Hey all,
So it's my first evening here in Kigali. We all made it here safe with almost no issues. The main thing that we're dealing with right now is the fact that ALL 18 of our checked bags are still apparently in Nairobi. Boo. So, other than the fact that we all have pretty much just what we carried in on our backs, it's been a not too bad day. We've been told that the reason our bags didn't make it was because the plane was loaded too heavy and we were originally told that our bags would be at the Kigali airport by 2 in the afternoon. We went back. They were not there. "Oh, they will be here at midnight, no problem." We're sending a couple of us back to the airport in 4 hours to see if that's true... probably not, but we're hoping!
It's been overall, other than the luggage, a pretty uneventful, laied back kinda day. We got coffee at the new Bourban in the airport... hands down, best coffee in the world!... headed to our guest house, unpacked... no wait... no unpacking, nothing to unpack!! and then did some intros with our on-site leaders, I took a nap after not sleeping for 2.5 days and some of the others took their first walk through a kigali neighbourhood before our first Rwandan supper of chips (fries), rice and chicken... oh, and can't forget the Fanta! I'm sure what is the first of many to come!
Now we're all settling in to watch the Uraguay-Germany match before "hopefully" picking up our bags at midnight and then off to church in the morning. Depending on how the team is doing after their first marathon African church service in the morning we may go to the Kigali Memorial Center. If we do, it'll be a long, thoughtful day. I'm not even sure if I'll be going through it again myself... I think twice is enough. It's a VERY emotionally draining, but very important, part of what we make sure the team are exposed to while here. After seeing how the team does with KMC we'll take them out in to the country to Nyamata and Ntrama church memorials. Again, not sure if I'd go in again myself... we'll see what type of a mood I'm in. These sites are very real, unchanged places where thousands of people were masacared by the interhamwe malitias and have been left vertually untouched as a memorial to those who were killed. On Monday we'll be heading in to Kayonza district, Eastern Provence to check out the land that ITeams ownes there, meet the people we'll be working with, the local leaders and mayor and then head back on Tuesday to start the building.
...I should go... I've got a football match to watch! Pictues soon to come, hopefully... probably will start adding some to fa'book here and there!
Thanks again for reading!!
Sweet read buddy!
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