Umuganura

 I'm checked into my flight my bag is almost packed and it is time to leave but hopefully not to say goodbye. What a day! It is the Harvest Festival the same one I participated in 2 years ago in traditional clothes and I participated in the dances this time was a little different Colleen and I did get dressed she was a dress she brought in Guinea and I was dressed by Salama and traditional gar there were a lot of people and parents and I saw Obama's dad and made sure that Emmy came with me to talk to him and I wanted to express how I feel about her his son being so smart I believe he was very proud of what I had to say. They had the traditional foods some of which I don't usually care for I didn't eat very much but it was an incredible afternoon and they're so grateful for everything that we can do for them. After the meal and dancing we met for debriefing in the staff room where Colleen and I gave a little funny speech about each person I think they really appreciated it I knew they were taking us out to dinner but they made it seem like a big surprise so we all went out for dinner and when I say all I mean all there must have been 20 people all the staff members and a few of them made some speeches about Colleen and I which was very touching and the food was quite good actually we enjoyed it very much so I have lots of pictures to share from both the festival and from our dinner and once again I don't know how to upload videos but I'm sure that you'll enjoy just the photographs as well it might be more coming as people are going to share their photos with me when I did not take pictures. It's been a very rewarding trip especially seeing how mine leaves has grown there are so many new employees there and teachers and trainers a lot more than they were two years ago when I first entered mine leaves I believe it's going on 7 years ago there were 100 students there's now over 300 students I remember dancing on a grassy knoll and now they have the dance platform which now has lights and has you know like Shades that can come down I mentioned earlier when I first came that what was the kitchen is now a classroom and they have a separate building that has been renovated that is their kitchen they now have a sewing room with several sewing machines where ciprio is teaching parents how to s e w I know it's going to take me time to debrief and to process everything and try to get back to my life again and not have the hills to climb I although I hated them I love them I love the weather and the people my friends I have friends now is so interesting when Colleen and I are walking back up the hill how many times we see people we know is very interesting. Thank you for reading my blog if you have been reading it and my thanks go out to Olivier Emmy Raymond FistonYves Frank Alice Jennifer patience and I probably forgot a few other people. It's been quite a ride till 3 and 1/2 Weeks the first week went slowly the rest went too fast I hope I will be back next year Frank made me very proud because when we first met and he was one of the new teachers here we talked a lot about why in Rwanda it's a thing about men portraying a strong image and not crying and things like that we talked about his mother and he told me how much he appreciated her and loved her I said well have you told her and he said no he hadn't and I would bother him all the time about talking to his mother and maybe writing her a letter but apparently she doesn't write or read so he told me today that he did tell her had the conversation with her and she cried and he cried and he felt so good about it so I'm so happy that he did that and that his mother knows how much she is loved good job Frank

casava

dinner out with all

at festival 

Last day of classes.

I will miss this view

Hard at work

my kids

Yes so today was the last day of classes. I had treats to give out I had stickers to give out and lots of hugs to give out and receive so I thought I got away with getting through this trip relatively unscathed until today LOL walking from the corner green store to my Leafs with a few treats a rock finally got me and I fell. It wasn't bad my clothes got dirty and because I put my hand down my right hand is a little sore but it's not everybody checked it out and they have some kind of cream that dancers use and it was put on my hands and it was much better it's going to be sore and it's going to be black and blue but I'm proud of myself because if I wasn't in As Good As shape as I think I'm in I think it could have been worse because I didn't hurt anything that was no blood just one of those stupid rocks finally got me. So we ended the teaching day with playing games the hugging game which is very violent if you ask me but they have fun and we played Hot Potato which was new to them and they will all be there tomorrow because it's the big Harvest Festival which I took part in 2 years ago and I'm getting very nervous that they want to dress us up like they dressed me up 2 years ago and I had to do the traditional dancing so I'll let you know tomorrow with the outcome is because supposed to be going out to dinner tomorrow night with the staff. I gave Emmy all of my giveaways including my toothpaste and an unopened toothbrush some T-shirts I brought that I wasn't going to wear and the rest of my peanut butter and whatever else I had I gave to them. I know there are more pictures that I did not take today but I'm only going to post the ones that I did until they're sent to me how will I reflect on all of this was a good question it was a great trip as I said I'm very much loved and appreciated here and I am excited to see my family and my friends but it's very very Bittersweet to leave this place which really does make me happy. I'm leaving hoping that everyone remembers how to say Ed endings L

sounds and R sounds and th sounds. That will be my legacy of knowing that they're abple to do that now

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

 So my morning started with the monkeys I decided to take a small banana and put it outside my little patio and it actually rolled down the roof and a monkey really quick snatched it up I don't think I can post videos here but it was pretty quick but then I'm standing out there enjoying the entertainment of the monkeys and two guys down below that was sweeping the street suddenly like yelled up to me and I looked and right next to me was this huge monkey and it scared me I screamed. So I ran I tried to get inside the door as quickly as possible and close it so I don't think I'll be giving out any more bananas but it was quite an experience and too bad I didn't get it on video cuz you would have been laughing at me. So today we were very busy again at school and Colleen and I also filled in to help to grade the oldest students that were doing presentations it really is amazing that they can do these presentations power points and it all be done in English. I covered some double negatives today with my kids and some new vocabulary with the older ones teaching who and whom and some of my other Little Gems. With my younger kids I also played telephone which was really funny and then we played the memory game I'm going on a trip and I have one student his name is Obama named after Barack Obama but his name is Obama and I realize when we were playing the memory game he was very able to remember 15 items 1 2 3 4 5 and then after that I went back to do a second round saying I'm going to the store and we were up to 15 items he was able to do it and when we were all done I said to him Obama can you still recite the first game we played and he was able to do it so I think that he's got a gift I really do I think he's got quite a memory and I told him so. But she was here and he is leaving for the states tonight and thanked us for attending the funeral and we also donated some money to the center hoping they can buy some chairs because most of the chairs are broken. So we're on the last leg of the race just a couple of more days and then we'll be headed home. I was also able to watch Eve's today dancing and he's so beautiful to watch he really is he's just amazing it's just too bad I can't put videos on here I tried I don't know why I am unable to anyway enjoy the photographs and I will speak to you all tomorrow thank you for reading the blog Irma I particularly thank you because I know that you have been reading it I'm not sure how many other people have love you

Obama at the board

this is the one who scared me

August 2.

 It's August 2nd Sunday night and next week at this time we will be airborne. So today we got to sleep in a little bit you know I was up but at least I didn't have to get up right away and I took a nice leisurely shower went down to breakfast and met up with Pedro one of my new friends who was with the kids from Miami who told me they were supposed to leave yesterday but there was a big problem with the flight and it was re-scheduled but they weren't enough seats so four people had to stay behind so he stayed behind with the students that weren't on the first flight now they're being rerouted through Amsterdam and some other place and I'm just hoping that Colleen and I don't have any problem with getting home. So we went to the center later and we met with Olivier who was kind enough to take us for our last shopping spree and I think I got what I needed and we headed back and we were getting ready to go to bashir's father's funeral. Another experience going to a funeral here in Rwanda there are a lot of people it was a military ceremony because she is father was a very decorated soldier during the genocide the cemetery looked a little different all the Tombstones were above ground basically and the ceremony was kind of here and then there the family individually brought up flowers and some went and put them in the grave and there was a time where everyone could get up and look to the casket and say goodbye and so on it was what I feel was a Christian ceremony even though I saw that his mother was Muslim and I know that Bashir is Muslim. Alice was there and was very sweet helping me up the embankments and other places there that were not meant for dress shoes. We were there until after 4:00 we took a car back and I picked up my things and we came straight to the hotel. We had dinner here with what was given to us at the center and now I am going to finish this blog with some pictures from today and some random pictures as well including one of the gentlemen who was barbecuing yesterday that looked very typical is typical New Yorker or New Jersey or east coast with a beer in his hand cooking over the grill. The reunion was wonderful seeing so many people and we played that game it was a lot of fun so I'm going to post some photos and go to bed

CELEBRATE!

 Good evening it is August 1st it is a Saturday and I cannot believe that we only have a few more days left I was asked today am I ready to go home? And my answer was I don't think so. I'm happy that when I go home I can look forward to seeing Ross and his family but it's also very hard for me to leave this place. So we knew that today was going to be a celebration where they were bringing back ex students of Colleen and myself either online students or in person students going back to 2024 and 2020 during the pandemic then they tell us that Colleen and I was supposed to make speeches and of course I didn't have anything prepared and either did she but I'm okay I can do it impromptu speech but then they started setting up and putting up decorations and all kinds of things and then a lot of people started coming in people of course I do not remember their names but I recognize them some of them I didn't recognize because they were only maybe 13 14 years old and now they're 18 years old but it was wonderful and they also were having their own reunion so everyone was hugging and they had a wonderful time then they brought out snacks some potato chips and peanuts and they had tons of beer for those that were over 18 and soda and it was quite a spread of go at on a skewer and potatoes that were absolutely unbelievably delicious so I decided not to eat the goat only because I've made it so far to this point and pretty much unscathed I didn't want to take any chances so I just ate these delicious potatoes which ended up being our lunch and dinner because I was stuffed. Colleen made her speech first which was lovely and talked mostly about the kids and how they have progressed and I forgot to mention that this morning I did an hour class with the staff on pronunciation and they're all laughed about the fact that I'm the person that goes after them to say words correctly. So after that we just kind of hang around while they were all dancing and having a good time I called my sister so I could FaceTime with her and she could see what was going on and Ross also called me at that time and I was able to let him know what was going on we were absolutely astonished at the amount of preparation and food that they prepared knowing that it was expensive it had to be expensive it was enough more than enough for everyone and the food was being cooked and cooked and cooked because everyone wanted more and more and more. I got to reunite with several of my ex students which was wonderful took a lot of pictures and we came back early Colleen was a little overwhelmed by it all so she already went to bed I'm just doing the blog now and I'm probably going to watch something on my tablet and go to bed early as well tomorrow we're all actually going to bashir's father's funeral which is very sad but I'm glad that we can be here to support him. So that's it for now we also played a game I never played before which is like a group boxes of paper where you divide into two groups and you decide if you're going to throw an arrow or shoot an arrow be a wall or be a rabbit so if you're a wall and the other ones are rabbit the rabbit wins cuz the rabbit can jump over the wall if you are a bow and arrow and the other ones are rabbit you will win because the bow and arrow shoots the rabbit if you are the wall and the other people are arrows arrows can't go through the wall so it was fun and they get so excited and it's very funny to see but it was a new game and it was fun

goat bbq

Shabbat shalom

 Shabbat shalom this is one of the later nights we've had it's 10:30 and I'm just getting ready for bed was a very busy but very wonderful day first of all we met up with a girl she's 29 years old named Kim that Carl texted us about that she was here in Rwanda by herself and maybe we can meet up with her which we did so she met us at the hotel she's 29 very nice girl involved in Holocaust and genocide studies and we walked to the center and she kind of shadowed us today I introduced it to everybody and then we went to the to see Patrick at the gazemble center which used to be the orphanage the one that Johnson was rescued from we spent some time there it was bittersweet because he was engaged to ordeal and they're not engaged anymore so it was a little sale after we spent a little time there we went back to the center we grabbed the little lunch and then the kids had their talent show which was a lot of fun to watch and you did a little dancing then I changed into a dress and we waited for the car and we went to the Chabad Center for our Shabbat dinner we ended up with 10 people and the two gentlemen or two rabbis in charge tonight came from New York and Florida because the rabbi is in Israel but these two gentlemen were great they were very welcoming they're very warm and the men were taken in the other room to start the services I was able I was asked to let the Shabbat candles which I very happily did and got a chance to practice some Hebrew and the services was were not that long but there was one part where all the men were dancing and it was so nice to watch all my

talent show

Kevin in his yarmukah

shabbat table

jennifer

Frankie i 

friends dancing with the Chabad people and all the guests once the service was over we went down for dinner but you know was fabulous I'm starting out with the challah and the salads and the hummus and everything and I think my friends were very pleased that the ones that never had Hollow before certainly loved it then we had chicken we had fish we had green beans and a lovely dessert of vodka and mint tea it was a lot of conversation and different places and all in all it was a wonderful experience I love sharing my culture I actually really enjoy Shabbat and the service of it and I think that everyone enjoys himself and were exposed to another culture so shabbat shalom I'm going to sleep I forgot to mention that of course they served shots of whiskey which I didn't have any and was very surprised to see Julius take three shots of whiskey I hope he's not going to have a headache tomorrow