Plain Jane

Thrusday Sept 20-
That afternoon Fiona took us shopping and sightseeing. We went on motos from the office to meet her friend. As tempted as I was to pull my camera out and get some video I'm glad that I didn't. The rain started coming down and grew in intensity. We took shelter under the foyer of a building along with other stranded travelers. I did however snap this picture of another huddled group of people across the street right before the rain let up.

Moto's waiting out the passing rain

Not to be detained from our adventures Fiona's friend, Keita, found us there. We stood and waited for what Sarah and I thought to be a taxi. Up pulled a very nice car and we all jumped in. We soon found out that our driver was none other then Keita's older brother Douglas. This sibling duo had found out that we we're visiting and very sweetly wanted to take us around town. First, we hit up some stores for the long awaited SHOPPING! In search of specific things we were on a mission. The girls helped us in picking the stores that would have the things on our list. Douglas was the perfect chauffeur as he dropped us off and picked us up at each stop. He didn't say much about the stuff we placed in his trunk but his eyebrows did go up when he saw one particular package. A clear plastic bag full of painted sticks. I'm not sure if he ever got why we were so happy to find them, but they ended up looking great in a vase at Angels house.

The 'sticks'

Once we attained our gifts we headed out for sightseeing thru different parts of Kigali. They showed us pre-war and post-war buildings and how vastly different they were in condition and size. We drove by the presidents house which I didn't know was very near the De Mille Collines Hotel.  They also took us to the Kigali Genocide Memorial. Not much had changed in appearances from my last time there, however it was still as heartbreaking to go thru. When we exited the building the storm had reached us. The rain blew in our faces as we walked by the mass graves. My mind reeled with all that had happened only a short 18 years ago. As we later found out both Keita and Douglas are survivors of that terrible tragedy. It is unthinkable for me to try to wrap my mind around what they went thru. God has truly touched their hearts and has worked a great miracle of restoration in them. As the evening closed around us we drove back to the house and bade our new friends goodbye.