Pastor greets us daily with "Good morning, children of God! You are beautiful and awesome!" with a few "Hakuna matata" 's for good measure.
Our first Saturday in Rwanda, I was pulled into a wedding party to dance infront of countless grinning strangers.
Many of the children here run to greet us with face-breaking smiles, tender hugs, and the loud, persistent cries of "Mzungu! Mzungu!" and "How are you? How are you? How are you?"
However, a few of the children are less enthusiastic… I've made more than a few babies cry in Rwanda. Never in my life has one child run to shield the eyes of anther from the horror of seeing… me.
I saw another white person last week. I turned, stared, laughed, and considered running after her. If I'd had a camera phone, I might have taken a picture. So… now I understand the locals.
I was sick for a few days, and Kathryn was concerned that I was becoming the woman in Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper". I pet the walls (which were, in fact, yellow), played with shadow puppets, and apologized to a mosquito for taking its life. In the day, I dreamt of vapires, time travel, and large animated ducks chasing me while carrying canoes. At night, I lay awake, and thoughts of sleep, rain, a banana opera, and a strong craving for soda crackers twisted to poetry in my mind.
It might not be the sickness… Today I high-fived papers on the wall and had a staring contest with a cow with buttons for eyes (and lost). The night before, I preached and found myself saying the following… "I am not a mama cat." The translator gave me a quizzical look and paused before speaking again. I suppose it was difficult to translate.
The world will not remember the comedic (yet moving) musical, "Where Trash Trail Meets Rubbish Road", but Rachel will. Life is more interesting in song.
In the land of no schedules with waiting, waiting, and more waiting, my Ipad calendar alterted me to an "important" daily agenda… "Tell Justin that he is awesome". Justin, you are awesome. Check.
I find myself worshipping God when I listen to Florence and the Machine.
Our little town in Rwanda is full of creepy black crows with white chests… and few other animals. I think one spoke to me yesterday.
Pastor gave our team a goodbye gift… a five pound statue of a gorilla.
At the beginning of the race, I asked God for rain in every country… Oh wait. This one deserves a blog of its own…
