Roadblocks....

On the advice of my good friend Madhvi, I'm going to share some of the less fun sides of being here. Don't get me wrong, this is the coolest thing I've ever had the chance to do but it really isn't all fun and games. I guess today I've reached a roadblock and I'm assuming it'll be one of many I encounter over the next 6 months...

First and foremost - mosquitoes. Even as I write this, one is buzzing around in my face and I want to squish the living daylights out of it. They harass me to no end. It's incessant. Day and night. Even as I sleep, they taunt me. I sleep in a mosquito net and they hover around my head, outside the net, buzzing. Buzzing, buzzing, buzzing. The buzzing doesn't end. It's almost like they're saying, the moment you get out of this net, consider yourself fresh meat. My legs are covered with bites and they get me through my clothes, including my bum. So here I am, awkwardly scratching, looking like a total fool. You know how people spray air freshener? Well I spray deet. Around my bed, on my body, everywhere. And yes, I'll probably develop some sort of horrid cancer 20 years down the line due to deet overexposure, but I'll take it over malaria because that's what those mosquitoes want to do. Share their malaria with me!

Next -- the staring. People stare here with no shame. I feel like an alien. Is there something on my face? Is my skirt too short?!! (my knees are almost always covered)...I hate it. I was warned about the staring and I didn't think it'd bother me. But when you actually live it, when everywhere you go, you feel eyes on you, I'll be honest, it starts to get to be a drag!!!

Language barriers -- Kinyarwanda is one hard language to learn. Half the time, I stare at people as they babble on, completely oblivious to what they are saying. For all I know, they are calling me an ugly fool but I really have no idea what's going on. I'm working on my French skills because most people here can speak at least some French but English is definitely harder to find.

Finally, work (or lack thereof) has been tough. In Canada, we are often bred to believe that our worth is measured by our work, that a good day is a productive one. The most productive thing I've done the past week is work on this blog. And for those of you reading this that know me well, you know how hard of a time I have with doing nothing. To make matters worse, there doesn't appear to be a job available for me in the nursing department (where I'm supposed to be) because hey, I'm not a nurse!! For now, all I can do is enjoy going into work and sitting at a desk for 9 hours doing basically nothing. I'll be kicking myself in the ass for complaining when my life returns to the hectic mess it normally is in Canada.

So I guess all these hurdles are, in the grand scheme of life, quite minor. At least the food here is clean and tasty and the sites are great. Homesickness has settled in though. This morning I thought to myself, oh hey homesickness, you're not welcome here. But it's something I'm going to have to accept and work through. It's inevitable to miss friends and family. The key is to get over those roadblocks and learn as much as I can. I'm sure I'll be a better person because of it!

I promise the next post will be back to exciting, happy me...with lots of pictures to go with it!