Something to be Proud of

Pride is a funny thing. Not only the quantity we exhibit on a regular basis but also what is giving us this pride. Back home it may have been an excellent performance on a work project, a stellar grade in school, excelling at a hobby. In Africa, things have changed ever so slightly. I'll outline two examples to prove my point.

I have now successfully navigated my way onto a bus at rush hour. This may seem rudimentary. I am an adult after all. Anyone can put one foot in front of the other and be able to discern that they are getting onto the correct bus. But I want you to imagine public transportation at 5pm. Everyone wants to rush home after work. Kigali is overpopulated, as is all of Rwanda, with not enough buses to keep up with demand. As you may have heard me reference before, forming lines is really not a Rwandan strong suit. At times lines to enter the bus are enforced but most of the time the crowd of people look like a mosh pit. As soon as the desired bus pulls up, the tight cluster of people sway and claw at each other to get a precious seat. This usually means crowding the door of the bus and barely letting passengers exit. All respect goes out the window. I almost clobbered an old man with a walking stick. Luckily my manners didn't completely vanish, and I did allow him to get in front of me. Although if I hadn't I think "sweet old man with a walking stick" would have become "weapon wielding old man". And I'm thankful that "extremely pregnant lady" didn't even attempt to battle the crowd. I stuck it out this time. Became one with the crowd. I stood my ground, and once I entered the bus I got congratulated by fellow passengers for being strong. But a note for the next time I push my way onto a bus - don't bring squish-able avocados…or bananas…or tomatoes. Even after sacrificing my produce, I'm still proud of my victory.

The second story of pride involves a fellow PCV with a love for chickens. I'm not taking chicken salad sandwich, or barbecued white meat. I mean the real, live clucking chickens. She acquired three of them as pets, who also have the added benefit of laying scrumptious eggs every day. Except, who knew!, that chickens have to reach a certain age before laying eggs. These chickens are just barely six months old. Well, on this particular day, one of the chickens kept trying to fly into the open window that has bars on it. Besides reaffirming her position as 'the dumb one', we didn't really understand what she was doing. She was passed through the bars and attempted to get comfortable on the window ledge. Being the well fed chicken that she is, that was difficult without her butt sticking up into the air. We stared in confusion because this chicken was just being silly. Then we realized, she might be freaking out. Her body was trying to produce its first egg. She required a ledge to lay it on but there was no other ledge available to her except for the window ledge. After a few minutes of concentrated effort, she laid her very first egg. Jen, her human mama, squealed with delight and gave her reassuring words about her accomplishment. To us it wasn't just another day in Africa, it was a day of celebration.