Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Day 3 Monday - time to work!


We definitely earned our keep today. The day began with a luxury
breakfast on the top floor at the Mille del Collines Hotel. The top
floor over looks the stunning green hills of Kigali (we've all been
pleasantly surprised by the amazing 'Land of 1,000 hills').

Full and ready to work after a bit of Rwanda's delicious coffee, we
drove almost two hours to Rubano Primary School. This is the school
we'll be working for the rest of the week.

As we drove through the small towns the locals would hear us coming
and rush out to the street to see what was rumbling down their quiet
red clay road. From their reactions it's safe to say they don't get to
many large buses full of 22 white people. They would all wave and most
of the children - especially the babies (2-3 yr olds) would
literally jump up and down waving, clapping and overjoyed when they
saw us. It's unreal. They yell at the bus and even though we can’t
understand their language you can feel their excitement.

Between the towns we drive up and over many beautiful rolling hills
and as we round the bends often we are met with yet another stunning
view of a valley or sometimes a lake surrounded by banana trees and
greenery of all sorts. I can't say I've been many places this green in
my life and am not convinced my pictures are going to do it justice.
You'll have to come check it out for yourself!!

One more thing about today- forgot to talk about the work! Oopsie!
That's why we are here! Omg it's sooo hard! Lifting and moving cinder
blocks, carrying the water from the tank to the guys making cement,
then the cement to the rock layers. We've all got scratched arms and
will surely wake up with aching muscles but it was awesome. They guys
don't speak English - and are pronouncing my name as Asha. I kinda
like it! Oh and the day began with a heartfelt welcome ceremony with
the mayor and traditional dance. So much is happening so fast. Here are a few pics of the ceremony...


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