Mission Rwanda: The End

Sorry for the lack of photos-Saturday morning I packed up the dslr and just used my small camera, and there really wasn't a lot to take photos of. 

Saturday was our main day to do some shopping. In the morning we went over to this market where they had some tourist-y kind of things. I had a blast because I got to barter-which I love doing. I never would have bartered with the people we worked with in the villages because they made their things and they really needed the money. This place was more of a tourist kind of place, so I had no problem doing it- and I was able to get some really cool stuff. A few things I picked up included jewelry, wooden figurines, and I collect keychains from the places I go, so I made sure to pick up one of those and I found a really cool apron-I can say goodbye to that ugly white one.

The market

Then we went back, grabbed lunch, and headed to the airport. Our flight got moved up almost 2 hours, which we did not know and we barely made it. I won't bore you with all the details of the travel, but we traveled for about 24 hours and went from Kigali, Rwanda to Entebbe, Uganda to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Rome, Italy to Washington D.C. By the end I was so glad to be on land.

At the airport

On the flight from Entebbe to Addis Ababa I ended up sitting next to a guy named Wilbur who was from Uganda and was headed to Israel for a work/sightseeing trip. We talked for almost the entire flight. He wanted to know about what we had done in Rwanda and then we eventually started talking about our lives. He asked me several questions about my faith and my church, which was neat because he did not seem to have a positive view of Christianity and wanted to know why I love church so much. He told me about his work (he works in water conservation and during the genocide he was tasked with pulling bodies from the lake between Rwanda and Uganda for a short time), his kids, and his wife. He asked about whether I had a boyfriend back home and I told him no, that I am too busy (my typical excuse). He grabbed my hand and said "No, you are a woman who deserves to be admired and appreciated in all you do" and made me promise to work on that part of my life when I got home. Honestly, it was such a blessing to have him to talk to, because I get often get anxious on planes and had been very anxious on the flight from Kigali to Entebbe.

When we landed in D.C., I was glad to be heading home, but even now I still feel as though I left a part of my heart in Rwanda.