Lunch at Innocent's House

Saturday we along with Chesie were scheduled to eat at Innocent's house at noon. He is a midwife at the Health Center. Rachel doesn't live right in the main part of the village. You have to walk uphill all the way. For flatlanders who don't walk much, I knew it was going to be a challenge. Rachel can normally walk it in 15 minutes so she allowed an extra 10 for us. Haha. Probably took us 30-45 minutes. 

You could tell he earns more money than Chesie's dad because the house is much nicer and they had couches, love seat, and chair - all soft. Innocent was not there when we arrived but his brother-in-law, Simone, was there to greet us. Simone is a student in Kigali but had come to have lunch with us. Simone told us that he is 22 and was born during the genocide. Rachel knows he is an orphan so he was born and then his parents were killed soon after. Simone is studying business information services. He talked a lot about how much he loves Rwanda and how secure it is but how it needs more education and health services. 

Innocent came probably 45 minutes after we got there. Rachel said that he was shy. His English was not as good as Simone's but easy enough to understand. 

Innocent's wife brought out the lunch of isombe, rice, French fries, meat. Her isombe tasted just a little different from Chesie's but was good. Just as we started to eat, the pastor came by to greet us and eat. When he walked in, I said softly, "Poor Joe." This man's body odor preceded him. Probably the worst I have smelled so far. "Poor Joe" because at Chesie's house the assistant executive of the cell came by to greet us and eat. The seat they gave her was right by Joe. Her smell turned Joe's stomach and he couldn't eat. Same thing with the pastor. The pastor "dined and ditched" which was a good thing for Joe. 

After talking a few minutes after lunch, we headed outside to take pictures before leaving. When we walked out, there was a young woman with a baby on her back staring at us (the Rwandan stare at white people) non-stop and without moving. She must have stared for 15 minutes without moving. 

So, then off for the walk home. Not hard - basically all downhill. 

I don't have any pictures of this gathering on my phone but here is one of what it looks like from Innocent's house. 

A Lot Has Happened

My last post was from Thursday night when we arrived in Kayenzi. Today is Sunday, April 25 - Joe's birthday. Before I get to that, we have been very busy at Rachel's house. 

Friday, April 22, was a hard day for us. We didn't sleep all that well in our new surroundings, and it became evident early that morning that we were dehydrated. Some rehydration salts made us all feel much better. 

Friday morning I helped Rachel light the charcoal fire stove, the imbabura. She and I also went to fetch water at the health center next door. No problem, right, a 5 gallon jerican of water is heavy - 40 pounds!

We also washed some clothes. Yes, in a water basin outside on her back porch. Haven't done that in a long time. 

Friday afternoon we were invited to Chesie's parents' house for a meal. We met her family and share isombe, rice, French fries, meat. Chesie's dad was extremely hospitable, and while he can't speak any English Rachel and Chesie translated for us. 

Following the meal, the family had gifts for us. I was blown away. It was hard for me not to cry thinking about them spending money on gifts for us. A picture of Rachel with their family, a woven frame  in the shape of Africa with pictures of Rachel and Chesie and the family, a beautiful woven basket with lid filled with vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, string beans), 2 milk containers made of wood, a woven tray filled with fruit (pineapple, passion fruit, mangos, apples, tree tomatoes which are fruit, oranges).

I didn't take a picture of Chesie's house but there are 6 or 7 people who live in a 2 bedroom house with no electricity, no running water (Rachel doesn't have running water either), an outdoor kitchen, outdoor latrine, a small room about 6x8 or a little bigger that is used for the living/dining room. And while they have no real material goods, they are incredibly happy and generous. 

Hearts are full. 

Kigali and Trip to Kayenzi

Our rooms at the guesthouse had hot water for showers so we enjoyed showers Thursday morning. Then it was off to breakfast. Took a taxi to a supermarket where most ex-pats shop. Rachel says she rarely shops there because it is too expensive. We exchanged money there. Very good exchange rate - 790 Rwandan frans to the dollar. 

Then on to breakfast. Omelets, French fries, fruit tray, coffee, freshly squeezed OJ, bottled water. 

Joe wasn't feeling too good so we sent him by taxi back to the guesthouse to sleep. Katherine, Rachel, and I took a city bus to the huge city market outside of town. 

We were looking for fabric. As with any market like this, there are hundreds of vendors selling everything - kitchen items, used clothes, food (fresh  vegetables, all kinds of different flours, and of course the Rwandan fabric called kitengi). Many of the Peace Corps volunteers go to one young lady to buy their kitengi because she speaks pretty good English. We purchased some fabric to have a blanket made. We left the fabric there to have the blanket made. 

Rachel took us to the side of the market to show where the tailoring is done. There were 30 or 40 women and maybe a few men who were sitting behind sewing machines making clothes and all kinds of things. These were not electric sewing machines!

From there we took a taxi to the Peace Corps for Rachel to see the doctor. She has not been feeling very good for about a month and now has a low grade fever so the doctor wanted to see her in person. Just like in the states, we had to wait for him!

The Peace Corps in Rwanda hires 2 full time doctors who are on call 24/7. If you have a problem you call him directly. He dispenses all medications including what you might have been on before Peace Corps. If you are at your site and are too sick to take public transportation to see him, a car is sent for you. 

Anyway, he took some blood to have analyzed. He gave her stronger allergy medications. 

We took a taxi to St. Paul's where K and I got out, and Rachel went back to the store to buy pillows. 

Packed up and went to bus "station" to catch bus to Kayenzi. That was interesting to say the least. These "buses" are 12 passenger vans called "twedge" which means crammed together. We had 18 people and all our luggage in it. Took about 2 hours - half on paved road and half on dirt. 

Chesie met K, R, and I as we walked from where we got off the van to her house. I have seen anyone so happy to see us! By the time we arrived at Rachel's house it was dark. As we passed the health center, some of the community heath workers greeted us. 

Chesie's and sister greeted us at the house with dinner. We were exhausted but ate some - meat (not sure what it was), French fries, rice, mixture of cabbage, carrots, beans and eggplant along with the best sauce (gravy) ever. 

Waking up in Africa

It seems surreal waking up in Africa. I really can't believe that we are here after all the planning over the last couple of months. 

I just had to ask Joe what day it is. It's Thursday, April 21. Lost a day coming. 

I'm not sure what to say about the trip here. The flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam was very good. We were on a newer airplane that stayed cool, had a place to plug in our headphones, and had decent sized seats. We left Atlanta at 5:40. Had dinner of ravioli, salad, bread, wine, and dessert. After dinner I thought I would try to sleep but that didn't work. We had nice little personal screens to watch movies, tv shows, the flight tracker of our plane as well as lots of music to listen to. I thought I would watch a movie but fell asleep and hardly saw any. 

Breakfast of a blueberry crumb cake, vanilla Greek yogurt, a slice of cheese, and OJ was served about 1 1/2 hours out of Amsterdam. 

When we arrived in Amsterdam, we heard that the temperature was in the 30s. 

Our flight from Amsterdam to Kigali was on KLM and left at 11AM. Older plane so the seats were smaller and the tv screens were not as nice. There were about 100 empty seats so the flight crew encouraged people to move to other seats. Katherine moved up to row 13 while Joe and I stayed where we were. That left Joe with an extra seat. I was on a row of 4 seats and only one other person. Before I knew it the man on my row was lying down over 3 seats - so much for extra room. 

For lunch we had sweet and sour chicken with rice (not so good), slaw which was pretty good, roll with butter, and dessert. 

Thought I would go back and watch the movie I fell asleep watching. Well, I fell sleep again. I am going to watch it sometime! It sounds like I slept a lot of the flights but I really didn't. 

Arrived in Kigali around 7:15PM Wednesday. No customs. Paid $30 each for Visa. Didn't have to show our yellow fever card. Very easy process. Got our luggage and headed out to find Rachel. 

There she was standing. It was hard not to cry when I saw her. 

She got a taxi for us. Imagine a small, older Camry - four Hills, driver, 4 very full suitcases, 4 backpacks. Joe sat in the front seat with his bag in his lap. 

Kigali is very hilly - looks like mountains to those who live in the flatlands. 

Rachel got us rooms at Centre Saint Paul which is the guesthouse for the diocese of Rwanda. Each bed has a mosquito net over it so that was a new experience last night. 

Plans for today include exchanging money, buying pillows, going to a store that has olive oil and other things that Rachel wants. We will have breakfast with a Rwandan Peace Corps employee who is a friend of Rachel's. This afternoon we head to Kayenzi via a small bus where Chesie will have dinner for us. 

Joe and Katherine in front of plane in Kigali. 

The Trip of a Lifetime

This trip started probably two years ago when Rachel decided to go into the Peace Corps. At the time we had no idea what was in store for us or even where she was going. On June 2, 2015, she left for Rwanda with H7 (health class). She went through her in-country training in Rwamagana where she lived with a wonderful host family. After 2 1/2 or 3 months, she was off to her site in Kayenzi.

We are now at 10 1/2 months into the Peace Corps. I say "we" because it really is a family affair. While Rachel may be in Rwanda, our hearts are there with her. We are constantly thinking of things to buy and put into her monthly care packages. She has been very good about sending texts about what is going on in her life. Thankfully, there have been no major problems so our level of concern has stayed very low. The closer to the trip the more I miss her. And maybe it's because we have had more (probably daily) contact recently as Rachel has done an incredible job of planning the itinerary. 

So, we leave Tuesday, April 19 at noon and arrive in Kigali, Rwanda Wednesday the 20th at 8:30 PM with short layovers in Atlanta and Amsterdam. Because this is a trip of a lifetime for us, we will not return home until May 17. We are fortunate to have someone come live in our house to take care of our animals and provide security for the house.

So, keep Joe, Katherine and me in your prayers.

PS.  I am not sure how often we will be able to post to this blog as the internet can be iffy in Kayenzi. When we are in Kigali and some other places, we should have good enough bandwidth to post pictures.