La Vie en Rose

Today, Shyorongi has an amazing summer feeling. There are no real seasons here except Rainy and Dry, but right now, with the perfect temperature and a perfect breeze, and possibly my internal clock waking up and remembering that it's July, it certainly feels like summer. I distinctly remember years ago, pulling away from a traffic light as I turned from Gregory Road to Pleasant Hill Road in Iago the blue Honda Civic who is no more, driving slowly with the window down and feeling the first really warm sun of summer, listening to Breathless Over You by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, feeling light and free and surrounded by just the right amount of attention and inattention from the great cast of characters that was my family and friends, all cloaked up in the pure unnecessary refreshing happiness that only summer brings. I've thankfully felt that way on many occasions since, and I feel that way now.

I'm more than half way through my year in Rwanda, and I find myself feeling good about

students who poke their head around the door while I'm in the staff room just to say hi teacherrrrr, and then give me giant grins when I say hi back.

my Dean of Studies, Regis, who I wasn't too keen on at the beginning of the year but has since proven himself to be a super pleasant, hard-working, accommodating guy who puts all the other DOSs to shame.

gorgeous Shyorongi with its endless miles of red dirt trails and green surrounds.

my parents, who listen to my gripes and ask about my day and have interesting days of their own to tell me about and who are charging into Africa in November with excitement and vigor.

the very existence of mangoes, let alone their recent arrival in my village!

my Rwanda buddies, who don't ask if I want to visit so much as receive a phone call informing them that I am on the way and proceed to put a curry on for dinner.

Tommy the dog, who is taking one for the team by enduring his extreme depression due to separation from his BFF Michy in order to give the entire of E.S. Stella Matutina a decent night's sleep.

my closest friends from home, who keep in just the right amount of contact - enough to keep me in the loop and remind me of how much fun they are, but not so much that I don't miss them something awful and look forward to being around them FT soon.

my brothers, who must be awesome if I miss them this much, who show me up to be the least adventurous member of the family, and who I can't wait to see sometime in the next 1-10 years.

the glow-in-the-dark Jesus-on-the-crosses (fact!) that exist in every room at this school, and the fact that I am the only one here who would ever think to find them funny.

my boyfriend, who against all odds manages to make me like him more every day, and who spends his days roaming the wilderness in defense of rare plants, and who will be hopping on a plane in less than one month now :D

St. Paul's, the mission that gives us good cheap food and an overwhelming sense of comfort as our first Rwanda home.

Stella's language department, which holds its meetings in English just for me.

the Archers, which I am obsessed with, and am off to catch up with right now.

Term Two is over, just exams left now! It looks like I'll be flying to South Africa, rather than overlanding, so I'll be leaving at the end of this month (!!!) after a week and a bit spent relaxing in lovely Northern Rwanda with Meghan et al. Term Three is a short one, and then The November of Mum and Dad In Africa happens, and then it's homity home home home. In this lovely summer glow, I can't help feeling like the rough part, the adjustment and the heartache and the frustration and the boredom and the why-am-I-here-ness, is more or less wrapped up. These last four months feel like the final upswing of the W-curve, where I soak up the country I'm finally feeling comfortable in and enjoy it till the finish.

Off I go home, knocking on every wooden surface I see on the way.