Party at the Garden of Rest

So last night was rough. I don’t know if the worst part was not sleeping, being sick, or watching Fool’s Gold. Actually, that list is probably already in ascending order of dislike. So I wasn’t my usual radiant beam of sunshine self at breakfast. But the happiness I lacked bringing to the table was made up for by the eggs that were there for the first time in weeks. Yay.

Today was Sunday, but it was going to be a work day. We talked, worked, worked, talked. That was mostly it. We ate lunch in between there too.

The only variation of the day came in the form of a party. After we went to Kazo, we were invited by the students to some “party” on Sunday and we didn’t have much more information than that. So off we went with what little we knew. I just knew it was students from UNATEK getting together, and it was at the “Garden of Rest”. Since we had been cooped up all day, we decided to walk, and that took us about 30 minutes.

When we arrived we were lead into a little hut/alcove and I was surprised at how formal the event was. It was aisle seating, all facing a table at the front that had a panel of about 6 people. We were taken right up to the front and seated there. The reason for the gathering was it was an annual party for the IRJ student committee, which is a coalition of university student survivors of genocide. The party consisted of lots of speeches. In Kinyarwanda. From what Lama translated, it sounded great. Everything they spoke of was so inspiring, and I was honored to witness a group of students gathered to talk about what they care about and strive for. They essentially have banded together, and become family to replace the families they lost. They reflect this in the structure of their group; they call each other brothers and sisters, people higher up are fathers and mothers, and at this particular party, Sigfried and Josian were made honorary Grandfather and Grandmother. It was touching, to say the least.

Once the speeches were over, it was time to socialize. Except they wanted everyone to stay in the unidirectional seating. Lama, Kara and I said no no no. We need to mingle. To circulate. So Lama talked to Camille and persuaded him, and eventually everyone, to move the chairs aside and get up and move around. As soon as it happened, I was taken quickly into a circle of people and fortunately most of these students do speak English. We had amazing conversations, and for the first time in Rwanda, I felt like I got to be myself to the people here. I am me around Lama and Kara, but I haven’t felt like I’ve connected to any Rwandans yet. Tonight I did. We were students from across the world, but we had a lot in common and we talked like friends, curious about each other’s cultures, not like strangers.

Following the ground-breaking way to mingle, it was time for a gift giving ceremony. IRJ is composed of four chapters, each called families. Tonight, the family Prosperity was exchanging gifts. It worked kind of like a secret santa. One person would get up and talk awhile and then reveal who was their “friend” by who they gave the gift to. That person would continue with the gift they’d bought for another secret friend. The amount of emotion that was displayed in the gift giving was something I’d yet to have experience in Rwanda. They were overjoyed. I was overwhelmed. It was so beautiful to watch, and I didn’t need to understand Kinyarwanda to be a part of the love. I felt like I had been brought into a new circle, invited into an intimate level of life here that I wasn’t allowed in before. I was really touched to be included in something so special.

As we did on the way there, we walked home, and Kara and I shared our sentiments about the night with each other and Sigfried. It was a beautiful outside too, and I was extra aware of the sounds and stars and expansive night sky. We ate dinner immediately after getting home, and unfortunately there were some issues to deal with at the house. Things are always tough, more often in Kibungo than Kigali, and as much energy we exert in our projects we exert four times in just trying to maintain some degree of a functioning life here. Needless to say, more frustrations at the house brought us down from our incredible high, and after lots of discussion and dialog I went to bed feeling emotionally confused. It’s not easy to move so rapidly between such highs and lows. At least tonight I fell right asleep.