Inhore dancers

I accompanied Lorraine, Pauline, Sr. Iwona, Sr. Charlotte, and Michel to the "thank you" party hosted by the public school just down the road from Centre de Formation. At first I felt a bit out of place because they had all of us sit on chairs and watch the kids perform songs and dances for us. I really didn't deserve to be part of this "thank you" fest because I didn't teach here at all! It was just Lorraine and Pauline! But the director of the school welcomed me just as much as he did them. And then, when the kids started performing, I lost all sense of being out of place…they were incredible! The young children were lined up very nicely in 3 lines. They sang a song in Kinyarwanda complete with clapping and coordinated stomping, and their faces were so bright and smiley! Then, another group of slightly older students came out with a drum and started singing and clapping something more intricate, and a group of 8 girls came out and danced the traditional Inhore! They were so elegant and beautiful, and only in 6th grade! Lots of slow arm movements – the wrists and the neck motions play a vital part. They looked like they were having a great time. After the girls did about 3 different dances, 3 boys about 12 or 13 years old came out and did another traditional male Inhore dance. It was so intensive – lots more jumping and large arm movements than the women. And they also had huge smiles on their faces. Incredible! And us observers just smiled and clapped along with the choir, cheering "Bravo!" It was so awesome. Later Sr. Charlotte said that the girls will want to teach me the movements. And I abso-freakin-lutely want to learn J
I've decided that I need to do most or all of my lesson planning sitting on a chair outside facing the garden and the beautiful Rwandan hill, which is one of thousands, that is right on the other side of the compound. So today I colored pictures of clothing on this poster Kathryn had made sitting outside. I simply can't sit at a desk inside when the weather is so fantastic. And its like this all year J
I spent a good 2 hours today playing cards with Lorraine, Pauline, Sr. Candide, and Joanne. I do have my own lesson planning to do, but they're leaving tomorrow L I'll really miss their company. Sr. Candide amazes me – she's 70 years old, and is the Mother Superior of this mission, yet she will sit and play cards with her volunteers during the middle of a Monday! And she stayed up with us till after 10pm last night playing cards – she was a hoot! When she cleared out all the cards in her hand, she let out this excellent little "Heh! Heh! Heh!" She is a 35 year old deep inside I think.
We also had our meeting about planning the Patronage today. It was all in French, but I was pleasantly surprised with the amount I comprehended. I took some notes with the intention of asking one of the Sisters if I missed anything crucial…haven't had the chance. Truth be told, my presence at this meeting was probably not necessary. We discussed a lot of broader issues that I am not a part of, but it was very good practice for my French listening, and it is good to have a bigger picture in my head about what this will entail. Plus, Père Valence and Père Antoine said they want me to come by tomorrow at 5pm to have a first English conversation practice session. They both are very eager to practice, so I'm pretty psyched to go there.