48 hours

It has been just over 48 hours since we arrived in Kigali. Frankly, it feels like we have already been here for weeks. It's probably because we have been moving constantly since we landed at the airport.

This morning we made plans to visit Akagera National Park. We loaded ourselves into the car by 6:30AM and drove the hour and a half in hopes of catching some fantastic animal shots for B-roll. Michael was excited by the thought of seeing exotic birds.

While driving on the streets of Rwanda, you're likely to see a few things. Like the taxi-buses which look like mini-vans but are filled with at least 20 people:


And people always walking on the street. Lots of people. Everyone is in excellent physical shape. No fat people here (unlike myself who is soon to look a little chunky from the huge amounts of fries I have been consuming. No one tells you that safe food is not healthy and you can only eat so many vegan, organic food bars).:


Finally we arrived. We didn't know what to expect but it was a good thing we had the Range Rover. It's the most off-roading I had ever done, except for maybe jr. year homecoming when Dan decided to drive over that rock in his hummer. Good times.

We were quite fortunate in our travels and got up close and personal with a baboon, a herd of zebra, numerous giraffes, some African buffalo, and some impala. It was fantastic and Simon and I were able to score some really great footage (probably Simon more than myself). I'm learning.

*I have 6 more pictures that I want to share with you, but the internet is not cooperating. I will try and upload them tomorrow when I get the chance. However, I need to post tonight. Just don't consider this incomplete. Insert 2 more animal photos here.*

It was our first time driving out of the city. We went through all kinds of villages and onto some dirt roads.

*Village road photo*

The children there were incredible. This one young girl let us take a picture of her. She was so precious and carrying her sibling on her back. She liked to look at her picture after we took it.

*Little Girl*

It's like these kids are forced to grow up so quickly. They need to in order to survive. It's amazing how much children embody a sense of innocence. They're the ones that wave to us. They are the ones that run to see us when we're filming with the camera. They're the ones that laugh when they have their picture taken and get to see their faces.

Egide also told us a little of his story and some of the horrors of the genocide. It's a topic you can't avoid for too long. Not that anyone should want to avoid it, but it's really difficult to try and understand what is acceptable to talk about and what is not. He was very honest with us, not delving into things we didn't want to hear but respectfully answering our questions and not shying away from anything we asked. We think we have race issues in America (and we do, I'm not negating that) but I can't imagine being so close in time to so much pain. The forgiveness and the way that people seem to be coming together is really incredible. Of course that's not always the case, but the priority seems to be making people into Rwandans, rather than Hutus and Tutsis.

We ended the afternoon in the Burbon Coffee Shop, which was great because we're thinking of interviewing the gentleman who started it. It's a lot like starbucks but with a better atmosphere. Ironically, most of the people hanging out there are white and obviously foreign.

*Insert final picture in the coffee shop*

Simon and I ran out to get some more B-roll as the sun was setting. Afterwards I came back to the hotel to download our footage from the day. Simon gave me some organization tips. And now it's time for bed. Tomorrow we begin our first round of interviews. 5:45AM.

I should get some sleep :)

My love continues to go out to all of you. Thank you for your prayers. God has been good. There is a lot of good work going on here.

Love.