We woke up to such a beautiful country on Tuesday morning! Kigali is lush and clean and absolutely stunning! We arrived last night from Amsterdam and went to dinner at a little open air pizza spot overlooking the city. Rwanda is known as the land of a thousand hills and views seem to get better at every turn in the road. The weather is cool - highs in the 70's and lows in the 60's with very little humidity - especially for it being rainy season. It is the "long rains" season, but Rwandans pronounce that, "rong lains." We had some rain last night, or lain rast night, but the daytime has been mostly sunny. Our hotel is up on a hill and so breakfast outdoors on the patio overlooking the pool included breathtaking views. E and I went to the IJM office in the morning for devotions and prayer and got to meet the staff. Afterward we went to the Genocide Museum. It was really well done and, therefore, awful. Such a horrific time for Rwandans and really, the human race. Mass graves were outside with simple, cement slabs on top. One grave had a window to show cloth covered tombs beneath. After the museum we took a few minutes in the cafe for a Fanta as we waited for our driver. We headed for lunch at "Hotel Rwanda," actually named Des Milles Collines. It's a beautiful hotel and still entertains wealthy businessmen, but having seen the movie, it was another sort of genocide memeorial and was a heavy place to be. We beelined straight to the hotel pool afterward where we took a quick nap and went for a swim. It was a good time to digest what we had seen and try to shake off the fog of sadness a bit. That night we ate dinner with the Mears family at their home and had a true Rwandan meal of delicious beef curry of a sort, roasted plantains (green bananas), rice and green beans. It was reallly nice. The Mears have 4 kids and the boys showed us their magnificent Lego room - a little room dedicated ONLY to their bazillions of legos! I know some boys who would've loved it :)
Our internet connection, laptops, ipads, phones have all joined in a ridiculous rebellion! We can't seem to get enough of an internet connection to upload our photos - but have them all organized and ready to post as soon as we're able - sorry for the delay! Love to all at home xoxox
1 comment:
Thanks for the update! I can't imagine going to the museum. It MUST have left some sadness. I remember going to a holocaust museum in eastern Europe and it took some time to recover. Sounds like it has been a great trip. Keep the updates coming when you're able. Love getting to live vicariously!
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