I Went Swimming in Lake Kivu Today!

went swimming in Lake Kivu today! It was so wonderful.  I went with Sr. Charlotte and Joselyne.

Sr. Charlotte didn't go in with us – the Sisters are only allowed to go swimming in private pools, like if they had their own pool on their property.  But they are not allowed to be seen in public in a swimsuit.   So Joselyne and I went.   She wanted me to teach her how to swim, and I realized how swim lessons are something that I took for granted!

Remember how the very first thing you learn as a little tyke in level 1 swim class is to put your face in the water and blow bubbles? Well, even that was difficult for Joselyne. Think about it – it’s a whole new sensation to breathe against resistance.

So if you don't have years of experience going to the lake or swimming in your neighbor's pool, you feel really weird exhaling under water.  So she was practicing that a bit.  I also taught her how to flutter kick, and then we tried to combine a few different arm movements to learn a few strokes.   In general, she stayed in the shallow parts and didn't really swim out much.   But man oh man did we laaaauuugh!   She is a very light-hearted person, so her difficulty in mastering these things were always followed by laughing at herself.  

We tried putting her on my back for a piggy-back-ride swim, which failed but resulted in even more laughter.  And she had some really hilarious facial expressions as she put all her effort into matching her legs to her arms with the tickle-tee-touch.  We swam for about an hour, then laid on the beach for a while. I got a little sunburned :)   We were at the private beach of the Kivu Serena Hotel.

Usually you have to buy something, like a soda, or be a guest at the hotels to use their beaches.  Sr. Charlotte knew one of the waiters, so we didn't need to buy anything, but she bought herself a Fanta anyways while watching us swim.   This beach was nice, and this hotel was very fancy.   I kind of didn't like being there…Sr. Charlotte said she'd prefer if we go here rather than the public stretch of beach because there would be tons of children disturbing us.   And I'd surely be the only muzungu swimming there, so the kids would not leave us alone.   I would eventually like to go swimming on the public beach though, I would really like to swim with the kids!   It was hard to be at this private beach in all its luxury, yet know that just a few feet outside its gates you'll find educational disparity,  poverty,  people in need.   All the other patrons of this beach were foreigners, many of them probably hotel guests.   So it was cool to not stick out like a sore thumb, but I'd rather go ahead and stick out and be one with the people who live just beyond the five-star luxury.  

I think St. John Bosco (our founder) would have.