooting pain traveled all the way up my leg. You would think that by now I would call it quits, but I clearly don’t learn from my mistakes very quickly. I continued to play because I didn’t want to appear “whimpish” or “weak”. (That was mistake number 5) Throughout the rest of the game I fell two or three more times, I got the ball slammed into my stomach and by the end of the game, I was whooped. I was planning on walking it off and not saying anything, but my plan completely failed. With each step, my limp became more and more noticeable, no matter how much I tried to hide it. By the end of the day I was in a significant amount of pain and I could hardly walk. [Side Note: this was the same day (Thursday) as our band concert. I went through the rest of the school day on Thursday and the entire band concert dealing with this uncomfortable pain.] Skipping over a couple minor details… I was at school all day Friday walking around on my ankle with a brace on it treating it as a sprain. Saturday was my “big day”, I had two performances to give and I was not going to let anything hold me back. I was pretty hard on my ankle and leg in general and by the end of the day the pain had increased. Sunday I did the first smart thing that I had done in the past few days: I rested. I elevated and iced and studied for exams. Monday I was back to school and walking all over campus, up and down stairs. Monday night was the “straw that broke the camel’s back.” In between performances at Nakumatt, I felt so sick to my stomach, I lost all the coloring in my face, and came too close to passing out. The pain continued to increase at a rapid pace. After 30 minutes my color came back to my face and I ended up playing at the second Nakumatt even though that was the last thing that I wanted to do. I did not go to school on Tuesday, I stayed at home and rested and attempted to recover enough to take my exams the following three days. My ankle was still not getting better, in fact it was getting worse. And on top of that the pain in my stomach was practically matching the pain in my ankle. I had been consuming so much ibuprofen over the past 6 days… in actuality; I had been taking ibuprofen for almost three weeks because of my previous thigh injury. The lining in my stomach was feeling pretty torn up and eating was the last thing I wanted to do. Since then I’ve switched pain killers and I’ve noticed a big improvement. Anyway, on Tuesday night I went and had my ankle x-rayed and I also got a pair of crutches. Then on Wednesday I had an appointment with an orthopedic/physio-therapist. She explained that I tore two ligaments in my right ankle and the fact that I continued to play the football game on Thursday, I walked on it all day at school on Friday and Monday, and I had two drama performance on Saturday set my healing process back by at least a week. Usually ligaments take one month to six weeks to heal, so we’ll see how I fair. She also called another doctor and he recommended putting me in a back-slab cast for a week to set my ankle, because I cannot hold it up properly on my own, plus I was still putting a little weight on it. This cast is forcing me to walk slowly and rest a lot, which, in turn, will hopefully “make-up for lost time” in the healing department.

Now, this is just plain old frustrating. I don’t like sitting still for hours on end. I would much rather be outside playing…football.  The cast makes it so that I can’t walk and the weight of it makes my thigh hurt. I could easily list all the bad and negative things about my situation, but that won’t get me anywhere. There are plenty of things that I can be grateful about and obviously, this is a part of God’s plan. I know without a doubt that He’s not sitting up in heaven dumbfounded, trying to come up with a quick back-up plan. He is teaching me about patience. It takes me about five minutes to get up a normal staircase. It would be easier if I had to legs and I could go get my own water, but I have to sit on my bed and wait patiently for someone to bring it to me. He is teaching me about perseverance. Along with taking a long time to get up a flight of stairs, it also takes quite a bit of endurance to maneuver those crutches and drag myself up each step. He is teaching me about pain. The physical pain that I am going through now and the internal pain that I’ve been going through with relationships at school are nothing compared to the pain that Jesus went through on the cross. He is teaching me about reliance. I need to not only rely on people to help me get around, but I also need to rely on God. He will stand by me and help me all the way to the end. And last, but not least, He is teaching me how to be joyful, to pray continually, and to give thanks in ALL circumstances.

Like I said, a lot has happened in the past few weeks. Living in God’s will is an exciting place to be, it keeps me on my toes, and it insures that something is always happening. I’d like to close with this quote by Elizabeth Elliot, “God is God, and since he is God, he is worthy of my worship and my service.  I will find rest nowhere else but in his will, and that will is necessarily infinitely, immeasurably, unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what he is up to”

Just like Elisabeth Elliot said, I have no idea what God is up to, but I’m holding on tightly, and not letting go, and I can’t wait to see the finished product on the other side. 

And So It Goes...

The other night I was talking to a friend of mine and during the course of our conversation I said, “This might sound a little cliché, but I actually feel closer to God over here in Africa compared to America. He's really working in my life.” And his response was, “When we get into a routine and become complacent, we limit the amount of space we let God move in our lives. When things are crazy, hectic, new, and put us out of our comfort zone...all we've got left is God.”

I do, in fact, feel much closer to God “over here”. He is teaching me all about patience, perseverance, and reliance… honestly, I am learning a multitude of things, and I’m also learning certain things that I don’t even realize I’m learning. Only after this chapter in my life ends, will I be able to look back and discover other things that the Lord has taught me. I do believe that part of the reason why my relationship with the Lord is growing is because I have moved away from the “normal” life that I was over-comfortable with and He is all that I have left. Up until four months ago, I’d never left the United States before. I had family and friends surrounding me and my life was just honky-dory. Why would I need to talk to God when I had friends to talk to? That was my biggest problem: I had my order of priorities reversed. Sure, I loved God, and I had a relationship with him, but I kept “my life” separated from my relationship with Him. Who am I supposed to talk to after a hard day at school? Oh yeah, God. Who am I supposed to talk to when I have fantastic news to share? Oh yeah, God. He has become an essential in my life. If I don’t spend time in the Word or time talking to Him each day, I end up feeling out of place. I am so thankful for the work He is doing in my life.

I’m still attempting to “be joyful always, to pray continually, and to give thanks in all circumstances”. (referring to my last blog) When God first gave me that command, I thought to myself, “Ah, piece of cake! I’m a happy person. I talk to God. I’m thankful.” And God said, “Nice try, Grace.” I had an extremely rough week at school about two weeks ago where I felt as if I didn’t have any friends or anyone to talk to. I was feeling alone, miserable, and upset, but then the Lord reminded me of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 and immediately I felt ashamed. God was testing me and I wasn’t passing the test…at all.  I prayed and apologized to the Lord and asked Him to guide me and help me. The next morning I woke up feeling refreshed and full of joy…a joy that could only come from the Lord.  Since then, things have been looking up. I’m striving to be joyful, to pray, and to give thanks no matter what may come my way.

I’m still praying for His will, and I am still open to whatever He has in store for me.  My latest “key verse” has been Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” Remember a couple blogs back when I talked about praying for God’s will and wondering why He wasn’t telling me anything? That’s because I was not ready to hear what He had to say. He’s been changing my heart so that when He reveals His ultimate plan to me, I will be accepting of it. As recent as this week, God has placed something on my heart. I’m still trying to determine if this is coming from the Lord or if this is just some idea that I thought up, and I’m also trying to understand if this is a plan for the near future or maybe it’s not supposed to happen for another seven and a half years. What I do know is that I haven’t been able to stop thinking or praying about it all week long. For those of you who do not know, the 10-40 Window is located in between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude. It is most of northern Africa and southern Asia. It consists of two-thirds of the world’s population and the primary religions are Islam Hindu, Buddhism, etc. The main point is that Christianity is practically non-existent. It’s not the safest place in the world, and it would require creative access, but those people need to hear about Jesus. I want to go to any or all of the countries located in the 10-40 Window and let those people now how much God loves them. I realize that there is a risk in speaking so assuredly about something like this, and the reason why I’m publically sharing this news is so that you can be in prayer with me as I determine if this is a part of the Lord’s plan for me.

Life in Kigali: I will never get tired of this place! There is always something going on…whether it’s interpreting what a neighbor is trying to communicate to me ( in Kinyarwanda, of course) , or staying on top of school work, or even something as simple as looking up at the sky and soaking in the beauty. Rwanda is an amazing place.

After four months of visiting churches, I think we’ve finally settled on one particular church. It took me a while to feel comfortable attending this church. I had a few issues with the service in general and I kept comparing it to my home church in North Carolina. But, a couple Sundays ago, the songs and the sermon directly applied to my life and what God has been teaching me, and I’ve felt much more open to the church ever since. In sixth grade I had a realization that I was not going to be going to the same church for the rest of my life, and in that same moment I pictured myself going to a church that was somewhat non-denominational, predominantly black people, and had plenty of lively music with lots of freedom to move and sing for the Lord. And what do you know…five years later, and that is exactly the type of church I’m attending. Just because we have started regularly attending this church doesn’t mean that we won’t occasionally visit other churches from time to time. I’m grateful to be consistently attending one church though, that way I can get plugged in and feel more connected.

Yesterday we went to a waterfall about an hour outside of the city with some friends. You really can’t leave the city and not feel like a celebrity. If you drive by a couple of kids on the side of the road they shout out “Mzungus, mzungus!!” They love it when we wave to them or shake their hands. The twelve of us “mzungus” attracted a crowd of maybe thirty to forty Rwandans. They were content to sit and watch us play in the water and attempt zip-lining. (I’ll explain in a moment) I actually pulled a muscle in my right thigh last Tuesday in P.E. and so I wasn’t able to play in the water or really do anything. I did strike up a conversation with a few of the onlookers though. They speak about as much English as I speak Kinyarwanda, so we had a fun time trying to understand what the other was saying. I was speaking to one guy in particular, Peter, and I was able to understand that he wanted water, he wanted a picture with our car, and he wanted us to give him a ride to Kigali. Another boy, Patrick, came up to me while I was doing some homework and I showed him a picture of Africa and he was fascinated. Then I showed him a picture of America and I told him that I spoke English because I was from America and he burst out laughing. (Back to the zip-lining) We tied one end of a rope to one of the cars and we strung it across the five foot wide river and attached the other end to the rocks to form a make-shift zip-line. The five kids (Adam, Miles, and the three other girls we were with) all took a turn at zip-lining. Miles, of course, had everyone is stitches just by making funny faces as he was flying through the air. Even the Rwandans were laughing at him! It was a really great afternoon. I never regret leaving the city for a couple hours. It’s always a great experience, and after today, I have an even bigger desire to learn Kinyarwanda so that I can have a decent conversation with the nationals.  

I hope you all are enjoying the start to your holiday season. We had a rather American Thanksgiving with an African touch on Thursday and we decorated our humble, four foot Christmas tree on Friday night. We sent several of our personal Christmas decorations on the container that left North Carolina last April. It’s nice to have a few decorations to remind us of home and help us get in the Christmas mood, especially since the sunny and 70 degree weather isn’t helping.

Life continues to be great. It’s not always easy, but God is always faithful. “[He] works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” This road that I’m on right now is wonderful. I’m learning and experiencing so much. I had no idea that God had this much in store for me, and the exciting thing is, He’s not finished yet.

An Update ~Spiritually

I have received a surprising amount of positive feedback on my blog. Hearing that people (friends, family, and even people that I've never met before) are actually reading my blog and liking it is so amazing to me. In my last update (approximately 8 days ago), I shared with you how God is working in me. I've been praying for His will for my life, but I have not been getting much of a response. Many of you have told me that you are praying for me, and I so appreciate (and need) your prayers. I'm typing up a quick update to let you know that your (and my) prayers are being answered. I want to offer encouragement to anyone who may need it and I want everyone to know that God is showing Himself to me one step at a time.

Yesterday I was reminded of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." I was completely taken aback by that verse. Sure, I've heard it before, in fact I've had it memorized ever since the fourth grade, but yesterday it was presented to me in a whole new light. The words "God's will for you" stood out like a man wearing hot pink at a funeral. Here I am praying, asking, practically begging God to show me His will for my life. Whatever. Whenever. Wherever. I'll do it, Lord, just tell me what "it" is. He has given me the first step. I'm not completely sure that it's the "first step" it may be the second step or possibly the sixth, but nonetheless He has given me the next step. Right now, God's will for me is to always be joyful, to constantly pray, and give thanks no matter what happens. If I can do that, then He'll show me what's next. I am starting out small. I was planning on God giving me the whole plan in one dose, but I've learned that my plans look absolutely nothing like God's plans. In fact, I think He finds it quite humorous how I constantly come up with a plan and He has to say, "No, Grace. We're doing it my way not your way." So, we're starting small. I'm taking what God has given me and I'm running with it. I'll be joyful, I'll pray and I'll give thanks, as I wait for the next step.

Kigali to Kampala to Jinja and Back

I realize that it was been way too long since I last updated my blog. My life is a pretty steady flow: Wake up, go to school, go to student council, jazz band, drama, or Bible study (depending on the day), come home and eat dinner, do homework, go to bed, do it all again the next day. As you can see that does not leave a whole lot of free time.  I do have some exiting things to share and so I have created some time for me to sit down and update my blog.

Let me start with this: God is doing something big in my life. He is changing me. I’m still Grace Gaskill, but I’m maturing and growing and changing spiritually. I’m so glad that God called my family and me to Rwanda and life here is great, but it’s not always easy. I’ve actually been struggling lately, and I’ve had some rough days. Here’s the deal: I have been praying for about three months now that God will show me His plan for my life. I understand that I will not be truly happy and filled up unless I’m living in His will. And that’s exactly what I want. I want to go wherever and do whatever God wants me to do. When I first started praying that prayer, I expected God to tell me what He wanted…right away. I did not count on it taking this long and I did not plan on going through this whole process. Right now, I’m not ready to hear His plan. That’s why He hasn’t told me yet. I have to learn more things and go through more things in order to be ready for The Plan. He has taken away all of my desires and my own plans for life after high school. As of right now, I’ll be staying at home doing nothing for the rest of my life because I don’t have a single plan or desire. I have had some very hard days. I’ve felt like giving up, in fact, I’ve felt like I had reached rock bottom. Here I am, giving my whole life over to God and I find myself feeling alone and not having a single plan. But, God is teaching me to rely entirely on Him. If He takes everything that I know away from me, is life still good? The answer is yes. God has given me countless verses of encouragement. Jeremiah 29:11-13. Proverbs 16:3 and 16:9. Matthew 6:25-34. James 1:12. Hebrews 13:5-6…God has also given me Sara Groves. Sara Groves is a wonderful, Christian artist who has written some truly fantastic music. Her lyrics are great, and there are several songs that I feel were written specifically for me, they have been so encouraging to me. Particularly this one phrase in her song, Song for my Sons, “I can’t say that life will always go on like it should, but I can say that God is always good.” My life is definitely not going on like it should, or going on the way I wanted it to go, but God is still good. Right now I’m “in the waiting”. I’m waiting on God to tell me what He wants from me. I’m open to anything. I know that He will adequately prepare me for whatever He has in mind for my life. I realize that the roads will not always be easy…but He will be with me every step of the way.

Now, for a change of topic…My family and I just spent this past week in Uganda! We had the week off from school and so we decided to take advantage of the holiday and see a little bit more of Africa. It was quite a trip. We left Kigali on Monday morning and we arrived back into town last night. We experienced some pretty wild things during our trip, starting with the bus ride…

Yes, we rode on a bus all the way from Kigali, Rwanda to Kampala, Uganda. (Kampala is the capital of Uganda.) The bus ride was terrible. That’s really the only way to describe it. Imagine spending ten hours in a bus driving down windy, bumpy African roads. I thought I knew what it was like to be car sick, but let me tell you…Also, the bus driver played very loud music. Sometimes rap, sometimes pop, sometimes Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, but whatever it was, it was loud. So loud that I could not even carry on a conversation with my mom, who was sitting right next to me. I couldn’t read, I couldn’t talk, all I could do was sleep and day dream. Like I said, it was terrible.

We arrived in Kampala after around 8:30 on Monday night. Kampala is much different than Kigali. Kampala is not a safe as Kigali and it’s not as orderly and clean. Arriving in a foreign city, at night, and being the only mzungus (white people) at the bus station was probably not the smartest idea, but thankfully a friend in Kigali had arranged for a driver to pick us up from the bus station and take us to our guest house. If Ivan (the driver) had not come to pick us up, I have no idea what we would have done.

Kampala was not our final destination though. We were headed to Jinja, Uganda to see some good friends from our home church in North Carolina, the Greers. Technically we were headed to Good Shephard’s Fold Orphanage (GSF) which is located in the middle of a sugar cane field just outside of Jinja. We woke up on Tuesday morning and a driver came to pick us up and take us to GSF. It was about an hour and a half drive, and it was much smoother and quieter than the bus ride.  We spent the rest of Tuesday and all of Wednesday and Thursday at GSF. It was so great to see the Greers, to play with all of those sweet kids, and enjoy a change of pace. Life is much slower paced at GSF, especially compared to our life in Kigali.  Many church groups come to visit the Greers and help out at the orphanage. Our time with the GSF was a little different than most. For starters, we were already used to bumpy dirt roads, the food, sleeping under a mosquito net…etc. We did not really have to adapt ourselves too much that way.  Also, we came for more of a vacation. Yes, we did help out with a few projects and we played with the kids, but it wasn’t like we were there on a short-term mission trip. The Greers took us into Jinja on Thursday afternoon. We went on a little boat ride on the Nile River and saw some exotic birds and lizards. Chances are there were other reptiles but I, thankfully, did not see any of them.  After the boat ride, we went into downtown Jinja. There were so many things to do and see on that one little road in Jinja, it was so cool.

Our driver came to get us on Friday morning and take us back to Kampala. Kampala is a little bit more westernized than Kigali. There are more places to shop, and you can find things in Kampala that you can’t find in Kigali. We took advantage of the cheaper prices and did some shopping on Friday and Saturday. Oreos are one thing that you can find in Kampala. Let me tell you…I was one happy girl when I had my first double-stuffed Oreo in three months. You begin to appreciate little things like Oreos when you don’t have access to them anymore. There are several large shopping malls in Kampala too. I’m pretty sure we experienced culture shock when we walked into Game (a store that is similar to Wal-mart). It was crazy! The lighting, the aisles, all the stuff! I felt like I’d been out in a village for three years, but really I’ve been living in a city for three months. Another thing that we did while in Kampala is go bowling. Yes, Kampala has a real bowling alley. It was pretty fun. Kampala is much more polluted and disorganized than Kigali. Traffic is bad…very bad. Often times, in the States, people will say something like “That guy needs to get off the road; he doesn't know how to drive.” People in the States have no idea what a bad driver is. Driving in Kampala is quite the experience. It’s similar to driving in Kigali, but Kigali is not as crowded as Kampala. Also, the boda-bodas are another reason why the streets are so crowded. Boda-bodas are the equivalent to motos which are the equivalent to motorcycle taxis. Boda-bodas are much more dangerous than motos though, because you don’t wear a helmet and you can put four or five people on one boda-boda. (Remember, it’s just the size of a regular motorcycle.)

Instead of taking the bus back to Kigali on Sunday, we hired a driver. The drive was still long, and not always the smoothest, but it was much, much nicer.  On this trip, I crossed a boarder, I crossed the equator and I crossed the Nile (a small section of it, anyways). It was a great trip, but I am so glad to be back in Kigali.

Well, that’s our trip in a nutshell. We go back to school tomorrow, so the pace will pick up again. I’ll do my best to keep you updated with our life here. Thank you for your support and thank you for your prayers. We miss everyone back home, but we love life here in Kigali. 

My Heart is in Rwanda

Exactly seven weeks ago today we arrived in Kigali, Rwanda. I've seen, heard, smelled, tasted, and felt things in these past seven weeks that I never even dreamed of before. Living in Africa has opened my mind to so many things...to other possibilities and options. I absolutely love Rwanda and even if I had the choice, I honestly would not want to be anywhere else right now.


I'm staying very busy with school work and after school activities, i.e. student council, jazz band, and drama. School (academically speaking) has been a bit of a challenge, especially when it comes to math, but I'm not giving up yet. School (socially speaking) is great. I have friends...kids that I sit with at lunch and hang out with after school. It's a small school and because I'm an upperclassman everyone seems to know who I am, which is pretty cool. Being in an international school and in a foreign country means that I'm exposed to so many languages and accents. I have to focus pretty hard when I'm listening to certain people, even though they are speaking English.


Last Saturday I had the opportunity to go to an orphanage. I've never been to an orphanage before. It was pretty overwhelming, but it was so worth it. Those kids were so sweet. The just wanted to be held and played with. The smell was pretty atrocious and the kids would go to the bathroom whenever they needed to, even if you were holding them. (Let me tell you, cloth diapers leak.)  I wanted to take every single one of those kids home with me. Walking away from all of those runny noses and dirty feet, and crying babies was one of the hardest things I've done. I've wanted to adopt a little baby practically my whole life, and I'm praying that God will allow my family to adopt a little girl.


Last week we only had school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On Thursday the KICS teachers (and families) went to Lake Kivu for a three day retreat. It was nice to get out of the city for a few days and see more of this beautiful county that we are so privileged to be living in. Lake Kivu is probably one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Imagine water, as far as the eye can see, and large hills rolling along the horizon and occasionally right in the water. Purely magnificent! We serve an amazing God! (I hope to post pictures of our vacation soon.)


It seems to me that about two-thirds of the Rwandan population carries items on their heads. Sometimes it's something as simple as a basket of bananas and other times it's as heavy as a sack of potatoes. I've seen a man carrying five or six piece of foam on his head, I've seen several people carrying backpacks on their heads (not their backs), but the best one so far: a man carrying six dinning room chairs on his head. Their balance and strength amazes me. 


Specific things that I really miss:
1) I miss driving
2) I miss ice cream and milkshakes
3) I miss shopping
4) I miss driving
5) I miss my friends and family 
6) I miss my youth group
7) I miss brownies and mac and cheese
8) I miss driving
9) I miss Cheez-Its


In case you couldn't tell from the above list, driving is definitively the number one thing that I miss :) Missing those things is good for me though, it makes me appreciate them all the more. I'm so thankful that my family and I moved to Rwanda seven weeks ago. I would be missing out if I had stayed in America. Life is great! 

One Month into Things

It’s my guess that a majority of you, readers, have seen the pictures that my brother, Adam, took. I hope that they give you a better idea of what it’s like here. I do my best to explain it here in my blog, but like they say “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

School is going well. The “newness” of it is beginning to wear off, but I still like it overall. I am struggling in few subjects. Sadly, French 1 is not any better the second time around. Foreign languages do not click in my head…but then again, not many things click in my head. Each class has its challenges and I must “keep my head in the game” if I wish to succeed.

Speaking of school, we did not have school yesterday (Tuesday) because it was a teacher workday. That’s okay with me; it was nice to have a little break. It’s not like I sat around and did nothing though. I worked on an instrument inventory list for my dad, and I studied for several tests and quizzes that will be coming later this week.

One of our guards at school has a very funny habit of saying “yes please”. His name is Ferdinand; he is one of the sweetest guys I know, and he has obviously worked very hard to perfect his English. I’ll often approach the gate and say “Hi Ferdinand! Can you open the gate for me?” And he’ll reply, “Yes please!” One day last week, he had fallen asleep in his chair and my mom walked up to him and gently called his name to wake him up. He abruptly stood up and said “Yes please!”

Most of the roads are paved, but there are also plenty of roads that are not. Some roads are just dirt roads that are easy to ride on, but then there are other roads that are just ridiculous. You can’t help but laugh as you go bumping down the road. There is one dirt road in particular that has speed bumps. Speed bumps on a bumpy dirt road. Absolutely hilarious!

We have found a house-helper! Her name is Margaret. She is very kind and she clearly knows what she’s doing. She cleans the house and does the laundry and ironing faster than anyone I know. She went to the Market for us on Monday. (Being a national means that she will be able to get a much better price for food compared to us, white Americans.) She bought some sugar cane upon Miles’ request. It’s quite interesting! You chew it and suck the “juice” and then you spit out the “fiber”. I’m not sure that I care for the taste; I’ll have to give it another try sometime.

I was told that after about a month of being here, I would begin to really miss “things”. And sure enough, 32 days later…I’m missing American food, and my car, and convenience, and all sorts of things that Americans take for granted.  I know one thing for sure; I’m going to have a long list of places to go and food to eat next summer!

Several of my friends gave my very thoughtful letters to read on the long airplane ride. Of course I kept them all. They have been sitting in my Converse “keep-sake box”. Tonight I decided that I would like to go through my box and read all of those sweet letters plus look at pictures and old birthday cards. Unfortunately it wasn’t a “nice little walk down memory lane”. No, quite the opposite. I miss my friends and family so much. Living thousands of miles away has made me realize that I had begun to rely on the fact that they were always around. Now that I don’t get to see these people on a regular basis, I realize how important they really are to me. 10^th grade was a significant year for me, and I think back to all of the people that were a part of my life this past year, and I thank God for each and every one of them. I can’t wait until next summer when I get to hug their necks and see their beautiful faces again!

I feel so incredibly blessed to be living in Kigali, Rwanda. How many 16 year olds get this opportunity? Sure I miss everyone like crazy, but I know, with confidence, that I will see them again one day; either here on earth or in our eternal home. I’m meeting people from all over the world, trying new things, learning new things, and experiencing life in a foreign country. God definitely wants me and my family in Rwanda right now, and I am all for following the Lord and doing His will, and so I can honestly say that I wouldn’t rather me anywhere else!

Life Continues

On Sunday morning we visited another church, CLA (Christ Life Assembly). I really enjoyed the service. We sang for about thirty minutes, and the pastor preached for a little over an hour. It was so cool to look around the room (that was about the size of a gymnasium) at the sea of black, and occasionally see a few dots of white. We sat on long wooden benches that were, frankly, less than comfortable. The congregation moved around a lot during the singing, and it was evident that God was being glorified.

On Friday night, we ate dinner at a friend’s house. While at dinner, we learned that it considered rude to have food out in public. Even if you are just carrying an apple, it needs to be in a brown paper bag, or hidden in some way. My dad and I have been eating breakfast every morning on the way to school, and everyone that we pass, stares at us. We thought that they were staring at us because we are mzungus (white people) and we get stared at all the time. Little did we know, they were staring at us because we were being rude. We were eating in front of them. Last Friday was the last time I’ll ever eat breakfast on the way to school again.

I drove in for the very first time on Sunday evening! I only drove up to the school, but hey, I drove in a foreign country! In my book, that’s a big deal.

According to the Rwandan Nationals, the rainy season has officially started. It’s about 4 weeks early. This rainy season will go until December, and then we’ll have a second rainy season for several months in the first part of the year. When it rains here, it pours. The wind is crazy! If I leave my windows open in the morning, I need to plan on sleeping in a wet bed. I will be bringing a rain jack and/or a poncho with me from now on.

Funny Fact: Some American friends of ours have a dog that only responds to commands given in Kinyarwanda (the national language).

I believe that you have not fully experienced Africa until you have taken a cold shower. Last night the whole street (and possibly the whole neighborhood) was out of hot water. I was in need of a shower, so I went for it. Not only was the water unbearably cold, it was also trickling out of the shower head. It took me a long time to shower, but at least I got clean!

School is going well, but it's taking me a little while to get adjusted to the different teaching styles. For the past three years, I’ve read all of my assignments and done all of my work at my own pace. Now, I have to figure out eight different teaching styles, and try to keep up with the fast paced lectures. It’s a challenge. It’s also a little weird to spend eight hours in school, and then come home and spend another two to four hours on…school.

Miles has been waking up with bites on his face, neck, and arms each morning for the past week and a half. At first we thought they were mosquito bites, even though he has been sleeping with a mosquito net. He tried sleeping without the mosquito net for a couple of nights, and was still waking up with the bites, so we wondered if they were bed bug bites. We put his bed, and mattress, and bedding out in the sun and sprayed if with bug repellent. He continued to wake up with the bites. We looked a little more closely at the pattern of the bites, and came to the conclusion that the bites were in the shape of a hat…or a helmet. Miles rode a motto two Thursday ago. We think that he’s probably being bitten by a bug that was in the motto helmet. The only thing that throws the theory is that I have started getting bites on the lower part of my arms and hands. They are little red dots that itch so badly! We’re still not sure what it is, or what’s causing it, but we sure do hope it goes away soon!

Life is continuing here, in Kigali. It’s crazy to think that this coming Sunday will be our one month anniversary. A whole month! Life is fun, exciting, and it keeps you on your toes. From hot water to eating in public, there’s always something to learn and experience here in Kigali.

First Week of School? Check.

Whew! I made it through the first week of school. It was...normal. I have discovered that it doesn't matter if you live in America or Africa, 11th grade is definitely your hardest year.

I start my morning off, with my favorite teacher, in Comparative Government, then I move on to American Literature. After that, I have a 10 minute "Chai break", and no, we don't actually drink Chai. (It's just a little break to help you make it through the rest of the morning.) Following Chai, I go to Algebra 2, and then I either have P.E. or Bible, depending on if it's an A or a B week. Then, I head to Chemistry. After Chemistry I have lunch...that's right, folks, 5 whole periods before lunch! After lunch I have French 1, and then downstairs to Band for 7th period. And that concludes my school day. I do like the school, so far, and like I said, it's normal. All of the teachers expect a lot out of us, and they give homework each night. Side note: You know your going to a Christian school when all of the kids have a biblical name. It's kind of humorous actually. I have not met everyone yet, but I would venture to say that at least half of the kids have a biblical name.

Because I've been spending a majority of my day on school, I haven't been into the city at all this week. So, sadly I don't have any exciting stories to share.

I did ride another motto on Tuesday afternoon. Those things are so cool! I would motto everywhere if I could. Also on Tuesday, we celebrated our first African birthday. We had some balloons from the States, so we blew up a couple balloons and made a sign that said "Happy Birthday Mom!" She felt loved and appreciated,  even though it was simple.

It has rained almost every day this week, and I'm told that it's not the rainy season yet...okay, whatever you say. Today (Friday) is actually the first warm day of the week (and it's raining right now, even though the sun is out). The rainy season is not supposed to start until mid- September, I believe.

We are still looking for a house-helper, we did try one out yesterday, but she wasn't quite right for us. There are several pros to having a house-helper. In the States, we would never dream of hiring someone to do our chores, but here, it's a very normal thing. By hiring someone to work for us, we are investing in their lives. Also, we (and when I say "we", I mean my mom) can't do the laundry, and the dishes, and the ironing, and then cleaning, and the cooking by herself. It's not as easy to do things here as it is in America.

I will do my best to keep everyone updated on how things are going here. It may get a little tricky once school really gets going, and I also won't have quite as much to say, because I'll be spending a majority of my time in school, and as much as you guys want to hear about what's going on here, I'm sure you don't want to hear about school all the time. I'll try to take chances and be a little bit risky, to make for better stories!

Uh, There's a Gecko on the Ceiling....

I had planned on updating my blog a few days ago, but each day kept passing by very quickly, and before I knew it, I was exhausted and ready to go to bed. So here I am on this mild Saturday afternoon updating my blog.

This week has (like I said) passed by rather quickly. I have had many tasks at the school to keep me occupied. I have met several more people my age, and I am really looking forward to the start of school so that I can get to know more of the students.

On Monday night, I saw my first gecko inside our house. (Hence the title…I told you I was trying to come up with a more creative title) I get the feeling that geckos are about as common as ants. They’re not really bothering anything and they do keep the other bugs away. Better geckos then snakes…  

Yesterday we (the KICS staff) left the city of Kigali and went out into the country. We drove about 25 kilometers to Lake Muhazi. (It took us about an hour to get there.) It was a lot more like what I pictured Africa to be like…dirt roads, lots of people on bikes, and animals walking around. It was pretty cool. Anytime we would pass by a field, the people would stop - machetes in mid air- and stare and us as we drove by. We probably looked pretty funny…35 mzungus (white people) in 4 vehicles. We ate lunch at Lake Muhazi, but we were not able to swim because apparently the lake is infested with snail larva. Anyways, I really enjoyed getting away from the city for a day, and seeing more of The Land of A Thousand Hills. (Rwanda’s nickname- it is a rather mountainous country.)

Today I rode my first motto! It was awesome! It’s surprisingly a pretty smooth ride, especially if I swayed with the motto, rather than remaining very still. After we left the ABC (African Bagel Co-op) this morning, my dad and I went into town, and my mom and brothers went back to the house. This was about my 5^th or 6^th time going into town, so I’m really starting to find my way around…and I’m even recognizing some of the people on the streets that try to sell me everything from plastic sunglasses to mangoes. My dad and I purchased a large fan, a full length mirror, a small lamp, a cheese grater, and a loaf of bread…and we took a motto home. (We each had our own.) It was pretty funny trying to balance the mirror and keep in from blowing away in the wind. But no one gave us a second look because you see all kinds of things strapped to bikes and mottos on a daily basis.

More things that you might enjoy knowing....

*We only have hot water in the upstairs bathroom

*We don’t have a dishwasher- we have to hand wash all of our dishes

*We do have a washing machine, but it’s not like a washing machine that you would find in an appliance store 

in the states.  We hang our clothes, sheets and towels on a clothes line in the backyard.

*There are a wide variety of birds in Kigali (and probably all throughout Rwanda.) They each have some very unique (and somewhat obnoxious) calls. One bird sounds like a car alarm is going off…another bird sounds almost like we’re getting a skype call.

*On Tuesday night we had our first Rwandan dinner. It was delicious!  There was nothing strange about it. Rwandan Nationals eat lots of beans and rice or potatoes. They maybe eat meat once or twice a week.

*Lemons are green and sweet potatoes are white

*The bananas are about half the size of what they are in the states…and they taste better too. Usually, we would want to eat a banana when it is completely yellow, and after it gets too many brown spots on it, we consider it to not be good anymore, but over here, the more brown spots a banana has, the better it tastes. It is a little tricky to try to tell my mind that it’s okay to eat a brown banana.

We have a Meet and Greet at the school in about an hour. Instead of meeting the teachers, (I already know all of them) I’ll be using this time as an opportunity to meet the kids in my class. School will start in a few days, and things will slow down a little bit. I’ll probably make a few more trips to town this next week, and I’ll continue to enjoy life in Kigali. 

Life in Kigali- Day 8

I need to come up with a new title for my entries because (1) it's starting to get old, and (2) I don't want to continue to keep track of the days...imagine "Life in Kigali- Day 134".... Hopefully, the creative juices will start flowing in the title department pretty soon.

We visited a church yesterday morning. It is located diagonally across from the school, so we were able to walk to the church in about five or six minutes. I did enjoy the service, but I have to admit, I miss being at Friendly Hills (my home church). It's a nondenominational church. I think that I might prefer nondenominational churches because I believe that churches get too caught up in their denomination and they end up forgetting that eventually denominations won't even exist. We sang a lot of songs, some in English, some in Swahili, and possibly a few other languages..not quite sure. We sat in white, plastic lawn chairs, and  instead of a sermon, they had an open discussion about adoption. God has laid adoption and foster care on the pastor's heart, and he is wanting the families in the church to consider adoption too. I've been wanting to adopt a little baby girl practically my entire life, so I enjoyed the discussion. (I would like to go back on a different Sunday so that I can hear him preach.) The church lost power about four or five times during the service. No one stopped singing/ playing/ talking when the power went out, they just kept going and acted like it didn't even happen. It was kind of funny, but by the third time, we were used to it too.

In the afternoons (or in our free time) we unpack, hang pictures, and move things around in our house. Already, after only a week of being here, it feels more like a home rather than a house. I've met a few people my age, but so far I've just been hanging around the teachers helping them get ready for the start of school next Tuesday. I'll probably walk down the road after lunch to Woodlands to finish school supply shopping and get a few grocery items.

There is not too much else to report right now, but I will be sure to keep you updated on new and exciting things that are happening here in Kigali.

Life in Kigali- Day 6

So far the days have been fun and enjoyable. The container that was shipped from the U.S. in early April arrived at the school on Wednesday night. We unloaded the container all day Thursday. There was a ton of new P.E. equipment, arts supplies, text books, filing cabinets, and instruments on the container. It was so exciting to open up a box and see all of the new supplies that we will get to use this school year. We had a few personal items on the container too, so it was really nice to be able to put a little bit of "home" into our new house.

Today we (The KICS teachers) went to the ABC...the African Bagel Company. The ABC is a little shop on the other side of town that sells bagels....duh. They also sell pizza and bread. It's open Monday-Saturday, but Saturday is the only day that they make donuts. These donuts are amazing. My expectations were really low, but after I had my first bite, I decided that these donuts were even better than Krispy Kreme. It's really quite impressive. After breakfast at the ABC, my family and I went downtown alone- meaning that we did not have anyone from KICS to help us communicate or figure things out. It was pretty overwhelming, and exhausting. This afternoon made me really miss home. (friends, family, the convenience of America) Up until now it has almost felt like a vacation. (I haven't really been here long enough for it to feel like a new home.) It really sunk in today: We moved here...we're not leaving anytime soon. Part of me really wishes that I would just wake up and things would be "back to normal", but deep down I know that's not really what I want. I like it here. God wants me and my family here, and so this is where we need to be.

Random things that you might like to know: 

~I sleep under a mosquito net
~I have to constantly remind myself to not run my tooth brush under the faucet
~Rwanda uses francs....not dollars
~The local Rwandans are friendly, and most of them speak a little bit of English, but it's still pretty hard to        communicate. (I'm working on their language: Kinyarwanda)
~Surprisingly, I don't miss ice cream...yet
~I miss being able to hop into the car and drive to a store and get whatever I need/want
~Everything takes a lot more time here
~I like the simplicity of life here in Africa, but I miss the craziness of life in America
~I love how I'm "forced" to exercise, because we don't have a car

I'm sure that I will have these days- days that I miss home. And that's okay. I enjoy being here, and before I know it, it'll be May 29th, and I'll be boarding a plane to fly back to North Carolina.

Life in Kigali- Day 3

It starts to feel more like home a little bit each day. I’ve been to town twice now. It’s about a 10-15 minute drive from our house. We do not own a car, so we’ve been relying on one of the teachers from KICS (Kigali International Community School) to transport us. Driving in Kigali is wild.  People drive in the middle of the road, and if someone is coming towards you, you either swerve to the left or right depending on which side is less busy. There are mottos everywhere. (Mottos are motorcycle taxis.) People are walking every direction, and pedestrians do not have the right of way here in Kigali.  The speed limit is 40 kph on every road (25mph in America), but people drive much faster than that.

We can walk to school, we can walk to Woodlands Market (which is basically like a grocery store), we can walk to the one and only fast-food restaurant in Kigali. They only serve chicken and chips (French fries).  

We have a gate around our house, along with a neighborhood security team. Basically anyone above poverty has a gate around their house, and/or a guard. Kigali is known as the safest country in Africa. We can shower, wash our hands, and wash dishes with the water, but it is advised that we brush our teeth and drink the filtered water. 

The weather here is wonderful. Technically it is winter here, because we are in the Southern Hemisphere. But, we are currently in the “dry season” meaning that it is the hottest part of the year. The “rainy season” starts in September and lasts for the majority of the year.  The temperature is about 70 degrees in the morning, and upper 80’s in the afternoon. It’s quite hot in the afternoon, because of the intensity of the sun- being so close to the equator.  The sunrises at 6:00 every morning, and sets at 6:00 every evening.  Again, because of being so close to the equator.

We went to the Market this afternoon.  (The 5 of us, along with another married couple, and a teacher from KICS.) It was one of the greatest experiences!  The market is right in the middle of town. As soon as the market was in view, boys in yellow jackets started running beside our car asking if they could watch our car while we shopped, or carry our bags for us.  The Market is almost like a large warehouse, with no windows or doors.  You can buy fruits, vegetables, rice, fabric, hardware…basically anything. There are about 30 long aisles to walk down, stocked with fruits and vegetables. (The other items are across the alley) We had a boy named Peter helping us. He was carrying our bags and helping us find the best price. We did bargain a little bit with some of the merchants. Peter did help us communicate with the other people, but language was not too much of an issue.  

School starts in 13 days. In the next week in a half, we will continue to get acclimated with life in Kigali. We are learning the language a little bit at a time. Life here is simple, but I like it. 

Classical Music vs. Pop Music

Why do pop music/artists wear out quickly, while classical music/composers do not?

It doesn't matter what genre you're listening to, every artist and song sounds just like the other. Why does classical music remain strong and exciting, when pop music becomes weak and boring after a couple months? Just like the pop artists of today, classical composers "copy" other composers. For example: The trumpet solo in Hayden 100 (2nd movement) also occurs in Mahler 5. Hayden was dead and gone when Mahler was composing, so obviously Mahler is the copy-cat. It works though! Why can he get away with it? I guess the same is true in pop music: When Justin Beiber has a new hit that sounds like Usher’s new hit, it sells! But, the difference is Beiber’s “hit” gets old after a while; Mahler 5, on the other hand, is still exhilarating.  How come?

Composers develop a sound, or certain characteristic, if you will. Often times you can listen to a piece on the classical radio station and know with confidence that Beethoven is the composer. Why?  Because Beethoven has his own sound. You can hear his characteristic in each piece he composed.  The same goes with any other composer, or music artist. When the Black-Eyed-Peas come out with a new song, it sounds just like every other song on their album, and you know without a doubt that they are the artists.  After listening to it for a few weeks, though, it quickly gets old and boring. How come you can listen to Beethoven a thousand times and never get tired of him, but you can only listen to the Black-Eyed-Peas for a few weeks before you feel like pulling your hair out?  

The composers “take from” other composers, just like pop artists. The composer develops a sound, which causes all of his pieces to have a similar sound, just like pop music. What is different about classical music that makes it last longer than pop music?

I’m anxious to hear your thoughts and answers!

Time flies.  

This is both good and bad.

For example, it has been over a month since I last updated my blog. It feels like I was just sitting down racking my brain, trying to come up with something worthwhile to tell people about. And now here I am, roughly 41 days later, doing the same thing!

How is it that time can go by so quickly? They do say, “Time flies when you’re having fun!” I didn't think I was having that much fun…

Here it already is March 3rd, only about 3 more months until I’m done with my 10^th grade career. Then summer will start, I’ll move to Rwanda, and I’ll start 11^th grade. Wow. Sure, I love things to move at a fast pace, but can’t we slow down and enjoy the scenery for a while? Or maybe, I’ve had my opportunity to “enjoy the scenery”, and I’ve missed it. Pretty soon, I’ll be moving again, but this time it will be into a college dorm. Yikes! I am looking forward college, but I know for a fact, that I’m not ready for it. College is a big deal. I do think about college a lot. I know that I want to major in music education and quite possibly, double major in clarinet performance. But, I have no idea what school I want to go to. I’ve narrowed it down to maybe 25 different schools…

Enough about college. If there is one thing I’ve learned after 16 years (and  believe me, I’ve learned way more one thing) it’s that I shouldn’t wish my life away. I need to enjoy life the way it is right now, because pretty soon everything will be changing. This is both good and bad.

Every morning I make a list of all of the things that I need to accomplish throughout the day. Before I know it, the day is over, and I find myself moving things from “Today’s List” to “Tomorrow’s List”.

Life is crazy. A few weeks ago I made a list (I love making lists) of everything that I do in a week. The list contains 18 items. This includes both school and extracurricular activities. It is very hard to juggle all that needs to be done. On top of all of this I am working towards another recital that is a mere 3 months away. Plus, I always have babysitting opportunities knocking at my door. How in the world am I supposed to juggle all of this without losing my mind? The answer is actually very simple: I ask God for His help and direction, and I laugh. A lot.

Now, to answer the question that has most likely entered your mind more than once: How does Grace feel about all of these changes? Honestly, it’s hard. I was very excited about moving to Kenya, but then the reality of it hit me, hard. I began to realize that I was leaving everything that I was comfortable and familiar with; friends, family, church, etc. Then, we received news that Adam and I would attend RVA and my parents and Miles would go to another school. Correction: they would be in another COUNTRY! It was like a slap in the face. I love my family very much. I get a lot of my strength from my family and they mean the world to me. The idea of being separated was just too much. But, we were still going forward with the plan because I believed that being separated during the school year would actually ultimately help me in the long run. Well, within the last week or so we have received more news. There is a waiting list at RVA, which, in short, means that Adam and I will be joining our family in Rwanda! This makes me very happy. I have only heard stories and seen pictures, but it seems like a very cool place. I’m looking forward to being there. Yes, I will still miss everything North Carolina has to offer, but I am also looking forward to everything Rwanda has to offer.

Lately, we receive more blessings than we do pieces of mail. Psalm 40:5 says “Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.” New cars, new computers, support checks…like the verse says, the list it far too long to name every single one.

To wrap it all up, I’m still striving to live life to its fullest. Living life from day to day without knowing exactly what lies ahead is a little challenging, but if it’s God’s will, then it’s my will too.