Feel Da Happiness!!

I'm sitting here on my last night with my door wide open feeling comforted by the noise of the village, the smoky smell of fires going and the light of my neighbors house shining right across the way. It was an emotional day! We wrapped up our class, and I said good-bye to the girls....well technically the first good-bye. They told me they will be coming to the airport tomorrow to see me off :) I tried to tell them they didn't need to do that, but they insisted and I have to say as I type this now, I'm glad I'll get to see them again tomorrow.

Last week we did manage to get everyone registered for their SAT/TOEFL exams and the College Common application. What's amazing is that we did it with one laptop and a 'fuzzy' internet connection. It took 15 hrs total, over the span of two days... BUT, it's done! We were supposed to use the school computer lab, but I found out at the last minute that because of the holiday, internet wouldn't be provided in schools. It totally makes sense. I just had anticipated something different. :) My laptop and little modem proved to be fine though, and the girls, after seeing how long everything was taking, made the most of it by studying vocabulary while they waited for their turn.  This morning we finished registering the very last girl!! Phew!

Also featured last week was the TOEFL and SAT post-test. I wanted to compare scores from the first tests they took at the start of class. AMAZING! Their hard work really did pay off...they all improved between 30-100 points on both exams. It was really really exciting!! It also was great motivation for them to keep studying over these next 6 weeks before the actual exams...they immediately put together a study schedule, and determined where they would meet and who would be in charge of emailing me the attendance for each session. SO good!!

Yesterday we talked about the importance of the next next few months, and that even though they will have a mentor in the U.S. to help them navigate the college application process, it would still be hard. There will be days, I said, where standing in one more line to get get the form they need, will feel like too much. Before I finished talking, the girls were nodding their heads, and Flavia said, "We know. We know Miss Kathleen. We won't let each other fail." It's true. When we were filling out forms, a problem that kept coming up was that not all the girls had actual addresses or P.O. boxes for the forms to be sent. They decided that one address should be used for the whole class, to ensure that nobody's letters get lost 'around town'. Bonnette called her mother, and in minutes it was decided that her mom's PO box, would be the shipping destination.

This morning that particular moment was in my head, along with all the other little moments just like that one... It was a hard class because I wanted to say everything("don't forget to scroll down to 'activities' in your common app and add volleyball! don't forget to double check your high school code! don't forget to bring a calculator to the SAT!'....) Of course, I'll be emailing them a list of to-dos, and of course they probably already have it all written down and don't need my list... :) But, it was that last day anxiety of making sure everything was in order. I could tell that they knew I was feeling anxious.....and they reassured me that they were ready.

"Okay" I finally said, after our last round of gifts and pictures. "I'll miss you all." I usually get teary after I leave a place, as I'm sitting on the plane. I was expecting that for my flight tomorrow. I wasn't expecting it today, at that moment. But, as I looked around at each of them, I couldn't help it. They brought such energy and determination with them to every single day of the class. And I love how these past few weeks especially, they started to feel comfortable enough with me to tease me a little(particularly about my propensity for wearing crazy bright colors... or for eating my apples straight down to the core...) Our personalities together just clicked, which made it easy to laugh with each of them.  Every time I stepped into the classroom I had the feeling that we were at the beginning of something really big. As we wrapped up today and no-one wanted to actually leave, it was obvious that we all shared that feeling.....

Before I get seriously teary, I want to shift gears. At the beginning of my time here, I found myself in a restaurant(serving the 'special omelet' which I mentioned earlier in my blog which sometimes came with fries....or peppers. or plain. or with fish.) It was dark, but when I looked up I saw a painted sign that said, "Feel Da Happiness". There, with my special omelet and the realization of just how amazing my adventures in Kigali would be, I definitely felt Da Happiness. And have continued to, that's for sure. What's funny is that on the very first class, I had the girls finish this sentence, "I am happiest when..." So, after seeing the 'sign' in the restaurant, I had to take a picture. :) Here are the girls, and how they Feel Da Happiness!

                                                                    OAD  2012-2013

"I am happiest when I meet new people"- Nadege

"I am happiest when I succeed beyond my expectations"- Bonnette

"I am happiest when I am with my friends and someone cracks a big funny joke" -Jocelyn

"I am happiest when I am looking at the stars"-Grace

"I am happiest when I set a goal for myself and achieve it"-Yvonne

"I am happiest when I realize I have done something to help a person in need"-Lydia

"I am happiest when I look back at my goals and find that I have achieved them"- Patricie

"I am happiest when I take another step in life"-Ange

"I am happiest when my dreams or expectations come true"-Sheilla

"I am happiest when I give out or share whatever small things I have"-Flavia

"I am happiest when I am with my friends, dancing, laughing, helping others and helping each other"-Chartine

"I am happiest when I realize I've achieved something I've been working on"-Nadia

"I am happiest when I am reading"-Nadege

  "I am happiest when I feel loved, that moment my dream comes true and when I am able to give back to the community"-Sheba

Now, as I get ready to fly out tomorrow, I'm thinking about all the ways I've felt Da Happiness here.... Connecting with the girls, getting taken care of by Gilbert and the rest of the gang here at school, meeting Susan and her husband James for dinners, experiencing the unbelievable kindness of people I've met everywhere I've been AND seeing the green rolling hills, red soil.....all of it!! I had to create a little montage below...Humming along to one of the 20 songs I have stoed on my itunes: Don't Stop Believing, Eye of the Tiger, New York, The Dog Days are Over, Rolling in the Deep...(I will be adding an entirely new playlist when I get back, for obvious reasons).... But here we go!

All of us! Last day.

Path from my house to the classroom

My home!(Left door and right door) Note mouse cloths under both doors.

The best corner bar! And place to get beef brochettes.

Freshly stocked shop down the road with yummy hot chocolate.

Gilbert and Gabbo(neighbor)Gabbo's house in background...

Everett and Gilbert(No smiles. Very serious.)

Gilbert(Can't be left out of a photo!:)) and Jackson, Gabbo's son

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Happy hour!

The cooks at my school!

Erias and Paulin! Assistant teachers.

Stopping to chat on a run

Views from my favorite run

And they continue....

Side streets!

Sunset in Kigali city

Where I went every day for everything...

Oh, the moto. And yes, the thumbs up is like a reflex.

The routine for leaving school(taken by the amazing photographer Matthieu Zellweger:http://www.matthieuzellweger.com)

"Safe Road!" are the words I'd always hear from Glibert as I left...

The afternoon light

Rwanda.

As I prepare to drop off the keys to my home in Rwanda, I also feel da happiness about finding my keys(hope they're in my backpack) and unlocking the door to my home in San Francisco....and that means seeing, or at least being able to talk to, all of you!! Yea!! Thank you for being a part of this adventure with me!!! One more post to come...I have a sneaking suspicion the airport and journey home will be full of surprises.....