First week of class has come and gone...

(pictures on this blog are still from the safari, i have stopped taking a lot of photos so I don't stand out like such a tourist)

I started classes this week and had my first full week in Rwanda. While I am in Rwanda (which will be for the next 4 weeks) I am taking two courses. One course is for three hours and it is over Peace building and the Rwandan Genocide. The other class is for two hours and is over social context of community development. Both of the classes

are very interesting and got me to think very differently which is great! I'm sure there will be a few blogs on some of the subjects. But today I wanted to blog about some other events that have happened to me recently...

So today we had our first paper due, so frantically yesterday we were all working to get our first papers done. All evening our leaders have been asking if we wanted to join them in aerobics,

but I didn't see how that was possible with this paper due. As I finished the paper I realized I had no reason not to join them at aerobics. Plus I want to experience the culture and what better way than to go to a Rwandan Aerobics session. Little did I know that it was Rwandan boot camp.

We began the class by running in a circle and a little Rwandan man running around in the middle shouting things. My first thoughts are, oh this isn't

too bad. But then we start doing different leg lifts, shuffles, arm raises as we are still running. This easy going aerobics class turns into a 60 minute non - stop craziness! Our aerobic instructor was pretty intense. Every time you would slow down, lift the wrong leg, or get off rhythm our instructor would be right beside you telling you in French to pick it up. And although I felt like the instructor pointed us out because we were the only Muzungus (white people), it sure did feel good when he would look at me and give me a thumbs up. After the hour long intense work out we all got our belongings and headed home. As we were walking I realized that I looked like I had just got out of a pool with all my clothes on. This was a very interesting Rwandan experience, one I'll never forget!

My second experience for the week happened today. I learned that you should never decide to eat at a restaurant named Tasty Fast Food. See three days a week we are given money to go out to lunch so that we can experience the culture and so that they can clean the house. So all week we have been walking past this restaurant called Tasty Fast Food with a hamburger on their sign. We decided that we would nominate Fridays to be Fast Food Fridays. As soon as class gets out we all rush to the restaurant to hurry and get out orders in. Little did we know that a simple burger and fries would take 50 minutes to make. While sitting, patiently waiting for our food we noticed that they put our burgers in the microwave to cook. We thought that was very interesting, but we tried to put it out of our minds and just make it part of the experience, who knows it could be AMAZING! When we finally

received our delightful sandwiches we were thrilled to take a bite and realize that they tasted like a mix of vegi, tuna, and hamburger. We all decided that we would change Fridays back to African Buffet Food Fridays, which is the same as Monday and Wednesday.

So this week has been interesting in my experiencing the Rwandan culture and those are just two of the many exciting experiences! I will update you soon on my classes and what I am learning, since that is why I am here. I am really enjoying and learning a lot!