Before I left Jerusalem I searched for Rwanda on the map. I was surprised to find that this tiny country in Africa was about the size Israel. It was barley colored in. “So I have this in common with these people” I thought, both our countries are too small to have color on a map but have long bloody histories that the world will forever remember in headlines and historical newspaper tidbits.  I assumed that our two people would be sharing a pain and a mistrust of the world that would be paralyzing.

It seems I was very wrong.

These people are not like Israelis; they are the “smileiest” I have ever met. They are warm and happy and shy. They are so pleasantly stunned when one speaks their language and are so forgiving when all is pronounced incorrectly. Here I have met people who, out of excitement, squeezed me until I can’t breath any longer and tell me they love me after just a few short days. They made me their family the moment I met them and always remember to refer to me as “cousin” even when I don’t remember their name. Here, they dress fancy, like their outsides reflect their insides and vice versa. They speak softly and sweetly and absolutely everything takes a very long time.  They want to be modern; to pull themselves away from the past and sprint towards the future with a blazer and high heals on, with shiny new cars and sparkly new smart phone. They’re not addicted to their past and to their trauma. They desperately need not to be. This is how they are different from Israelis.

I was not expecting this. I was expecting pain. I thought the trees in this country would wear it on their leaves. I assumed the children would eat it for breakfasts in their porridge and woman would carry it in their bags making their load a bit heavier. I believed the old men would drizzle it in their tea every morning and young men would drink it away in the bars at night in Kigali. But it seems that they don’t. This is what it looks like to me after almost 3 weeks.  A people who are resilient, strong and seemingly united. 

We shall see how my opinions transform through out this year. I have a feeling I will learn much more than I will teach.