Day at the Beach with 300+ Students

This event has been the talk of the campus for the last 3 weeks. A group of students, Bible Group, have been planing this event for a long time. We were very excited to participate in the event.
We gathered on campus and walked to the bus stop. We waited until there were at least 30 students. I knew we couldn't all get on the same bus. But I was wrong. What happened was that they stopped an empty bus on it's way to the start of the line. It did a u-turn and we all boarded the bus. It was great sitting on a bus with a bunch of people I knew. I felt safe. I wipped out my camera. I would never get my camera out on the bus normally for fear of looking like a tourist, offending someone, or get it stolen.

The bus took us directly to the meeting place in town. There we waited for more students to show up. I got to play some volley ball while we waited. Then it began to rain. We went inside, sang some songs, prayed, and got some directions for the day.


Then we were off.
We were told that we were going to walk to the beach. About a 15-20min walk west of the market. We headed south. Then we began to run. I was so confused. After about an hour we turned and headed west, this was a good sign. After a few blocks we then began to head north. Now I'm confused. We finally arrived at our destination 2 hours after our departure. The students told me it was for fun that we took the long way...I'm not so sure.
I did get to chat with different people along the way, that was great!
Sporting events started, these people still had energy? Volley ball, soccer, hand ball, and some game where they run in circles and try to hit each other with sticks.

We were then divided into groups and sat down to chat about specific topics. Brandon and I were in the same group. Being the token white people conversation diverted to questioning us. Pop and donuts were delivered to each circle.

Then we gathered for some time of singing. It was great a big circle of dancing and singing. Love it.


They brought in a speaker who shared in Kirundi and it was translated into French. A student came and sat behind Stephanie and I to translate into English. I am constantly impressed by their language skills.
The day was coming to a close but they said they had another surprise for us. We sat and waited. They brought out Samosas!!! They were so good! Think of a triangle of phyllo dough stuffed with ground beef, grilled onions and great spices.
We gathered for a group pic and then made our way down the dark streets. I stayed close to my friend Achmel the whole walk back to town.

Remember that the sun goes down quickly here, these two pics were taken within 10 min of each other.


It was a great day. We got home tired and woke up on Sunday very sore. But it was well worth it.