September 14 Post

 

I want to brag on (or tell on, however you look at it) Drew for a bit. He is so cute in how he is adjusting. I love how there are a few parts of Rwandan culture in which he has headlong jumped into. One of those is burping in public. It is not considered rude, and both men and women alike burp freely throughout the day. Sometimes Drew will be sitting with someone discussing something serious, and then just let a huge one rip! It always shocks me a little bit, but those around him don’t even flinch, and neither does Drew. Another aspect of culture in which he has excelled is the “no personal space” practice. He will insert his little behind anwhere he can fit it, even between two people who are already fairly tight fitting. In line, he will hover over the person in front of him and lean on the counter really close to them. Its hilarious to me, because I am still in the habit of trying not to encroach on anyone or get in their way. He will also waltz up and sit next to Frank or someone and put his arm around them, breaking even the smallest personal bubble space that an American would allow. He has also picked up a lot of the mannerisms like raising your eyebrows to say “yes,” or snapping when he is pleased. I can’t keep my chuckling to myself sometimes. Lastly, the food portions. When we first got here, Drew was serving a normal portion size on his plate at the buffet. He filled the whole plate, but only with one layer. All the other men (and women for that matter) who come in heap there plates as high as they can get them. The reason for this, we found out, is because they pay one stable price for one plate of food. So they make that one plate count! I have observed Drew’s plate getting higher every day over the last three weeks. Now, he piles it just as high as any other Rwandese here. He is also developing an obsession with their “fanta” soda here. He never touched soda in the states and now he wants it with every meal! I basically have to force him to drink water.

I also want to brag on Drew for his ingenuity. As we have little furnature, and no place to put our things, he has come up with the most interesting systems of organization. He pulled old nails out of the ceiling and stretched rope between two nails. Then he took a coat hangar and made little metal hooks to hang cups, water bottles, etc. He also did the same thing on a larger scale with bamboo to hang his nice shirts and jackets. He has used most of the plastic water bottles we have bought for pencil holders, spaghetti strainers, bowls, cups, shovels, and really anything you can think of. He has also made a pressurized bottle so that it is easier to rinse the shampoo out of our hair. He cut off the tops of two bottles and made speakers to put around the headphones we have so we can listen to music in the room. Recently, as the smell in the bathrooms usually reeks, he strung up our fan (given to us by Lainie and Kevin; THANK YOU!) with an extension cord he rewired to act as a temporary exhaust fan while he makes his own with the little fans from broken computers he found in his office. He has also taken apart and fixed several locks, toilets, showers, etc. from all over the grounds fixing things that are broken. He is so smart!!

Lastly, I want to share how well he has been caring for me. Everywhere we go he is always walking close to me and holding my hand since the roads are a little rough, always offering his hand when we step accross ditches etc. Also, for some reason, everywhere that we have stayed (about six places) for some reason they only have one pillow on the double beds. He always insists that I use the pillow instead of him. Every night he lets the mosquito net down and ties it up in the morning. He is actually very proud of his system of tying it up, for good reason! When I was sick, he did everything he could to help me. One night I was taking medicine and hadn’t eaten for three days so I was incredibly nausious. All I wanted was chicken noodle soup or something remotely close to that. So he went scowering the market for it. He came back with tomatoe paste and noodles cause he knew I loved spaghetti. Of course it sounded terrible to me at the time (which I didn’t say) and I ate two noodles and then threw up. It was the thought that counted though, and it was such a sweet thought! We have been reading The Chronicles of Narnia out loud together (which I will say more about another time), and when I was sick he read them out loud to me to distract me from how aweful I was feeling. Furthermore, he is always helping me when I clean up or mop. He is also very patient helping me wash my hair which is turning out to be a difficult process for us:) If the toilet won’t flush or we don’t have water to wash hands etc, he goes and gets water for us. I often try to do it, but he won’t have it. So most of the time I end up just walking there with him even though he is doing all the work. He helped me prepare for my first English class and then came and sat in on it, helping the class along and pretending to be a student so that he could observe. I could go on and on about what a dear he is! Even just now while I was engrossed in writing this, he went ahead and prepared our noodles for us. I am so thankful that the Lord allowed us to find each other!!

I could write a whole paragraph on the wisdom that he has exercised in his new position as manager. While I am impatient with everything, thinking that it should all be changing quickly for this or that person’s expectations, he has been wise in getting to know everyone, earning their trust before putting too many changes in place. Also, there has been an employee that we have been having problems with, and he has been very patient and wise handling him. I cannot say that I would be as understanding in that situation.

On a side note, Drew found a demo game loaded on our computer called “chicken invaders.” Tonight while I was watching him play (he was owning those chickens) I was like, “You have killed so. many. chickens.” He said, “Just call me Truett Cathy baby.”

Julianna