It’s down to the wire, I have just one full day left in
Rwanda. It truly is unbelievable. When I look back, it feels like I’ve been
here forever, but it really did fly by.
Tomorrow I have my dear friend Peace’s wedding and then early Sunday
morning my friend Nicole and I will take the bus to Kampala, Uganda.
More on my travel plans later, but first an update. Since my last post a lot has certainly
happened. I mentioned the workshop I was
in the midst of planning. Thankfully it
went fabulously! I considered it probably
my biggest success here. I never could
have done it even a year into my service, so it felt really good to apply all
the things I had learned over the 2 years to make it a successful event.
I definitely put a lot of work into it but it would have been completely
impossible without my friend Eric. I met
Eric through another PCV in my first year.
Eric is a teacher at a school for the blind in Rwamagana. His motivation to help his students and his
dedication to them is incredible by any standards, and here in Rwanda it’s
almost unheard of. Eric helped me
organize the logistics, contacted the district officials and taught about half
of the lessons. I asked a lot from him
and he went far above and beyond my expectations. I was honored to have worked with Eric.
A few weeks after the workshop my friend Kari came from
Minnesota to visit. She is a world
traveler and is always looking for an opportunity to go someplace new, so I was
thrilled when she said she wanted to come to Rwanda. We only had a week but it we hit the ground
running as soon as her plane landed. It
was the last week of school so we went to the end of the year party at school
and she also helped me host a carnival/party for the girls club. She brought tons of candy and prizes which
made it extra special for the girls and they had a blast! Kari also gathered donations from family and
friends and also bought many things herself to donate to my school which was
greatly appreciated! After school ended
we headed out on a whirlwind tour of my favorite places in Rwanda. We did a lot, saw a lot and rested very
little, but Kari was awesome, never complaining a bit, she was always ready for
more and we had a great time together!
All my Rwandan friends kept saying what a great friend Kari was for
coming all the way to Africa to visit, and I couldn't agree more! J
Since Kari left I've just been getting ready to leave and
saying lots of goodbyes to fellow volunteers and my friends here in
Rwanda. Most everyone from the group of
volunteers I came with have left. Many
are off traveling and others are already home.
It has sort of felt like I was left behind but at the same time, it was
good I had extra time because I was able to see most of the people I wanted and
say goodbye. Tomorrow will be my last
day and will be very bittersweet, I will be celebrating with Peace, but I will
say final goodbyes to my closest friends.
It won’t be easy, but I feel so lucky to have made such incredible
friendship while I was here that will stay with me forever.
Before I dive right back into “the real world” I’m going to
take some time and travel. It’s common
for Peace Corps Volunteers to travel for a little while before heading
home. It can act as a sort of buffer and
help make the readjustment a bit easier, plus we’re in a whole other part of
the world so why not take advantage! I've had an idea of places I wanted to travel after Peace Corps since I
got here and lucky for me my awesome friend Nicole, had the same places on her
list.
Our travels will begin in Uganda where we’ll spend just 2
days. Near Kampala, the capital, you can
go whitewater rafting on the Nile River.
This has been a common vacation for many PCV’s and I didn’t want to leave
the region without doing it myself.
After that we will fly to Johannesburg, South Africa. South Africa has also become a popular
destination for PCV’s, as it’s essentially America or Europe in Africa (parts
of it at least). We’ll spend a couple
days in Johannesburg and then take a bus down to the coastal town of Port
Elizabeth. The route along the coast
between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town is known as the Garden Route. It’s famous for its charming towns and
beautiful scenery. During the holiday
season many South Africans who live inland flock there to enjoy the scenery and
get some respite from the summer heat.
When we arrive in Port Elizabeth we’ll rent a car and spend 5 days
driving the Garden Route to Cape Town.
Along the way we’ll spend Christmas in a town called Wilderness. We’ll arrive in Cape Town just in time to
celebrate New Year’s with a couple fellow PCV’s who will also be in town.
After about a week in Cape Town, we’ll take a night bus back
up to Johannesbug to catch our flight out to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Unfortunately for us, in order to get the
best price possible our flight includes 2 long layovers. The upside is that our first layover of 10
hours is in Seychelles, an island nation in the Indian Ocean and is known to
have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. We are keeping our fingers crossed we will be
able to get out of the airport to explore the island a little bit which could
make it the best layover ever. In the
case that we can’t get out of the airport it will likely be the worst layover
ever! Our second layover in Abu Dhabi is
a bit shorter and after sleeping on either a bus or airplane for 3 nights in a
row (it’s all part of the adventure, right?!), we’ll finally arrive in
Malaysia! From here we don’t really have
a plan. We have a few places we want to
visit, but Southeast Asia is a famous backpacker route and we’ll be there
during the high season so we figured we’ll meet people along the way who can
direct us to the good places to go.
Right now we plan to visit Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and
Indonesia (Bali). We have about 30 days
and that itinerary might be a little ambitious so we’ll see where we end
up.
On February 6th, Nicole and will part, she will
fly back to America and I will be flying to New Zealand. A few months ago, my friend who has lived
here for a few years and who is also from Minnesota, asked me what my plans
after Peace Corps were. I told him about
South Africa and SE Asia. Then he asked
me if I would be back home for Christmas.
When I said no, he said, “Then my advice is to wait and go home after
winter.” I thought a lot about this and
what it really meant to go back home in the middle of February. I decided to take his advice. And while this means I won’t be home for a
few more months, I think it’s best for my sanity and the sanity of those who
will have to put up with me. So I’ve
spent the past few months working to get a temporary working visa and looking
for jobs. I still don’t have anything
lined up, but it will be summer there and from my understanding they need a lot
of temporary workers for tourism and farming.
I’m actually going to try to find a job as a nanny but if that doesn’t
work I’m confident I’ll find something.
After all that it will be about May or June and then I’ll
head home. Like I said though, I’m just
sort of going with the flow and I may end up back home sooner, anything can
happen. Once I do finally make it home
the only thing I’m concerned about is seeing all my friends and family. I’m confident that everything else will work
out in time. As Rwandans so often say, I
just need to be patient.
So this will be my final blog post from Rwanda. I do hope to continue posting while I travel,
hopefully at least some pictures. I can’t
even begin to express my gratitude to everyone who has supported me over the
last 2 years. Whether you sent a card,
package, encouraging words, thoughts or prayers my way, it was very much
appreciated and it truly helped me make it through. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have such
amazing people in my life who have inspired and supported me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
While I am no longer a Peace Corps Volunteer, my job isn't quite over. Peace Corps’ mission
consists of 3 goals. To paraphrase,
number one is to help countries develop, two is to teach others about American
culture, and three is to teach Americans about other cultures. So when I get back I look forward to sharing
my experiences with everyone. Rwanda is
a beautiful country with stunning scenery but also a sad and unfortunate
history that makes it a complex place today.
But even after all they've been through, Rwandans are only looking to
the future, while many other developing nations seem to have given up, Rwanda
is forging ahead at full speed. Despite the
challenges and frustrations I encountered there were even more wonderful and
uplifting moments. I love Rwanda and
whether I come back or not, it will always feel like home to me.
All my love,
Annie
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