First Impressions

This is Sue--
I went for a walk yesterday in to the Union Trade Center, where the American style grocery store is located. (I was looking for cough medicine for Doug...the least I could do after infecting him with my virus!) The streets were busy, as May 1 is a holiday here...apparently similar to the Soviet Union's celebration of laborers.
I attracted the usual stares, but I am not 12 inches taller than the local women, as is true in Central America. Several of them were taller than me! Their hair styles are elaborately braided, some in tiny plaits no thicker than a millimeter. I also saw the other extreme; hair clipped to about 1/4 inch length. According to a friend who has lived here the last year, this is a growing "natural hair" movement. Rather than straightening their hair chemically, women are trying to work with the natural texture.
Sidewalks in Kigali require concentrated attention. There are large gaps in the concrete, and then often the hard surface suddenly fades away into mud. This is the end of the rainy season, but apparently this year has been unusually dry. We have had two pounding rainstorms since we arrived, one with lightening and thunder, but both times we were indoors. The green beauty of Kigali is worth the rain.
My Rosetta Stone study paid off yesterday! I saw a girl about 7 years old holding her mom's hand and staring at me. I smiled and waved, and she waved back. After I passed them, I heard her running to catch up with me. I said Hello and took her hand. She said Bonjour. I gulped hard, and said Je m'appelle Suzan, and to my delight she responded Je m'appelle Deborah. To which, after I got over my shock that she had understood me, I said Enchante', meaning something like "Charmed, I'm sure" Her mother caught up with us and we went through the same drill, with her name being something like Davite. Then she told me where she lives. I tried to say "I live in Etats Unis" but I obviously didn't say the Etats Unis correctly, and she looked confused until I said "america." Anyway, I was happy to have a small conversation and to be spreading some goodwill toward tourists. We said Au Revoir and I walked back to the guesthouse smiling.
I went to my first Rwandan church service this morning. The music was familiar songs of praise, but with more swaying, clapping and smiling than in the U.S. I loved it! The congregation listened attentively, and the message was well spoken. With communion (at the rail) it lasted about two hours. After church I met a man from an organization called Engineering World Health, who is here in Kigali training biomedical technicians. Their commitment is to train a technician for each district (= community) hospital in Rwanda, 45 in all. This is a desperately needed skill, as everywhere I've gone in the developing world, ORs and hospitals have rooms full of monitoring and lab equipment that is broken and not fixable. I was so encouraged by this man, and will try to visit his classroom at Kigali Heath Institute when I am there teaching anesthesia technicians.
Enough for now. Like Doug, I feel a little sheepish writing all this out, and hope we will not wear out our welcome in your brains. We are certainly grateful for your interest, support and prayers and for the part you all have played in our being able to do this amazing month! Thank you. Pray for us.
Love, Sue