"Uri guseke iki?" "Why are you laughing?" I finally learned what will become my favorite phrase here in Rwanda if I can learn to let it role off my tongue easy enough. It is what I am most commonly thinking as people pass me on the street and start laughing to see a white person. I would love to be able to respond with something funny in thier own language so they can really laugh.
Today on the bus I finally got my opportunity to ask a nice young Rwandan woman why she was laughing. She gazed over at me from across the isle and I smiled. She laughed nervously putting her face in her hands, so naturally I laughed to seal the awkwardness. We had several exchanges exactly like this one until she finally said, "why are you laughing?" (In English of course otherwise I would not have understood her.) I said, "I was wondering why you were laughing at me? I am only smiling and you are laughing!" She just kept laughing and the man next to me began to translate for her. He said, "in her country when you are laughing at someone it means that you are pleased with them.!" I said to her, "Je suis content!" which means - "I am happy!" in French.
A few minutes later we were exchanging stories and numbers, and emails. Caritsa is her name and the girl next to her, unrelated, is Stella! We all became friends just from a simple smile to offset an awkward stare! Turns out Stella is becoming a nurse and is only 20 years old - I told her about my sister Lucy who is a nurse and she was excited to hear it. Caritsa has one daughter. When Danielle and I arrived in Kigali, Caritsa helped us find a taxi and accompanied us to where we were staying because she wanted to see it and make sure we had gotten there safely. Stella called me this evening to say "Goodnight!" What a pleasant bus ride and now I have two more friends! I love how God works, He truly is amazing!
I also got a Kinyarwandan lesson from the man sitting next to me as well. I just wanted to say... "Imana Iragukundu!" which means "God loves you!"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Glad you're safe and meeting friends! Your blog is very interesting and now that I have caught up with it, I will be following more closely! How exciting for you to be doing something so important and facinating for the Lord. You are a very brave woman! I will be praying for you and asking God to keep you safe and healthy! Love in Christ, Sarah (Clarke) Clauss
I love it!! Haha. I was laughing picturing it. Anna, you are such a blessing everywhere you go!
Post a Comment