Awkward!

If I had to sum my life for the past week it would have to be…awkward. Walking through town and having everyone stare at you, awkward. Sitting on a minibus and having all the conversations surrounding you involve the word mzungu, awkward. Sitting in the staff room by yourself while all the teachers/coworkers speak Kinyarwanda, awkward. And the most awkward of all would have to be having a house boy. Shira and I had been trying to get food at the market and figure out how to use the charcoal stove with absolutely no help from our headmaster who is essentially supposed to be our guide in these beginning weeks. Eventually we figured out that regardless of whether or not we ever found the elusive market the cooking area in the backyard is definitely our neighbor Amos' houseboys' domain. So after rehearsing the conversation many times we went next door and talked to our neighbor about the possibility of giving him a little extra money so that his houseboy, Kado, would cook for us as well. After a long deliberation in Kinyarwanda between Amos and Kado it was decided that we would pay Kado 3000 francs a month for his services. That's six dollars! Before anyone starts to think we are evil and pathetic and should cook and clean for ourselves, you have to understand it is absolutely the culture here. Literally everyone has houseboys or girls even though houseboys and girls families and so on. Without being condescending I find it very interesting that the poorest continent has the strictest adherence to this service mentality. Who knows what we would do without Amos. He has brought us to the market, explained the cash power system(and I guess as payment we are now paying for his power?) gotten us clean water, and warned us of what restaurants to avoid(basically all of them). Then yesterday, he told us Kado had told him that it was too much work to work for both of us and that Kado wanted us to get a new houseboy. So Amos is going to fire him! And get a more 'efficient' houseboy that will work harder. AWKWARD. We love Kado, well at least we think we do but he doesn't speak a word of English. I gave him the hat I had brought to give to my headmaster and he wears it everyday! So now Shira and I are beside ourselves because we feel like it is our fault that Kado is getting fired. O the scandals of Kabarore. The rural life is very different than Kigali. Yes I know, obviously, but since we are only teaching eight hours a week the lack of activities is very apparent. I have already read three books since I have been here and Shira and I are quickly working our way through the movie selection she brought. So if anyone is feeling charitable movie donations are gratefully accepted! I will be teaching history instead of Math which is great but I hadn't really realized how pronounced the language barrier would be. When we were doing our teaching practicum's in Kigali we were teaching at the top schools with the top students(no district system here) but now we are at a teacher training college which for the most part is for students who couldn't quite cut it. Which is fine, although it does add an element of critique on the part of the students to the teaching process. Anyway, their English is not good. I imagine since Math is a "universal language" it would have been easier in the long run to teach, but History will be so much more interesting. I will be starting with World War One and working to present day so a more Modern History. If anyone has any teaching suggestions let me know especially for non-native speakers.