- I acquired three piano students while I was in the U.S. (ages 6, 10, and 14). We are continuing the piano lessons by Skype after my return to Rwanda! I never thought that piano lessons over the Internet would be possible, but my online research revealed testimonials from people who have done it successfully. Unfortunately, I don't have a piano or a keyboard here, just this app on my tablet called "Real Piano" that shows only two octaves, and which I have to hold up to the camera about 6 inches away for the student to see. Well, it works, sort of.
- I now have a 120-liter water tank in the bathroom! This was the bonus for paying a year's rent in advance. OK, it does not connect directly to the shower, so I still have to pour water on myself using a cup, but at least now there is enough water (six jerry cans' worth) to last a good while. During the entire week after my return, the water came on only once in the middle of the night for less than an hour. Now, with the water tank, when the water comes on—whenever that happens to be—the tank will fill up automatically. So I can sleep on while the neighbors are rushing out to the common tap in the courtyard.
- My Bible student Peter is now teaching me Kinyarwanda (for money) twice a week! I have wanted to learn some Kinyarwanda anyway, but in particular I wanted to help him out by freeing him from this security guard job that requires 12 hours a day (6pm to 6am), 7 days a week, and pays the equivalent of 14 cents (U.S.) an hour. He is a student at KIE, and has to walk two hours each way to this job, not to mention keep up with his studies at the university during the daytime. So after two lessons I can say, in Kinyarwanda, Ndi umushinwa (I am a Chinese person), which is an expression that may not necessarily be useful, seeing that it is obvious, but hey, maybe it will stop someone from shooting me someday, who knows.... (Observations: Kinyarwanda is basically phonetic, but then there are those double and triple consonants (aieee!) that are not always pronounced the way they look.) By the way, part of the deal with Peter is that he study the Bible more regularly and attend the Sunday morning meeting, which he was doing before he got this burdensome job. So is my offer a bribe?
- Due to the political unrest and violence in neighboring Burundi, many Burundians have fled to Rwanda. We have had a family move into our congregation, as well as a single brother. For young people in Burundi, it is particularly a hazardous situation because the military can and will enlist them. At least in Rwanda the situation is peaceful.
- The other day, while walking I came across some kind of religious procession—which I found out later was a once-a-year honoring of Mary—that I couldn't get around for some minutes. So, I decided to film it:
Never a dull moment!!
So you are back to work. Sounds exciting!
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