Gisenyi (sort of) Trip - Sunday, December 16, 2012 - PART 1

Today was really good...and A LOT of sitting...11 1/2 hours worth, to be exact.

Our wake-up call was 4:45 and we left our house at 5:45.  We picked up Pastor Gato on the way (he was our guide & Dad's translator for the day).  Traffic was really good on the way there and a part that took us 2 hours last time only took us 1 1/2 hours today.

Another different thing today was the weather --  today was very foggy!   Most of the time it wasn't so bad that we couldn't see, but we did have to slow down quite a bit a couple of times.  The amazing view was made even more spectacular by valleys filled with fog and hill tops poking through the layer of fog.  The photos don't do it justice at all, but hopefully it gives you a taste of it.

 

 

One good thing about getting going so early is being able to see the sun rise!

Rwanda in general, but especially this part of the country, is known for its gorillas.  Which also means there are lots of statues, signs, and stores with gorillas on them.

 

 

The Gisenyi area is also known for its volcanoes.  We spotted the five main ones, and the church was actually located in the shadow of Karisimbi.

 

Because it's so near volcanoes, there's lots of volcanic rock around, and many walls are made of it.

 

 

There are always people walking along the sides of the road (which can be a bit nerve racking when it's little children).  Most of them are carrying something or pulling something or pushing something!

Here's a couple of amazing hill pictures!

Before we got to Gisenyi, we turned off onto a dirt road and travelled on that for between 45 minutes and an hour.   The first part was smooth, but only one lane.  The latter part was wider, but really bumpy!!!

I love this picture because it gets both the lady carrying something on her head as well as carrying the baby on her back.

The area we drove through is known for its potatoes; they're growing everywhere!!!

 

 

Potato Blossom

 

Here's some other plants and greenery we saw on the way.

Eucalyptus!

If you look closely, you can see the eucalyptus and bamboo
growing side by side!



 

 

 Tea!!!

 

 

 

This is some blossom that they pick and dry...but I forget what it is!  I'll get back to you on this one in a later post...

 

 

It is a common sight to see kids carrying babies on their backs.  There were several at the church service.  Here's one we passed on the way.

 

 

View along the way...

 

 

And the church service is coming up in Part 2...

KICS Christmas at Nakumatt!

The 5th-8th grade bands played at our local Nakumatt mall yesterday afternoon!  The group was parked right outside the main grocery store.  They drew quite a crowd (we've never seen anything like that here before!) and sounded amazing!

Setting up:

And playing!

 

They played for 40 minutes, from 5 till 5:40, and they drew quite a crowd!

 

 

And a few more...

 

 

And I forgot to put this at the end of my last post.  When Caleb's concert was done, we were driving home and said that this was a time when you miss having a Dairy Queen around to go get a treat before going home.  So, since that wasn't an option, we stopped at a convenience store and bought a bottle of pop and a can of Pringles!

Thoroughly enjoying our Coke & Pringles!!!

 

 

 

Mom has been busy today making Christmas cookies.  We were curious as to how they would turn out here...I'm pretty sure that the verdict is they turned out marvellously!!!  :-)

 

KICS Christmas Celebration!!

Last night's program was awesome!!!  Mr. Gaskill and all of the musicians did an amazing job!

Throughout the night, there were performances by the 5th Grade band, the 6th Grade band, the Junior Band (Grades 6-8), the Advanced Band (high school), the Jazz Band, the Teachers Choir, and a few ensembles, finished off with a sing-a-long!

All set and ready to go!

He played four songs: Jolly Old Saint Nicolas, Silent Night, Ding Dong Merrily on High, and Soaring above the Clouds.

This afternoon, the Junior Band in going to be playing at the local mall downtown.  We're praying that it'll be a way to reach out to people during this Christmas season!

Thursday Update

We had a great time having Patty Card here for a few days last week.  Our Hillside family sent us tons of notes that Patty brought with her, so we had a fun evening reading all of them!

As we're coming up to the end of our semester, Caleb & I have both been finishing up projects and studying for exams.  I have my last exam tomorrow and Caleb has exams, projects, and a speech next Mon-Wed.  Last week he worked on a poster advertising "A Raisin in the Sun" (it's a play based on Langston Hugh's poem "A Dream Deferred").

 

Working diligently away, even while Patty was visiting!



The final product!



The varsity football season just ended and tryouts took place for the JV team next semester.  After some confusion, we just found out that Caleb made the team!!!  Most of the time when Caleb comes home after practise, he is quite muddy:

However, it's not so often that he comes home with a perfect "ball print"!! :-)  It must have been quite the header!!!

The KICS Christmas concert is tonight, so we're having supper early...which means I need to run!  We're all looking forward to this evening--the night includes performances by the Advanced High School Band, the Junior Band [C!], the Jazz Band, different Ensembles, a Teachers Choir, and some with a variety of the bands combined!

To finish off...  This is what the view from our upstairs balcony normally looks like:

Some mornings, however, we wake up to the valley being filled with fog!  It looks amazing, and this morning I was able to take some pictures of it!

Here's some more:

 And then...

The sun came out!!!!