Rwanda, Africa-Day 1

It was so surreal to step off a plane into Kigali, Rwanda.  I had pictured it over and over for the last year and a half and when it finally happened, it felt like a dream.  After being terrified they wouldn't let us into the country (we had received a couple of emails about how strict they were being about letting people into their country due to the whole Ebola thing, we were praying all would go well).  When we saw my parents we all started crying, hugging, kissing and got a lot of stares from everyone around us.  It was the greatest thing ever to see them.  

 The view out my parents windows was spectacular.  I just wanted to take every single thing.  Every tree, bird, flower, house.  Everything was so different from what I am used to and I just want take it all in.

 My parents had such great trees in their backyard.  This is a papaya tree and there were some banana trees as well.  One of their monitors (guards), loves to make it look nice.  His name is Desire and he takes good care of them.

 This morning it was raining and we sat and watched the people walking through the mud on their way to work.  I was so surprised how beautiful and clean everything was.  I was told that they all have to take the day off and clean on one of the last days of the month.  Everything is so green and gorgeous, it isn't at tall what I expected it to look like.

 This was a tree in the neighbor's yard that I loved.  I pretty much loved everything I saw.

 Our mosquito net.  pretty right?

 I love calla lilies, but hate how expensive they are.  They are EVERYWHERE in Kigalli.  I loved that.

 My mom's cute Christmas tree.

 I'm sad this picture turned out so blurry.  I were driving by this gal who was cooking corn and putting it on a stick to sell to the workers in this area.  When she saw my camera she gave me a huge smile.  The people in Rwanda were so friendly and kind.

 Milk being transported on the back of a bike, I loved the milk cans.  They used bikes for so much.

One of my favorite things was how the people transported things on their heads.  This picture is pretty typical, especially the cell phone.  I was surprised how many people had phones!

 I wonder if anyone ever gets brain damage from all of the things they carry on their heads.

 This looked so heavy!

 We went to the Kigali Memorial Center, which was such a hard but good experience.  I had no idea of how horrible the experience of the 1994 genocide was.  I have seen Hotel Rwanda, but being here was just unreal.  My heart hurt so much for the people of this country who have been through so much ugly and awfulness, but they are still loving and kind and hopeful about the future.

 The most beautiful roses at the grave of the victims.

 After the genocide memorial, we went to the Hotel Des Mille Collines (Where Hotel Rwanda takes place).

 These are peace baskets that the women of Rwanda make and sell.

 There wasn't too much that was decorated for Christmas, but this little corner is where kids could come to see Santa.

 This is the pool that kept the people who were here during the genocide alive. Truly an amazing story.

 We went to lunch at an Ethiopian restaurant my parents took us too.

The food was so delicious, although that bread roll wasn't my favorite.  It had some sort of fermented yeast in it and was gross, but the rest was so yummy!

 I sure love these parents of mine.  They took such good care of us and just made us feel so special.