May 12, 10:00 p.m. RWANDA TIME!!!

We have arrived in Kigali! We traveled for over 38 hours and then waited for our shuttle for another one...we are exhausted. London was fun and Ethiopia was a sight, but Rwanda is absolutely gorgeous! While we were in the air you could definitely see why it's called the 'land of a thousand hills'! Kigali is wonderful. The people have all been so friendly...obviously they can tell we are visitors, and almost everyone stares and then smiles and says hello. You would never believe that this country could have gone through what it did fourteen years ago. There are some buildings you can tell are still remnants, but for the most part they are doing wonderful. From what I've heard that opinion will change drastically in the next couple days, but the city is wonderful. Lot's of people walking, but more cars than I expected. There is actually a building right next to our hotel that was abandoned after the fighting and is just now being fixed up. We have already met so many wonderful people. Hearing their perspective has already, in just the ten hours since our arrival, enhanced my view of Rwanda and what they have gone through and where they are headed. Everyone we've talked to thus far has really stressed the importance of the Genocide Museum. They say that we should go there before anything else, because it will totally change the way we view everything we see. This proves to me that they really want us to understand and want us to get the full picture. We met the young man who is our liaison at the orphanage, Dominic, today at dinner. He is so inspiring. He is young (only 18 or 19) and already has so much passion. He works with technology at the orphanage, but has already assured us that we “will love them so much!” He hopes to someday go to college in the U.S.- I of course told him that Iowa State was his best bet, but he wasn't so sure! We also met with John, who recently got his Masters from ISU and now works here in Kigali with the UN. We also met our driver. Leah told us before we came that we needed a driver with a ring and a family...that way they will be more cautious because they have something to go home to... he has three children and a big ring! He was very nice and will be very helpful in the next two weeks. We are actually visiting the school that his children attend, so it will be nice to meet them. Well, I realize that there it's 3:20 in the afternoon and my sisters are just getting out of school, but it's way past this traveler's bedtime---it's almost 10:30! My nap today did little to make up for two nights on planes and a full day in London! Hopefully we will still be able to update daily, the Internet is unreliable as promised!! Until next time...