Rwanda 2014: Day 9 & 10

Catch up on Part 1 of our Rwanda trip here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 6 here Part 7 here, Part 8 here

THURSDAY | September 18th

Our Anniversary! In case you missed this post, we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary in Rwanda. Ben & Josephine urged us to take the day off and spend it together, and offered to call off all of our missionary-ing for the day, but we politely declined. We didn’t want to waste any time while we were there and could celebrate our anniversary when we got home.

Cory and Jarrod went back to Kane to work on the house, cutting down trees on neighbors’ property to form the “studs” for the walls.

And Vianey climbed a tree.

There’s a bunch of hard workin’ men and it was so hot that day!

Oh my gosh you guys, we got so hooked on this stuff! It’s called Agashya Pineapple Nectar–the ingredients of which are “Water & Pineapple Squash”! No joke! Pure, pineapply, sugary goodness in a bottle.

While the guys were slaving away in Kane, Amber, Phiona, and I were at the RCRI office in Kigali, just outside downtown. Benjamin had been telling us how much of a mess everything was and he wasn’t lying! The closets and files were a big mess, but you can’t blame him because it’s just too much for Ben to handle to keep everything going and organize the office as well.

After we cleaned and organized all the closets and file cabinets, Ben and I sat down to organize his computer files and get his new expense register spreadsheets set up. Finance Degree, activate!

The guys arrived and brought lunch when they finished their work for the day and VP met us at the office. Cory and VP fixed the broken hinges on the closet door. At least I think it was fixed. Maybe.

Apparently celebrating a special occasion any other day than that day is a big no-no in Rwanda–all of our friends chastised us for even suggesting that we would celebrate our anniversary when we got home. VP, always a master of words, blessed Cory out and told him that he was not God to be changing the dates…a date is what it is and you celebrate that date for a reason!

And while Gaudence and VP tried to plan a party at a roundabout in the center of downtown with a big fountain where VP would serenade us, serve us cake, and call the local news station, Ben and Josephine insisted on taking us out to a nice Italian dinner.

We had strict instructions to be at the house, ready to go at six.

Isn’t this just the sweetest picture of Jed! He fell in love with Jarrod and is seriously the sweetest kid.

The restaurant had a gorgeous view, but it was so hard to get good pictures with the differences in lighting.

Anyway, after our meal we were served some dessert and a song was sung to us in honor of our anniversary.

My best attempt at group picture! Like I said, the camera had a hard time adjusting to the dim lighting in there and it was hard to explain how to use my camera what with the language barrier!

After taking a few more photos from the balcony, it was time to head back home and get some rest for our big day at the national park.

FRIDAY | September 19th

Benjamin had really wanted us to make sure we took a day out of our trip to go to the Akagera National Park, which is this enormous wildlife preserve (one of the largest in Africa at 1200 square kilometers) and is a Rwandan national treasure–he also said to make sure we budgeted plenty of time because it was a long drive to get there, a long drive through the park, and a long drive back.

So we got up bright and early Friday morning (and still ended up leaving an hour late…?) to begin our journey.

Every kid in Rwanda knows how to make a soccer ball out of string, rags, and paper. Cory had been saying the whole trip that he wanted a real live soccer ball made by a kid on the street, so he told everybody to keep a lookout for kids playing with one.

As we got near the park, that pavement ran out and we started down a long dirt road past some small villages. All of a sudden, Jarrod yelled “STOP! SOCCER BALL!” and pointed at a group of kids playing by the side of the road. VP pulled over and asked them whose ball they were playing with. The crowd parted and all the kids pointed at one little girl. Cory asked VP how much was appropriate to pay for the ball and the girl agreed to sell it. As they ran away from the car, the little girl was clutching the money like she was rich and all of her friends were hugging her and patting her on the back. It was heartbreaking that such a small amount of money as that was such a huge deal. And a little bit heartbreaking that Cory took their ball away!

After what seemed like forever, we were finally there! Right off the bat, the scenery was incredible! As we entered the park and paid the admission fee, there was a small gift shop and museum that we stopped to look through before heading in to see the animals.

We hadn’t made it into the park a half mile with our guide, George, before a troop of wild baboons walked out in front of us!

The park is teeming with all kinds of wildlife–monkeys{I could never get a picture!}, baboons, zebras, dozens of species of antelope and gazelle, crocodiles, birds, giraffes, elephants, and even hippos and warthogs {called pumbaa!}. It was a good thing we opted to take a guide with us, because George knew exactly where to find each animal. He asked us each what animal we were most excited to see, and did his level best to make sure we all got to see what we wanted.

We asked VP if he liked the park, and he said that he was reserving judgement until he had seen a giraffe.

HIPPOS!

BALD EAGLES!

ANTELOPES!

ZEBRAS!

The park forms the border between Rwanda and Tanzania, and in the distance you can see Tanzania on the horizon.

Cory with his bare feet! I swear, you can’t take him anywhere.

This spot wasn’t the real highest point in the park, but George said it was more picturesque than the real highest point, so we got our group shots there while it was still sunny.

CAPE BUFFALO!

We stopped at an area way up around the actual tallest point where there’s a shelter and a camping area for those who wish to spend the night in the park. Um, no thanks. I’ve seen what lives there!

VP got out to, um, stretch?

You couldn’t help but reflect on God’s creation when there were sights like this just right outside the window. It’s incredible to think that the same God that created all of this also loves little me and cares about my life. How gorgeous and majestic is the work of our God!

When VP stopped here, and our car was caught in the center of a herd of wild zebras, we all fell silent and VP said, “God is a good painter. These zebras are well painted”.

Well said, VP.

PUMBAA!

We stopped here for lunch and in hindsight, it was probably NOT safe to be this close to hippos.

And finally, when it seemed like all hope was lost, (we had been driving for around six hours) George found VP his giraffe!

As we were getting ready to leave the park, we saw a herd of giraffes but VP was going so fast, my camera wouldn’t focus.

So the park is about an eight-hour drive, and that’s with VP driving like a maniac at 65 mph on a rutted out, tore-up dirt path. All day, it had been threatening to rain but the rain was always ahead of where we were, and we were thankful for that. Until we got to a long straight hill where the ground had been reduced to sloppy, slimy, slushy mud that the SUV we had rented that day couldn’t get through.

At the top of the hill was a car full of German and Austrian students who had just fought their way out of the Mud Pit of Sorrow, and when they saw us they walked back down with their guides to help us push our truck through the mud.

Danke, der kameraden!

It wasn’t just the car that had difficulty moving through the mud! It was so slick you could barely walk, and we sure weren’t going to walk on the swampy sides and get bitten by a black mamba!

So of course Amber fell and I dropped my camera in the mud.

After passing another car full of muzungus and giving them the heads-up on the mud pit and a firm “abandon hope all ye who enter here”, we were headed out of the park and back to Benjamin and Josephine’s house to get ready for Josephine’s family Bible study at their house.

And there were kids in a tree.

Poor Cory had started complaining while we were in the park that he wasn’t feeling very well, and that he was freezing. Sure enough, by the time the car got moving on a smoother road, he was out like a light.

How can you not adore those pouty little lips!? Michaiah is sooo cute and sweet and I miss her so bad.

Josephine’s family meets every Friday night at someone’s house to have a time of testimony, prayer, Bible study, and worship. They chose to meet at Josephine’s house that week so that we could be a part of it as well. When they all arrived, we ate a big meal and got to meet everybody.

Unfortunately, Cory was in the bed with a fever, wearing about 17 hoodies and feeling like he had been run over by a cape buffalo. After a while, he emerged from the bedroom, looking much better and wearing only a t-shirt. When the time came for everyone to share testimonies, he told the group that he had prayed for God to heal him of the fever, even if it was just long enough to get to be a part of the small group time. He fell asleep, and woke up thirty minutes later with his fever broken and no sickness, and ready to sing and play! God is so good and He answers prayers!

It’s hard for me to express what that group time was like. The Holy Spirit was so present and so heavy in that room as we worshiped together. Josephine’s brother, Innocent, is a worship pastor at his church and he led us in a deeply spiritual time, singing songs that we all knew, that transcended borders, oceans, nationalities, and race so that we could worship our God together. It was truly a life-changing experience.

Please excuse the off key voice you can hear in the back ground. I stuck out like a sore thumb with this talented group of people.

After our time of Bible study and a lesson from Innocent, we sang some more songs and got to just hang out with Josephine’s family. They were some of the nicest and most welcoming people I’ve ever met! Her parents even said that anytime we come to Rwanda, they will be our grandparents. It was so sweet and felt so good to know such love from people we had just met a few hours ago.

The family is also crazy! All the brothers and sisters started a dance-off in the middle of the living room that got out of hand in a hurry!

I can’t believe the Rwanda trip posts are almost over–it’s been nice going back over everything and getting it down so I could remember it all, but it’s very bittersweet knowing that there won’t be any more of these after the next one…until next year!

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