Rwanda!

I'm writing from an internet cafe in downtown Kigali that has what is perhaps the slowest internet in the world! Took a solid 9 minutes to load this page...

Anyways, we certainly arrived safely. All three flights went fine, and the transfers were pretty smooth. I closest we came to trouble was some drunk lady who claimed to know us. She claimed a lot of things. I had my bags searched in Brussels, but the guy was pretty nice. Beautiful scenery on the way down- lots of wildfires burning in Sudan.

Ah, Rwanda. What a beautiful country! Customs were quick and easy ,as was getting to our hotel. I've gotta love the street life here: hundreds of people walking down the streets, cars, buses, motos, and trucks vying for a place in traffic.

We got to our hotel, the Iris Guesthouse, last night around 8. It's pretty nice. It's located near the top of one of the hills in Kigali and is pretty nice. Dann, Mickey, and I are sharing a three-bedroom unit with the four chaperones, while all the girls are off in motel-style rooms. Dinner last night was great! Traditional Rwandan food, and it turned out to be great. Vegetables, red meat, and potatoes seem to be the staple of the diet. No goat brochettes though. Didn't sleep at all last night, get-lag was crazy.

Today we went to mass at St. Famille's Catholic Church in Kigali. Many Rwandans sought sahelter in churches as the genocide began, not knowing where else to go. Because of this, many of the largest massacres took plave in churches. St. Famille's, however, was an exception. The churchyard of St. Familles is within view of many foreign embassys, as well as two belgian-owned hotels. Because of this, there were never any massacres at St. Famille.

We arrived at the church at about 9:30 for the 11:00 mass. In Rwanda, masses are 2 hours long. While we waited for the first mass to end, literally hundreds ofg kids, from toddlers to around 12, came out of the church and gathered in huge crowds around us. We practiced our Kinyirwandan and they practiced their English. We went in to the church at 11, and the mass really did last until 1. In Rwanda, people don't receive communion unless they have received confession since their last serrious sin. Thus, most of the congregation stayed on their benches during communion. The church was like a massive brick oven, with about 2,000 people jammed into this space, all on wooden benches. It was at least 15 degrees warmer than outside, which has been in the upper 70s but very humid. The sun is very, very strong here however. One can feel themselves beginning to burn within the first few minutes of heading outside. I luckily, have scaped unharmed.

After mass, we spent the day around Kigali...lunch took 3.5 hours because they ran out of food and eventually become dinner. We just stopped in here after out stop at a grocery store to get some forgotten supplies.

Off to Ruhengehri tomorrow!

Until next time,
Drew