Muzungu.

It is amazing the stereotypes we have just from a color or a shade of skin. Living in Rwanda has really opened my eyes up to this. Where ever we go around town we are referred to as muzungu, which simply means white people. It is not a demeaning word at all and is not said to insult. It is simply a statement. Because of the color of my skin the people automatically assume many things and are very curious about me. Specifically when they see muzungus they assume that we have lots of money. That is what they hear, is all they know, and is from their experience of muzungus. For instance today, I think I experienced the most overwhelming situation of my life. Today, five teachers (Lauren, Amanda, Kyla, Amy, and myself) from KICS went to the city market. There are several markets around town, but this one in particular sells all kinds of good, clothes, fruits, veggies, meats, etc. As we were pulling up to the market, the rest of the teachers, encouraged me to prepare myself for what was about to occur. Literally as we were pulling up they said "oh by the way do not be surprised if people start swarming our car and yelling things at you." I did not have much time to prepare myself. No joke, as we pulled up twenty to thirty people just surrounded our car. They started running alongside the car, yelling in the windows, and asking us for jobs. I could not believe what I was seeing. As we got out of the car it was absolute mayhem. We had to push our way into the market, while still having children, young boys, and adults begging us for jobs. Even while we were in the market this occurred, but was a little less intense. Every time you touched something they would ask you if you want to buy it or would put their goods in your face. Every time you turned they were shoving something at us and begging us to buy it with a please. Then once you bought something young boys would try to carry it for you so that you would pay them for their assistance. It takes a lot to overwhelm me and for the most part I can remain pretty calm, which I felt like I did, but this was definitely an experience I will never forget. I admit I was overwhelmed by all of this to the point where I said nothing and touched nothing knowing they would start begging if I did. It is interesting to me how a color of skin can change the dynamics of how people treat you. Even to the point where they raise prices and expect that you can pay it. One teacher Amanda had to say to a merchant... "you expect me to pay that all because of the color of my skin." In Africa, that statement is no offensive at all, but it is true.