Rwanda At Last

18 April, 2013

Long-time friends Joy and John Hosier picked me up from Midway Airport on Monday, 15 April, and brought me to their home in Naperville. It was great to eat dinner and spend the evening catching up with their family. They drove me to the International Terminal at O’Hare Airport on Tuesday and we bid our fond farewells. I had two of the largest, lightest-weight suitcases on the market packed to the gills. One weighed 50 pounds exactly and the other weighed 58 pounds. I packed clothes for the family of Moses, the Rwandan boy we sponsor, and for some other friends; technical equipment for an American who just moved to Kigali to work for my sending agency, ALARM; and educational materials (including 3 cameras and a laptop) for IWE where I will teach English. I also brought some clothes to teach in!

Last week I was fighting a cold, but seemed to beat it; however the day before I left I started sneezing and suffering post nasal drip, which made my throat sore. The plane rides to Chicago and Rwanda were uneventful except for fighting this cold. I sat alone at a window seat on all three planes! The biggest disappointment was finding that the WiFi in Amsterdam was down so I couldn't check in with Doug. I arrived there at 0600 and walked through the terminals window shopping until 0900, when I bought a croissant & hot tea at a shop with free WiFi, which was, again, a bust, but the croissant was good!

Flying straight from Amsterdam to Kigali made a much easier and shorter time in transit. I was relieved to have my two big suitcases show up on the carousel in Kigali, and to recognize Ben, the head of ALARM, Rwanda at the airport to pick me up. I was also met by an ALARM employee who relieved me of over 20 pounds of equipment which I had brought for him. After warm greetings, Ben and I took a taxi to the ALARM guest house in Kigali where I spent the night. I had succeeded in staying awake on the 7-hour flight from Amsterdam so it was not difficult to fall into bed after a lovely shower.

 I am still taking cold medication but the symptoms are not as severe this morning. The ALARM car is in the garage for repairs; so it is not clear how or when I will continue to Rwamagana to meet Sarah, my housemate and fellow teacher at IWE! It sounds like big drops of rain are hitting the tin roof but it may just be the sun warming it up!