[Rwanda]

It is so good to spend my last dew days seeing God's creation: the people and the land here. I was able to drive out of the city to see some of my favourite animals in their natural habitat. I just love giraffe's! (I guess that explains why one of my goals before I die is to hug or kiss one!). Granted, it took me at leave five hours to see all the animals I wanted to see once I got out in the villages, but it is so worth it! Seeing the giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, lizards, birds, water buck, rhino, lion, elephant, impala, buffalo, and antelope not in a zoo is quite astounding!


The guide and I were able to get very, very close to a herd of elephants too! So much so that...the herd began to charge at us for AT LEAST a mile. (see photo below of the first elephant charging!) It was quite...breathtaking, literally. I made my way to Tanzania to do some gorilla findings! I must say, those are some of the biggest and meanest looking animals I have ever seen!
The drive to and fro was beautiful to say the least. I do believe Rwanda is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. (Although, I do believe that my opinions are a TAD biased). The green mountainous hills, rows and rows of banana trees, and thousands upon thousands of Acacia trees is close to heaven on earth itself.
On the way back to the city, I stopped by a large field of PINK. There were hundreds of men and women in pink clothing. I stood and watched them work for a while. They worked so hard - sweating and being pushed around too. I felt very sorry for these people, whoever they were. I went and found a man and asked him why these people were in pink. He said, "They are being punished. They are from the genocide: the killers." Many, thousands, of rebels have been caught and are serving a life sentence. Half of their sentence they must do hard labour, and the other half they must do in prison. I was astonished.For me, I don't think I would want to see the faces of the rebels ever again, let alone across the street to where I would be living. He seemed content with the conviction and seemed at peace about it all. And that is good.

Also on my way back, many things occured to me as I was driving! I am driving like an American! I did not even noticed that I was driving on the right side of the road, unlike Kenyan which is the left side. Since the genocide, Rwandas are doing all they can to keep Rwanda clean, and at peace. There are very strict laws about the roads. You can equate them to American laws actually. It is law to drive with a seatbelt, to not liter or you will be fined. In fact, it is a Rwandan law that once a year you must not work and clean your village! If you have millions of people taking off one day in the year to clean, wow...I do believe Rwanda is one of the cleanest places! And you must use your turning signal! And they have lines on the roads too! Everyone obeys the speed signs, uses turn signals, and lets people in front of them! As you can see, I am very suprised! I am used to roads filled with holes, no lines, running stop signs and lights, matatus driving off the road to pass you because of impatience, lots of trash, and driving as fast as you want. haha. Oh how I miss Nairobi!
Before turning in at the guesthouse, I took another drive around Kigali to see the new U.S. Embassy that was mandated by President Bush. It's HUGE. I also was able to see the new parliament building too. You can still see the old one behind it, with scattered bullet holes on the sides. There are still physical remnants of the genocide, but nothing compared to the bullets in the hearts of the Rwandans. And yet, these people are so strong. They are healing and will prevail. (photo: side of an army building)

My advice to the world: Love with all of your hear and live each day as if it were your last.