African Baby Showers and Football

So the other day I was invited to a party in celebration of a families baby who is the director of Y.F.C in Rwanda, Jean Babtiste, and as the party was supposed to start at 2:30 and I arrived late which in one circle might be considered normal for me and a fault of mine. I showed up at almost 3 and found myself to be the first arrived guest. So after about 15 minutes of chatting with the director the rest of the party showed up. I did feel pretty out of place being the only non African person their and not understanding any of the Kinyarwandan language they were speaking. It was time to eat so I grabbed my small plate of rice, potatoes, vegetables, and bit a meat which turned out to be goat and began eating. As I was finished J.B. told me that I needed to try another kind of meat that he said would be more tender and enjoyable. As I looked at it I knew that this did not look like normal meat and when asking him what it was he said, "It is good, just try it". So I put a piece in my mouth and began chewing. It was tender and chewy and kinda had a burnt taste. It was not the worst thing in the world but something I did not feel like eating more of. After many attempts at persuading him to tell me what it was he finally said, "Oh, the meat, It is just goat intestines". And I said "Oh, Ok, Its pretty good". He then went on to explain the delicacy that goat meat is and I did not eat another mostly because I was so full. The party went on with speeches from some guests and the hosts and then we finished up with singing and dancing which I for the most part awkwardly watched in amazement as people sang songs and dance. It was very entertaining.
I also had the opportunity last week to play soccer with some guys who work for different NGO'S or Embassies in Kigali. They called themselves Muzungu United which stands for white man because everyone on the team was white. There were guys from all over including Russia, Germany, France, and America. We played a Rwandan team on this field that was all dirt except for one side had a skinny 40 ft patch of grass that had not been cut in a long time and was about 2ft tall with mounds of ant hills situated in it. It was a different experience from the pitch I was used too playing on in the states but it was a very fun time even in a 4-3 loss.

Happy Valentines Day to all.