Gisenyi (sort of) Trip - Sunday, December 16, 2012 - PART 2

The church is quite large and the congregation was already going strong when we got there. The building is very closed in (it has 1 double door at the back, 1 on the side, and maybe 8 windows) and as we entered it felt like we were entering a bee hive buzzing with energy & singing!!!

 

An outside view of the church:

 

 

And a view from that door looking in:

 

 

The offering baskets:

 

As always, there were lots of choirs!

There were a couple of benches of kids near us, and they spent the entire 3+ hours staring at us (a few adults did the same too!).

 

At some points the singing got really loud...this little one found it a bit too loud!

 

 

Dad's topic of the day: Jesus is the Light of the World!

 

The church is raising funds and working on building a new church building.  We were able to go see it and pray in it.

The outside view:

And inside:

 

While they used bricks for the front walls, they're using volcano rock for the back walls.



The service ended just after 12:30, and then we had lunch together with some of the people from church.

A typical Rwandan meal:

 

At 2:30, we left & headed for home. All along the dirt road, ALL the children and many teens & adults would spot us, realise who we were, break into a huge grin while simultaneously yelling MZUNGU!!!!!, wave at us and/or run towards us.

Step #1:  Check out who's in the car (I especially love the expression the girl's face who's 2 in from the left in the striped shirt):

 

The Rest of the Steps:

 

 

 

 

The traffic wasn't quite as good on the way home, so it took a bit longer, but Dad got us all home safe & sound. We dropped Pastor Gato off, and thought our day was over. It turned out we had one more "event" ...

A motorbike was traveling along ahead of us...with a driver and passenger. The passenger was carrying 2 chickens ... and a goat ... and all three were STILL ALIVE!!! :-)

It was the perfect way to end our day!  :-)

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...