Memories, Hopes and Photographs II

After an interesting trip to the airport, we arrived and got through the KLM, security and immigration lines quickly. Patrick took us to the airport, and I learned that his skill in ditch and shoulder driving applied in urban, as well as rural settings. Patrick told us about his family and prayed God’s blessing on our trip. He had been to the Mara twice since we last saw him and he told us that he never tires of it.

Due to a KLM announcement, we proceeded directly to the gate, though as we arrived, we discovered we were some of the first folks there and wondered why the announcement, encouraging gate check in, had been made. Debbie and Paul made it through security first and as I was putting my bag and personal items on the security belt, a large delegation passed by me and proceeded through the security area. There were Masai warriors, soldiers, men in three piece suits, and security personal, all walking briskly. Several folks carried a large KLM flag. As we made it into the gate area, we heard music. Looking out on the tarmac, we discovered that the folks who had hurried by me through security had joined a larger group waiting below. It turns out that the plane we were to fly on had just made its first flight, just arriving from Amsterdam. This plane, a Boeing 777 had just landed, marking the first time that a plane of that type had landed in Nairobi.

The arrival of the plane was cause for celebration.  A military brass band played a number of spirited tunes, including at least one Abba song.  The Masai warriors jumped high in the air, in their characteristic way, and there was loud applause from the gathered group.  We learned from some of the KLM personnel in the gate area that the celebration was indeed for the arrival of the plane.  The captain and his crew deplaned and we saw them warmly greeted and many photographs were taken.  After we got on the plane, we learned from our pilot that indeed, the plane we were on was embarking on only its second commercial flight.  This 777 seemed to hold at least 600 people and it was quite a process to get everyone on board and into their seats.  The pilot asked the passengers to take good care of his new plane!

We arrived in Amsterdam early Saturday morning.  Debbie had gotten air sick, so I got her some medicine in a pharmacy.  Schiphol, the Amsterdam airport is really quite impressive.  In addition to the shops and lounges, the massive number of gates and the well laid out thoroughfares; the airport has a hotel, a small museum, a casino and numerous places to sit and wait.  It is quite a bit different than the Nairobi airport, which is another busy international airport.  After Debbie had a chance to rest and recover a bit, we walked to a store to find some cheese and chocolate to bring home.

Memories, Hopes and Photographs I

We slept in our own beds last night. For Debbie, Paul and me, it was an incredibly long journey home. Thursday morning, Aryn dropped us off at the airport in Kigali. We anticipated our flight leaving at around 10 am. We were told by a staffer at the Rwanda Air counter that our plane would not actually leave until 3 pm. We did not have Aryn’s telephone number. I tried calling Celestine, our colleague at KIE, in an attempt to discuss options and to get Aryn’s number. He did not answer. We decided that the best thing to do was to wait in the airport.

Rwanda Air would not permit us to check our bags early. We loaded the bags onto a cart and went off in search of a place to sit. At Kigali International Airport, the only comfortable seating area for departing passengers was the Bourbon Coffee seating area. We felt a little uncomfortable about taking up space in their shop without purchasing something, so Debbie had a coffee drink and Paul and I had Fanta sodas. We read and played cards. We had lunch, and the sandwiches carried price tags every bit as hefty as those found in the Portland airport. At 1 pm we proceeded through security and got in line to check in. After a long wait in line, while the Rwanda Air folks were taking care of our luggage and ticketing, we were cleared for departure. We breezed through immigration control and through security and watched English football while we waited to board. The flight itself, on a Jetlink aircraft, was uneventful. Paul asked if Rwanda Air was a company with a name only, and I started to think that myself, though we did see one jet parked on the tarmac with a Rwanda Air name on its side.

Entry into Kenya through the immigration counter at Nairobi was practically effortless. We proceeded directly to the head of a line, were well received by the agent, who was cordial in receiving our passports and previously-obtained visas. Perhaps that two hour wait we encountered after our arrival from Schipol was an anomaly? Richard, a colleague of Patrick, greeted us with a “Scot Headley” sign, and drove us to the Free Pentecostal Fellowship Guest House. The traffic coming from the airport was very heavy, with Richard telling us it was typical rush hour traffic. In one stretch, as we waited our turn at a major round about, numerous vendors walked the traffic lanes between cars. Men and women, as well as some children sold drinks and fruit, dvds, books and tools, and just about anything else you could want or not want. Mortor cycles and pedestrians snuck between traffic as well, and after a long wait and the experience of wading our way through Nairobi traffic, we made it to the guest house.

Our plane was not leaving until Friday night at 10. Patrick agreed that he would pick us up at 6 pm. So, we had a full day in Nairobi. We made a plan to sleep late, eat breakfast and then spend the day doing email, and checking messages, writing and reading. After three weeks on the road we were not eager to venture out onto the Nairobi streets. The power went off right before breakfast and so our plan to use the internet was dashed. This was a typical planned outage. In this part of Nairobi, the power is out 12 hours a day on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Folks learn to deal with it. Between reading and resting and card games, Debbie and I strolled the grounds of the guest house. We used the time to reflect on our trip. I developed a list of questions about our experience and asked Paul and Debbie to respond. I will write about our responses soon.

Homemade Burritos and Lively Friends

Yesterday was a wonderful day for us in Kigali. We had a full day of activities on Sunday. Interspersed between all the activity, I continued reading A Thousand Hills, by Stephen Kinzer. This book is the story of the rebirth of Rwanda, from the time leading up to the genocide of 1994 through 2007. The book features the role of current president, Paul Kagame in the transformation of the country.

Debbie and Paul and I met David Buchura at the top of the hill, by the Moto Taxi stop.

Kigali Taxi

He took us to the small Friends church where I had visited the day before. We arrived about 0930 and a Sunday School class was going on in the building. We were ushered to seats near the front. At the conclusion of the class, we were asked to move forward, to the second row. A fellow from Maine was also there, and he joined us in this row. David had two young men sit between us to serve as translators for us.

The service was filled with music. Worship leaders led the singing, which was accompanied by a Yamaha keyboard, cranking out much more music than Paul used to when he used the same instrument while performing with Roy, during his college days. A children’s choir also sang, and several young people did solos. I only recognized one tune. Most of the songs were up tempo. People were quite energetic and there was a lot of joy and enthusiasm. I introduced myself and our family and gave a greeting from North Valley Friends and George Fox University. A young man, who was a graduate of George Fox School, preached. He was loud and forceful. His message was on faith. After the service, we stood outside and were greeted by many folks. A meeting for business followed the worship service, so most of the adults went back inside. David drove us back to the taxi stop. We were pleased to have been a part of the service, my second African church service. This one was in Kinyarwandan. In 2003, I attended a service in Okihandja, Namibia, which was in German.

For lunch, Debbie, Paul and I walked to an Ethiopian restaurant. We had a good meal, which seemed to be fairly traditional. My meal, a chicken in spicy sauce dish, was served atop a huge flat bread, accompanied by a hardboiled egg and some homemade cheese. It was quite good. Debbie had the same dish that I had and Paul had a beef dish.

Aryn drove us to the Friends compound and we joined the Thomas family for dinner. This is the first time that we had met David and Debby Thomas and their four children. David is the son of Hal and Nancy, who attend North Valley Friends Church with us (when they are not traveling around Central and South America). We got a tour of the missionary compound and learned some history of the family’s time in Rwanda. Debby and David are doing much work in transformational development, and so over dinner we learned quite a bit about the work. We had homemade burritos with guacamole and salsa, it was a wonderful meal. We were blessed to have had the opportunity to meet the Thomas family. I will write more on their work in a subsequent post.