When In Rwanda…
- To cross the country border it takes about 3.5 hours with 40 people.
- Moto (motorcycle) drivers wear helmets and carry helmets for the passengers as well.
- The main streets are very nicely paved and clean of all trash.
- Be careful ordering chicken soup because it may come with an entire chicken wing in it.
- You can expect every meal to be accompanied with bread, rice, chips and/or chapatti…aka carbs.
- Riding in the back of a pick up truck may be your mode of transportation to ministry every day.
- Praise and worship is not the same thing. Worship consists of slower songs and praise consists of fast songs and dancing.
- A home in the richer part of Kigali (where their president lives) is between $100,000 – $200,000.
- The currency is in francs and 750 francs equates to $1.
- The people have great pride in their country and the restoration of it after the 1994 genocide.
- The main language in Kigali is Kinyarwanda, next is French, then English.
- The landscape in Kigali can be described as a city on a hill.
- The power does not go off very frequently, but the running water does.
- There’s a wonderful spread called Jempy that is a combo of vanilla frosting and Nutella.
- Our Rwandan parents come home with surprise treats which consist of beef samosas, chocolate and/or meatballs.
- It’s a shocker to the old woman who asks you to marry her grandson that you don’t want to have 12 kids.
- You can expect to be hugged by a lot of kids while on a run.
- If you are in the city, you will feel underdressed (or how we like to put it, straight from the village) in the very limited clothing you brought for the WR.
- You can expect it to rain around 1pm every day.
- Ginger tea and lots of sugar becomes a daily intake.
- You can expect the rustling and bustling of neighbors and worship at the nearby church to be heard daily around 5am.
- A potential bed bug scare will cause your host mom to have a required morning of cleaning where we pour boiling water and a hint of paraffin over all of your sheets, floor and bed frame.
- You can add about 30 minutes to the time you have been told you will be leaving.
- The church services are about 3 hours long.
- Everyone can balance just about anything on top of their head.
- Sport balls are very expensive so they substitute with a wad of fabric wrapped in plastic and all tied together with twine.
- Sometimes the only translators available for the kids service is your 8 and 9 year old Rwandan brothers.
- The dancing in church looks like a bunch of jumping and stomping.
There was a lot in Rwanda that reminded us of Uganda, but being in a big city made it feel very different. We have heard our very favorite food, chapatti, which was in both Uganda and Rwanda will not be in Ethiopia, so we are stocking up this final week. It’s crazy to think we are on to our 3rd country this coming Friday.
As always, thanks for the prayers and support!
P.S. I have one last blog coming while I am in Rwanda…an interview with my Pastor! Be on the lookout for it 🙂
