So, I've missed a few days because of computer issues, but we're all better now!
5/16
On Friday we headed out of Kigali for the weekend. We observed at Dominic's old school in the morning. It was very nice. We first met with the headmaster. He said they teach in both French and English and have about 60 per classroom. We checked out the library and the students asked us questions. Our opinion is very important to them,and they are always asking us what we think. Also, I noticed that each student stood up to ask their question- they are so respectful. MacKenzie and I observed in geography class which was very interesting. They use the dictation method, meaning that he lectures for most of the class and then dictates exactly what he wants them to write down- they need textbooks! Other than that their learning is so similar to the U.S. Except they're learning three languages- we really should do more! During the class one of the boys passed me a 'note' asking for my name and the school. They are all so passionate about their education, and I really hope I convinced at least one student my whole time here to come to ISU or at least the U.S. for university! After the class was over one boy stood up and told us how happy they were to have us here and that they would really love to know more about us. We went up and sat on the little stage and they asked questions. They had such great questions, and they are always expressing how happy they are that we're here.
We then left for our very hilly ride to the volcanoes. I have never seen such an amazing view! Aloys stopped at a little rest area and it was absolutely fantastic- there was a valley with a river running through it and green hillsides all around. There were people walking along the road the whole way. I noticed now that there were VERY few cars- only the occasional motorbike and trucks carrying goods. The first view of the volcano was breathtaking. There were banana trees and other plants everywhere. There were lots of smiles and shouts of 'muzungu' from the children along the road. There were also markets along the road as well. Our hotel was right next to the volcanoes. It is run by a womens group that is connected with the one we visited in Kigali. At dinner we spoke to the woman who runs it. She said that the women work there and the profits go to them. When she was talking to us, she said the words 'Hutu' and 'Tutsi', which I realized was the first time we've heard those words out of a Rwandan's mouth, although the genocide is mentioned quite a bit.
5/17
GORILLAS GORILLAS GORILLAS!!! We had to be up at 6 to leave at 6:30 to head out for the big trek! We went to the base camp and met our guide, Di. He was very nice. He introduced us to our group, the Hirwa group. Hirwa means 'lucky' in Kinyarwanda. There are 12 gorillas in the group: one silverback, six females, and five babies. One of the females doesn't have a baby because she just joined the group, but she is now pregnant. She's from the Congo. He told us that this was a relatively new group that is made up of gorillas from other groups. Di said that this was his favorite group, so that got us excited! Aloys drove us a ways and then we got out to get started. We got our walking sticks, soldiers, and porter. We just got one porter for the group, since we're so tough! His name was Peter and he ended up being VERY helpful! We were walking for over a half hour when we got to the brick wall that Di told us was the entrance to the park- we hadn't even started yet! It started uphill right then! Really, the hike wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The scenery was beautiful the entire way. Di showed us some cool things about the jungle, like bamboo which he described as being the gorillas beer, because they really like it and it makes them energetic. We tried some, but it didn't taste like beer to us...not that we'd know ;) It tasted like a cucumber...all it needed was some ranch! It rained at first, so it was pretty slippery, especially on the hills. We hiked for about two and half hours, before we heard our final, 'they are here'. We met up with the trackers and dropped our bags and sticks, since the gorillas can mistake the sticks as spears. I was the first one behind the tracker when we left our drop site. I will never forget the first one I spotted! When we got to the clearing, the boss was right next to us. We were trying to fit everyone in, so I got put maybe three feet from him. He was so massive! Di said he was nearly 450 pounds! We each got to pose for a picture with him in the background. His name is the word that means 'acacia' in Kinyarwanda. Then we saw the babies. They were so adorable! I took lots of videos and if we had a good connection I'd totally put them on here. I even got one of one of the babies beating its chest. They were constantly wrestling around and eating. The babies were very interested in us and kept coming up close. Right after we got there the new female literally walked right in front of us. It was a surprise, but each of us could have put out our hand and touched her! The boss was very playful with the babies and that was very neat to see. We never got charged at all, which I thought was interesting. Di and the trackers were 'talking' to the gorillas, so they stayed very calm. Di taught us some of the sounds and what they mean, so if we ever meet one in a dark alley, we'll know what he's saying! After awhile they made their nests and took their siesta. One of the moms snuggled up with her baby, wrapped her arms around it and went to sleep. It was so beautiful. It was by far the quickest 50 minutes of my life! We headed back, got our stuff, and started climbing back down the mountain. When we were about half way down, Jeanna mentioned that she thought she had a thorn in her pants. Then we all started to feel them. She finally reached in to get it out and it was a fire ant! We literally had ants in our pants! It was awful and VERY painful! We wanted to run out of the jungle, but didn't think a sprained ankle was a good solution to our ant problem. We got to the bottom in one piece and had an amazing experience behind us! We got done about 1:15, so our trek took about five and half hours. It was way more than worth it! We even got certificates, in case someone doesn't believe that we did it!
Then we went back to our hotel to get our stuff and get on the road again. We headed to our next hotel in Gisenyi, on Lake Kivu. On the way, we saw some beautiful hotels and another genocide memorial. Aloys also pointed out that almost everything you can see is part of the Congo. He showed us a volcano that is in the Congo which you can see its fire glow at night. The road got REALLY bad- we're finally getting a taste of the real country. Our hotel in Gisenyi was called Paradise Hotel and it was BEAUTIFUL. It has lake-front dining and even a sandy beach. Our rooms weren't necessarily paradise, but they had clean sheets and a mosquito net- pretty much all I ask for these days!
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