Celebrity Status

My students along with many of the people in my village treat me as a celebrity.  Many of them have not seen a white person before and so I am constantly being followed around and stared at. “Muzungu” is the Kinyarwanda word for white person and almost always when I leave my house someone sees me and screams “muzungu” which is followed by the little pitter patter of small feet and I soon have a small parade of children following me. The majority of the children just stare at me in amazement but some are afraid. Parents always want to show their children the “muzungu” that lives in their village so many children are brought to look at me, and although most seem to enjoy looking at me  their have been a few that have burst into tears at the site of this strange white person.  Because of my new infamous status I am constantly having visitors or being invited to peoples homes. The invitation normally consists of a glass of milk or tea and a few minutes of my broken Kinyarwanda followed by staring and sitting in silence.  When I run in the mornings I slowly gain more and more children and by the time I finish and arrive at my home I normally have to turn around and wave bye to about 25 children that I collected along the way.