love actually is all around...

Merry Christmas everyone!  I hope you all enjoyed time with those you love! 
My Christmas was definitely different than past years but we all made the most of it. The festivities began Christmas Eve with a white elephant gift exchange.  This place is a gold mine for gag gifts so it was quite entertaining.  Then we had our talent show and let me tell you this wasn't just your average talent show.  I was blown away by my fellow trainees, there is some real talent in this group.  There were multiple songs beautifully sung, a story told by a trainee (who is a professional storyteller) and her husband about the secret to a lasting relationship (they've been married 42 years) and a rendition of the 12 days of Christmas which was rewritten to be the 12 days of model school.  It was all absolutely amazing and my cheeks ached the rest of the night from smiling so much!  I participated with my house and the boys who live near us.  We did a song called Crayola Doesn't Make a Color.  It's pretty much the cutest song ever mostly because I think of my nephews and niece everytime I hear it.  I recommend checking it out, you'll love it too!  My essential role was to keep the beat using my fanta bottle and a knife and then I chimed in during the chorus.  My roommates are quite talented so it turned out well and was a lot of fun!  The night then turned into one big dance party!  We had a blast but I think the Rwandans watching us the whole night were even more entertained!  When I thought the day couldn't have gotten any better I watched my family open their Christmas presents via Skype.  It was truly the best Chrsitmas present ever and there were lots of tears but lots of smiles and laughter too!  It was a magical night! 
Christmas was much more low-key.  We did a little baking in the morning and had delicious lunch of chili and cornbread.  Some very generous trainees donated their recipes and spices from America to the cause and fed all of us! It was definitely one of the best meals I've had since I got here!  Then I spent the rest of the day in a food coma watching movies, it was just like home!  We were able to clear out one of the classrooms and put about 12 matresses on the floor and projected the movies onto the wall. We all brought pillows and blankets and lounged around, it was fabulous!  Best of all we got to watch Love Actually which is not only the best Christmas movie but definitely one of all time favorites!  All in all it truly was a wonderful Christmas.  
Now we just have about a week and a half before we all scatter across the country to our respective sites. On January 3rd we will swear in as volunteers in Kigali, between the 4th and the 7th (I go on the 5th) the Peace Corps will deliver each of us and all of our things to our sites and on January 10th school begins.  I am really looking forward to teaching.  It has always been something I wanted to do and I'm so grateful for the opportunity.  I'm absolutely terrified though as well and know the first trimester will be a complete mess but with timehopefully it will all fall into place!  I'll take any advice from any of the teachers out there though! 
Other news since my last post:

• We went to a national park here in Rwanda a week ago, after a 3 hour ride there we hiked for about and hour and half when it began to down pour and then hail!  Who knew it could hail in Africa!  Then we got on the bus soaked through for a 3 hour ride home.  I wore my hiking boots and when I got home I was able to wring out the water from my socks.  It was ridiculous, however the scenery was beautiful and we saw 2 monkeys so it was worth it.

• We learned to bake here in Rwanda with basically a dutch oven over our charcoal stove.  We tested it last weekend and made pumpkin chocolate chip bread, it was heaven!  It baked perfectly and didn't even burn a bit!  There were 6 of us sharing it and we didn't even bother to cut it we just dug right in with our forks!  The fact that it is possible to bake here is a comfort and I can't wait to experimenting with it.  My roommate (who's site is close to mine) and I have already made plans for weekends filled with baking! 

• I had clothes made for the first time!  Here everyone has many of their clothes custom made by a tailor, you just buy the fabric and tell them what you want.  In Nyanza there is a tailor that is well known to all the PCV's to be the best around so we have all been overwhelming her with orders.  I had a dress and a wrap skirt made, they both fit prefectly and look great.  The total cost, approximately $13!  Seriously!

There isn't much else going on otherwise.  This next week we will all be busy studying our Kinyarwanda, on Thursday we will be tested on our proficieny and could potential not be sworn in if we are not at an intermediate-low level.  Keep your fingers crossed I won't get a one way ticket back to MN. 
All my love!
Annie