Well, as mentioned above, Sr. Candide is moving to Ethiopia. The Sisters were again cooking up a storm for this big "adieu" feast, and I was helping clean rooms and bathrooms in order for 2 of the visiting Sisters to spend the night. What a big clash of happiness it was when they arrived! It is so true that members of a religious congregation are seriously members of one big family. They all got so excited when they came, there were hugs and kisses, and big boisterous greetings of glee. All of the Sisters in Kigali and Butare speak very good English, so we made our introductions very easily.
When Mass time was nearing, I was sent to wait at the gate for the Fathers to come. I ended up waiting for about a half an hour, which is not at all unusual. It was quite delightful, actually. During this time a group of about 7 kids latched onto the gate and were talking to me in Kinyarwanda, even after my repeated attempts to explain to them that I don't know what they're saying. They enjoyed practicing their "Good morning! How are you? What is your name?" with me, as this is really the extent of their English vocabulary. Then they started doing cartwheels and performing other little dances and gymnastic things. It was quite a show. But these poor dears were all barefoot, and their clothes were very torn and dirty. I was afraid they would hurt themselves doing all these flips, so I had to just say bye and pretend I was going inside to get them to stop doing acrobatics. Gotta love it.
I was happy to see Maria, the visiting German volunteer from Kigali, accompany the Fathers at our farewell Mass! It was nice to sit by her. The Fathers said Mass for us in French, complete with our English/Kinyarwanda/Swahili music choices. I loved praying with Sr. Rosaline (a hip, young Kenyan Sister) and Sr. Delphina (a sweet old lady from Italy), and others from the Kigali community who did not delay at all in clapping during the consecration or during certain songs, or in raising their arms to dance during the action de grace.
After Mass, we had a gigantic feast. This was more food than I have ever eaten in Rwanda. I guess it was probably comparable in size to a typical American Thanksgiving dinner.
Afterwards, the Sisters had prepared a little speech and gift to give to Sr. Candide. Sr. Lumière from Kigali gave a beautiful speech in French thanking her for all that she has done throughout her 7 years in Rwanda – 6 of which were in Kigali, and just a month shy of 1 year in Gisenyi. She reminisced about how happy all the other Sisters were when Sr. Candide arrived, and she asked pardon on behalf of all the community for all the times when there was disagreement among the Sisters. To illustrate this, she quoted a Kinyarwanda proverb that says something like "When all the cows are in one enclosure, their horns hit each other." Sr. Candide was visibly moved, and gave a beautiful thank you speech as well. She also asked pardon for the times when she "was not always very sweet." I think this is beautiful – these Sisters are so humble and so human. They gave her a gift of a wooden statue of Our Lady of Kibeho, to remember Rwanda and Our Lady's presence here. Then, they all stood up and gathered at the front of the room to sing an English song they had prepared as a sending-forth. Feeling that I should be a quiet observer and not butt in, I quickly scuttled towards Joanne, who had backed away to take photos. But the Sisters all urged me to join and sing, telling me that I can just pick up on the melody, no problem. I felt very honored to be invited and very fortunate to be in such a loving, welcoming, and inclusive community.
We then took a nice leisurely stroll around our compound to show our visiting Sisters the school, and we walked over to the parish as well. After this, Sr. Charlotte and I realized that we still had not performed our secretly-planned Zumba show for them. We decided that it would be a nice surprise to do Chin Chin and Barb's Cumbia (the two songs that we do after every English class, the most popular ones). So after our promenade, we all went back to the house and passed around a box of chocolates, and Sr. Charlotte says, "While you are eating those, Jacqui and I will dance for you." And so we did. It was really fun – they are hilarious and were clapping with the beat or semi-joining in from their seats. Then it sort of turned into a talent showcase after that! Sr. Lumière did a stellar performance to some popular Kinyarwanda song that I really love and want to know who sings it and where I can get it. She was using a metal whisk as a microphone and was totally workin' it. Many of us laughed so hard we cried. Then Sr. Candide started poking fun at Sr. Gisele, who claims that she does not dance. Sr. Candide stood up and refuted this statement, and did a great impression of what Sr. Gisele apparently looks like while dancing. Well, Sr. Gisele decided that this was a very special occasion, and she would not withhold her dancing from us on this extraordinary day. So she went to get a cd of Mary songs, and started dancing a very traditional Rwandan dance for us. The choreography was something that many of the Sisters knew, so about 7 of them got up and joined in. Sr. Candide also went up there, not knowing the moves, but tried to learn on-the-spot, and was awesome. She inspired me to also go up there and learn. So I had a really fun time dancing around the dining room with nuns. There's a sentence I never thought I'd say…
After the talent showcase, we said goodbye to our guests. Two of them spent the night here, but the rest went home. I had such a great time with these ladies, seriously they are a hoot. And I will surely be seeing them again. I definitely want to come visit the community in Kigali. Thank God I still have 5 months! I was thinking about how sad it would be if I had to leave now…there are still so many things I want to do, and I'm really starting to feel like a part of the parish and part of the neighborhood. So I'm staying put! But I must not dilly dally…these 2 months have passed so quickly, and I'm sure the remaining months will go even faster!
Posts
