Guess Who's Back- For Three Weeks

I made it back to Rwanda! Well, for twenty days. We had already booked the ticket for Christmas, so I will be flying back next Friday.

But anyway, the flights back were very smooth with no major issues. I cleaned my house from top to bottom, went to a little pre-Christmas gathering with some of my site mate's cohort, and checked in with the med team in Kigali.

Other than that, I've just been hanging out (and working out). Yesterday marked one year from our swear in day, and so we only have one year left in-country! I'm excited to get some work done!

Here's just a few pictures.

There were no sprouts at this airport.

Back to my regular lunch view.

Cleaning makes me happy.

Reinstatement

So, here's what up. I've been home since the end of September. I had an orthopedic appointment and then twelve physical therapy appointments. About halfway through my physical therapy, I sent in my request to be reinstated to my Peace Corps position since I assumed it would take a while for Peace Corps to process the request and paperwork. I was right, considering it's four weeks later and my request was finally approved. I now have to get cleared by the Peace Corps Medical Office. My orthopedist cleared me two weeks ago and my last physical therapy appointment was on Friday.

I'm am extremely grateful to all of the lovely people at the Campbell Clinic in Collierville, especially their physical therapy department. If I hadn't done the physical therapy, I'm not sure my ankle would have ever recovered in terms of flexibility and strength.  And they did their best to get my appointments done as quickly as possible so I could get back to my service.

In the meantime, I have been watching Dance Moms and Glee, reading, cleaning, and hanging out with the cats and dogs as seen below.

I'm also trying my hand at making videos, and here's a photo compilation from my first year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2MxNU_3OZU&feature=youtu.be

I don't have a specific return date yet since I still have to go through medical but it should be soon!

Buster and I go on daily walks. He enjoys barking at squirrels. And barking at cars. And people. And shadows.

The newest member of the Terry family: Lucy. Lucy enjoys zooming around the house and jumping on Stormy. She weighs four pounds and sounds like a squeaky toy.

Jinx is a little anti-social and is not a big fan of the dog or the other cats. Tiny meow, loud hiss. She does enjoy butt scratches and head pets.

Stormy is probably up to twenty pounds. Occasionally gives Lucy baths and is teaching her how to cat.

Home Sweet Home

As I already posted on Facebook, I am currently home in Memphis for the time being. I have technically been medically separated from the Peace Corps with the intention to reinstate. The reason it's a medical separation, not the less permanent sounding medical evacuation, is because medical evacuations have time limits of 45 days. And, well, I already spent three weeks at the infirmary in Kigali.

Because it is technically a separation, there was the issue of my grant. Since we hadn't had the chance to really get started and it appeared (on paper) that I wasn't coming back, there was the possibility of Peace Corps taking the money I had raised. However, after clarifying the situation, the funds are now just on hold. I hope to be back before national exams in November, and the plan is to get the project underway when the new school year starts.

Throughout everything, the Peace Corps Rwanda Medical staff, and the drivers, guards, and cleaning staff who work at the compound, have been amazing. They helped me get food, they did my laundry for me, and made sure I was taken care of. I was going a bit stir crazy, but they made the whole experience much better.

The people in my village have also been awesome. My headmaster, co-teachers, site mate, and the nuns I live with have constantly checked up on me, helped me keep my house clean, and helped me manage classes and the grant from Kigali. I cannot express my gratitude enough.

All that aside though, I am very excited to be home and to heal. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, and various appointments with Chick-fil-a, Cheesecake Factory, and other lovely restaurants during my stay here. I don't have specifics as to how long I will be here, but I am happy to spend some time with my family and friends while I can.

The second stop after Wal-Mart.

Med Hold

So, I've had an interesting week and a half. Let's go day by day:

Tuesday, August 28th- I'm sitting in English Club (about 4:00 PM) when I decide to make a late afternoon/early evening trip to Kibuye. I've never really gone that late before, but I needed to go to the bank and make some copies for Wednesday morning's teacher training. So I go in, stop by the bank, make my copies, and head to my usual hotel for dinner.

I get up to leave the hotel at about 6:30, 7:00 PM, and I have the the hotel call me a car to take me home since it was storming. I didn't have the cash to pay the driver on me, so when we get to my house (in the rain) I tell him to wait while I go get it. The nuns have been doing some reorganizing/refurbishing so the door I usually use is locked and I don't have my keys (stupid, I know, but I never need them since someone is always there). The driver is getting impatient while I, Sister Emmanuel, and Sophie (one of the girls who works at the compound) scramble around trying to get into my house. I finally get the money and start rushing down the stairs to pay the guy and slip down the last two. And boy, it hurt. I pay the guy, everyone helps me up (they're very concerned), and I hobble inside. Tunda is meowing so I feed him first (priorities), then go to take off my Chacos. It's then I notice the tennis ball that is growing out of my right ankle (see the picture below). I call my mom, text my site mate (Gabby), and email/call the Peace Corps Medical Officer on duty (Dr. Dawn).

At first, without seeing the picture, Dr. Dawn says it's a sprain and do the usual elevation/compression/rest (no ice since it's not like I have a freezer). Then she sees the picture and calls me back saying it's probably something more than a minor sprain so Peace Corps will send a driver for me in the morning. I spend the rest of my night hobbling around trying to pack and make my room semi-clean.

Wednesday August 29th- After visits from Gabby, Sister Emmanuel, and my headmaster, the Peace Corps driver gets to my house at around 9 AM and we head to Kigali. At the med office, I am given a brace and crutches, and I am sent for x-rays. Turns out I have a tiny fracture and Dr. Dawn set up an appointment with an orthopedist at King Faisal Hospital the next morning.

Thursday, August 30th- My appointment was supposed to be at 8 AM, but the doctor doesn't get there until 10 AM and I'm the eighth person in line. So I finally see him around 10:45 AM and he says I need a soft cast for two weeks, and then a hard cast for six. I'm not supposed to put any weight on my right foot during the first two weeks. So I'm sent for my soft cast, which takes another hour and a half. Especially since the lady doing casts makes me walk 5 feet to the cashier, get a receipt printed saying I don't have to pay since I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer, then walk 5 feet back before she'll even think about putting on the cast. Finally, after a good 6 hours at the hospital, I get to go back to Peace Corps.

Friday, August 31st- I venture out to Kigali Heights for lunch and it is exhausting. I come back and learn that Peace Corps Headquarters in Washington wants me to get an MRI. That's set up for 8 AM the next day.

Saturday, September 1st- The MRI takes about an hour and a half, mainly because MRI's are long but the doctor was actually on time. I go to Kigali City Tower for lunch to meet another volunteer and, again, I am exhausted. Crutches are hard. I meet with Dr. Dawn later and she says I have a partially torn ligament.

Sunday, September 2nd-Present- We are just waiting to hear back from Washington about what they want to do. Do I get the hard cast? Do I get a boot? When can I go back to site? I have not left the medical offices. I order food in, and they were kind enough to do laundry for me. Gabby is taking care of Tunda, and my co-teachers are teaching, but basically, I'm going stir crazy.

Now it's just a game of wait and see what will happen, so I will keep you posted.

Tanzania- Safari and Zanzibar

Hello everyone! We are almost done with August, how crazy is that?

Anyway, I'm currently at site and we just started term three. Not a ton of students have shown up this week, but hopefully that changes. And as far as my grant project, I am waiting on the funds to be transferred from my personal living allowance account into a separate bank account I set up. Hopefully that will happen soon and we can really get the ball rolling.

However, I've only been back at site for about a week. Up until then, I spent eleven days in Tanzania! I met my mom and we spent six days on safari and four days in Zanzibar.

For our safari portion, we started in Tarangire National Park before going to the Ngorongero Crater, and then spent three days in the Northern Serengeti. These parks are huge, and we had a fabulous driver, Amani, who took us around in our 4x4 truck with a top that opened up. We stayed in one lodge, and two "tented camps" that still had hot running water. All the places we stayed had great staff, amazing food, and beautiful views, either of the landscape or our animal friends. And we had lots of animal friends. Tons of wildebeest since it was migration season, as well as zebras, lions, buffalo, antelope, gazelle, impala, giraffes, elephants, flamingos, hippos, crocodiles, and even one cheetah and three black rhinos. The only major animal we didn't see was a leopard. But, you know, cats are known to hide.

I think my favorite park was the Crater. I think just the crater itself was amazing, as it's basically the top of a mountain that was blasted away millions of years ago. And the crater had what I think was the greatest variety of animals. It was the only place we saw flamingos and we got a glimpse of the elusive black rhino, including a baby.

After the safari, we spent four days at a resort in Zanzibar. And it was paradise. Right on the beach, with a pool and amazing food and staff. We spent one day touring Stone Town (which is this really interesting mix of European, African, and Arabic), one day touring the Jozani Forest (home of the red colobus monkey) and Turtle and Tortoise Land, and one day having breakfast on the beach and spending time at the spa. And, of course, we laid in the sun with copious amounts of sunscreen on. I really didn't want to leave.

And though our trip was amazing, the sheer contrast between the tourist facilities and the local villages and towns was mind-blowing. I get a sense of the differences every time I go to Kigali, and I know my house is super nice compared to the average Rwandan house, but this an exaggerated difference. Everywhere we stayed, even the "tents," was great, with electricity, hot running water, and staff who are waiting on you hand and foot. And then you visit the Maasai hut, with it's barely there sleeping area. Or drive five minutes outside of the resort on Zanzibar. It's staggering and eye-opening, and honestly one of my biggest take aways from the trip. 

And on that happy note, here are some pictures!

The famous baobab tree.

Our Zanzibar resort

Breakfast on the beach

I had so much sunscreen on.

Our tiny plane to Zanzibar. They had to clear the wildebeest off the runway.

The main Stone Town market. Much bigger than mine!

My favorite part of Stone Town

Did you know Freddie Mercury was born in Zanzibar?

We made it to the Indian Ocean!

Stone Town had a European vibe

Our driver Amani!

No, I didn't pet him.

We got to feed him!

We got to feed them too!

Look at that tail!

The zebras help the wildebeest migrate. They're friends.

Majestic

Pumba! Come back!

The blue monkey in Jozani.

Just lion around (she's fine).

They really do strut.

I call them the hippodashian clan. All their names start with H. Helen, Helga, Henry, etc.

Baboon butt

There are actually four elephants in this picture.

The Crater

Two Down, One to Go

Well, term two is over. The kids have taken their exams and we're just finishing up marking. In five days, I'm off to Tanzania with my mom to go on safari and spend some time on the beach in Zanzibar.

Compared to term one, we covered a lot more units in term two. I think that's because the curriculum repeats a lot. It asks you to teach past tense in unit one, but then again in units three and six. It's sort of redundant, but it did allow us to go a lot quicker.

In other news, my grant was fully funded and Peace Corps has officially released the funds! Yay! I'm setting up a separate account for the money this week and we'll get started with everything when we get back from break! Thanks to everyone who donated!

And finally, I went to Kigali this weekend and I saw Ant Man and the Wasp. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to see where Marvel goes now after Infinity Wars. I also got the chance to weigh myself and I've lost about 40 pounds total since being in Rwanda. That's a good thing!

Well, that's it for me. I'll post pictures from Tanzania once I get back!

Kayaking in Kibuye

So, we are nearing the end of Term 2. It has been incredibly long, even with two holidays last week for Rwandan Independence Day and Liberation Day. Luckily, we are in the home stretch with exams and break right around the corner.

To break up the long term, i went kayaking on Lake Kivu with some other volunteers. Now, I have never been kayaking before, but it was really fun! And exhausting. We started in Kibuye at Hotel Bethany and then kayaked to Napoleon Island (named because it's shaped like Napoleon's hat). Along the way, we passed an island with a friendly, solitary monkey. One of our guides gave him a banana. On the island, which is home to thousands of bats, we went on a rigorous hike to the top before eating lunch and kayaking back. I'm glad to say we only had one person fall in, and everyone made it back in one piece. I was very tired and sore for several days though.

On another note, please continue to donate to our grant! We're doing very well!
https://www.peacecorps.gov/donate/projects/improving-ict-computer-lab-and-teacher-resources-pp-18-696-008/

Here's some pictures from the weekend!

The happy group at the top of Napoleon Island!

I really like the hat Joelle let me borrow!

From the kayak

From Napoleon Island

Shelbie and Joelle chilling after our adventure!

Again, I really like the hat!

What a good looking group

Look at those bats!

Moses just chilling.

How We Can Use Technology

My grant has been up for about two weeks now, and we have raised an AMAZING $1120. With my community's contribution, that puts us at $2800.23, with $2141.63 left to go. Every little bit helps and so I thought I would use this opportunity to share what change the grant could bring.

1. The student computer lab
Part of the grant would go towards refurbishing and rewiring the student computer lab. Right now, the wiring does not allow each student to work on a computer individually, and the space is in need of reorganization. My school has committed to cleaning the space in preparation for the new furniture. With an updated space, more students could work individually on laptops, and we would also be at an advantage for more government assistant (they have certain space requirements before they will provide more equipment).

The computer lab

2. Equipment for teachers

The secondary teachers have access to to desktop computers. So do the teachers at the local boarding school. Our primary teachers do not. With the grant, we hope to purchase desktop computers, a projector, and speakers and then organize trainings on how to use the equipment. Creating lesson plans on word, using PowerPoint, and making Excel charts can all be utilized in teaching, tracking student data, and learning, and the grant will help bring those resources to the primary school.

The primary teachers' room

3. Improved learning for all
My students are starting to write book reports. And we like playing games and watching movies in English Club. All of these activities could be enhanced by technology. We could type our reports, and watch Moana on a projector instead of my tiny laptop. There are so many ways to integrate technology, we just need the chance to do so.

My P4 students

English Club

English Club

Watching Moana

Book Reports

So please continue to donate! Every little bit helps! Here's the link again:

https://www.peacecorps.gov/donate/projects/improving-ict-computer-lab-and-teacher-resources-pp-18-696-008/