Lunch dates

So, this past week has essentially been a week of lunch dates. I’m finally giving in and making friends with some of the most persistent men who have been after me. Crazy, right? Only they’re not. They’re just Rwandans. Welcome to culture shock. So the first dude was a guy I met at bourbon months ago. Even after I ignored him more or less for at least a month, he still persisted. So I let him take me to a place in town that had these really good veggie burgers (Shake n Sip, for the curious). It wasn’t too bad, actually. I didn’t have to do much of the talking—he pretty much took care of that. Have I mentioned how many times I work Marvin into a conversation with Rwandan men, including this one? Because I do. A lot. They all know him variously as my boyfriend, my fiancé, or my husband. And yet the lunch dates still ensue. The one the next day wasn’t much of a lunch date. I basically sat at Simba and drank coffee while this waiter whom I was supposed to meet there came to talk to me every once in a while. Kind of awkward, but whatever. The third one was yesterday with a guy who works at an alimentation near my work. He greets me about 4 times a day, always asks me the same questions, gives me free cookies and drinks, and thinks Marvin is a good boy. Yet he still wants me to drop Marvin in favor of him. Not happening, as I told him :)  Rwandan men just reallyyyyyyy don’t get it. Anyway, so we went to this one buffet nearby, which was actually really good. This time I basically had to do all the talking though. Not my forte. But, I’ve actually had one lunch date that I’ve actually looked forward to this week! And I’m currently writing this post from their living room. Teresa, the Spanish lady I work with, invited me to her house today (Friday) for lunch, which is awesome! I’ll let you know what we had as soon as we’re done eating :) (delicious pasta, beets and raisins, salad, and roasted veggies!)

Before we came to her house though, we went to go visit her housemate at work. I should preface this by clarifying that they’re both…I’m not sure what you call them. Members of a Catholic secular institute? They’re a part of the Obreras de la Cruz, workers of the cross. I think they take similar vows to those of nuns, but they don’t wear any distinctive clothes and they live on their own. Teresa has been here for 5 years working at the orphanage the whole time, and the other lady (whose name I forget) has been here for 8 working at a medical center in Nyamirambo (our neighborhood). The center really is right in and amongst the people. It’s surrounded by shops, houses, vendors, etc. Apparently the people around here value this place so much that during the genocide, they protected this place and would not allow the interhamwe or soldiers to destroy it as happened with most other institutions. Teresa’s housemate works in the nutrition center working with malnourished children. They make sure the kids get a well-balanced and protein rich meal every day or every week or however often they need to come in. We also got to see the dispensary, pharmacy, lab, the TB center, and the HIV/AIDS center. The TB center was especially interesting because they deal with resistant TB. When we were touring the nutrition center, we saw the rations of food (these little dried fish/minnows, which are apparently really high in protein, sorghum, and…something else) for the TB patients. Apparently they have to follow a diet high in protein, though I’m not really sure why.

Other than that, our house has still been absolutely amazing, and it’s made me really not want to leave! I think a lot of the down times I had earlier this semester were caused by (or at least not helped by) living with my homestay family. Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but living with 5 siblings who scream, cry, and invade my room—especially when I’m sleeping (sometimes all at the same time) was pretty rough. Not to mention the fact that I felt like I had no control over my life. Yeah, it was easier when someone else cleaned the floors, cooked the food, and did my laundry, but I wouldn’t trade that for the independence I have now. I’m basically only accountable to myself and my friends, and since we’re all basically on the same page, it alleviates a lot of the stress. Another awesome part of our house is that we have a pet now. Her name is Ubuki “bootch” Panther Beals—any one of those names for short. Oh, and she’s a little black cat. Apparently the muzungu who lived here before us had her as a pet and then just left her. We’ve also decided that she’s Muslim. She also really likes to eat our food. Especially while it’s sitting on the counter as we’re preparing it. When literally throwing her off the counter doesn’t help, we’ve taken to just luring her outside with a piece of food and locking her out. She then proceeds to sound as pitiful as possible so we’ll let her back in. But speaking of food! We’ve been able to make the most wonderful food since we’ve been here—pizza chapatti calzone things, garlic bread, carrots and green beans (a Rwandan dish), pasta, pancakes, rolex for breakfast every morning, cheesy fries, and guacamole!!! With chapatti chips. I’ve missed that stuff. I’ve also attempted tofu brochette (kebabs), but I haven’t tried them yet because right after I finished making them, I realized I was stuffed. I’ll get to those at some point, but I’m not sure how they’ll be reheated. Another reason I love our house—location! We have the most beautiful view, we hear about 10 calls to prayer, we basically have a bar at the end of our driveway, and less than a minute down the road, there are 3 well stocked alimentations. We basically never need to leave our neighborhood :) Oh, and I love my bed. So. So. Much.

On Thursday, Katy and I went to the market in Nyamirambo, which is amazing! It’s got just about everything, though it’s not quite as big or as organized as the market Ben and I went to the first week. But the best part about this one was the fabric! They had so many gorgeous pieces, it was hard to choose! I thought I was going to use the fabric I got in “Uganda” ( ;) ) for my long, traditional dress, but I found some blue, yellow, orange, and white fabric there that I liked even more, so I think I’ll use that instead. I plan on getting that, a sun dress or two, a skirt or two, and a laptop cover made. And then I plan on using whatever scraps are left over to make awesome things like bracelets and headbands. I’m basically just not going to bring back half of my clothes that I brought here :P I’ve worn them all out anyway. Katy, Tameshia, and I are all going out to get them made sometime soon once we all have our fabrics and know exactly what we want. I can’t wait!!! They’ll be gorgeous. In the meantime, our living room will be covered in beautiful fabric :) Oh, and the three of us also need to get our hair braided sometime soon :)