a prophetic voice-

It's hard to believe but I am back home again, after three weeks of travel, each day marked by something new and special and wonderful...perfect weather (needed the umbrella only once, for about an hour, in Amsterdam); memorable people; fantastic food; glorious places; and a storehouse of memories to sort through in the days and weeks and months to come. When I inserted the memory card (lovely name, isn't it?) from the camera into my computer and began downloading photos, I discovered that I had 731 pictures. Of course, some I had already erased as redundant or woefully out-of-focus, and some I will erase as I go through them yet again, but right now I have 731 reminders of the adventures of the past three weeks...memory triggers all, to keep ever mindful the sounds and sights and smells and feel of the places we visited, of the people we met, of the celebration of life which was this journey. While I promise I will not burden you, the reader, with all 731, today...this aft...

Some famous person once said, "Humans plan; God laughs." Well, the Holy One has surely been rolling in the aisles at our very human travel misadventures. They all began on our third day out when we arrived at the airport in Nairobi in what we thought was plenty of time for our flight to Kigali, only to be told at the sign-in counter that we were late for our flight; it had already departed. After I got over the initial shock, I waved my email confirmation in front of the clerk, a confirmation which clearly stated that we were confirmed for a flight leaving Nairobi at 12:45p.m. that day- only there was no flight at that time and the flight number indicated on my email was the one which had just departed for Kigali- with us clearly NOT aboard.  Time was then spent at the Kenya Airways ticket counter, attempting  to explain our predicament to a trying-to-be-helpful Kenyan clerk for whom English was clearly his second language. Finally, understanding was reached and he was able...

What an absolutely great city for those of us who like to walk! Leaving our B&B at 8:30 this morning, we finally stopped for lunch at 1:00p.m., after walking around the Jordaan area, visiting an incredible outdoor market, seeing lovely canal houses and houseboats, and being surprised and delighted by several courtyard gardens in the center of apartment complexes composed of houses built in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Dutch, you see, are a thrifty people, valuing the preservation of buildings whose only "fault" is being old. They remodel and update the interiors, while retaining the character and integrity of the original structure, resulting in extremely livable habitations which have a character all their own. Lovely, truly lovely.  Today was absolutely gorgeous, in spite of the fact the it began with a temperature of 37 degrees- that's Fahrenheit, not Celsius, understand. The first hour or so of our walk made me glad for scarf and gloves, but by...

Our last night in Kenya, in East Africa...and it has been an amazing trip, filled with unforgettable people who I will carry with me in mind and heart and spirit. For that is what travel is really all about for me...the encounters I have, the people who enter my journey and walk awhile with me...the faces, the smiles, the hugs, the incredible variety of the human family I have been privileged to meet and hold close, if only for a short time.  The time in Rwanda was amazing...meeting the grandmothers; spending an afternoon with Emmanuel's family; connecting again with our friend, Simon; seeing the coming-to-life dream of artist brothers, Innocent and Emmanuel; being cared for so lovingly by the staff at Heaven Guesthouse; meeting and getting to know Kassim, our on-the-scene man with the Nyanya Project; visiting the new business of Florence, an intelligent and ambitious young woman, part of our Rwandan family. Every contact memorable...every connection meaningful, enriching my life...

Ten days ago, journaling on my first day here in Africa, I was asking myself what I was doing here...and was really uncertain of the answer. Now those days have passed, and I have achieved, if not clarity, a certain acceptance of what has happened and continues to happen in these countries so far from home. Africa in my heart... What a difference ten days make... Ten days and countless encounters with       so many wonderful people... Rwanda and Mount Kenya and fresh air and good food       and welcome and joy and kindness... Breathing...just breathing... heart filled to overflowing with a myriad of emotions,       their varied palette as multicolored as the Kenyan evening sky...             the rich red of joy, the serene blue of hope,              the vibrant green of courage and determination,             the quiet lavender of peace ...

Several years ago, a prominent writing couple, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, wrote a book entitled Half the Sky,  in which they made the statement that women hold up half the sky, meaning that, in spite of having less power in most countries, in spite of the gender bias and misogyny which exists in so many places, in spite of unequal pay for equal work, in spite of often-incredible violence against them, women are consistently the ones who keep things going...the ones who are responsible for family survival...the ones who make it possible for life to go on. Yesterday, I was privileged to meet with twelve women who are indeed holding up their share of the sky...women who, in their fifties and sixties and seventies, are determinedly working hard and creating a community of support in which they are being able to care for their AIDS-orphaned grandchildren with wisdom and courage and strength. The Ebenezer Nyanya grandmothers of Mount Kenya are phenomenal women and the way...

I think I am suffering from altitude sickness...having gone from High Point's elevation of one thousand feet to Nairobi's 5400+, with a hiatus at Kigali's 5000+. It's one of the things travelers are seldom warned about- unless they are planning to mountain climb! But I find the lack of oxygen makes me feel very tired and late afternoon naps have become the order of the day for me. The rainy season seems to have stopped...not a drop since we arrived, after an extremely wet March and April. Temperatures hover in the upper seventies during the day, but begin to cool quickly as the sun drops low in the western sky, around 4:30 or 5p.m. And because we are so near to the equator, there are almost exactly twelve hours of daylight, with darkness setting in around 6:30p.m.  Of course, we have also not been eating a great deal...just not particularly hungry, in spite of lots of time outdoors and a fair amount of walking. Bedtime has been early...no later than nine-thirty most ...

I have to tell you that driving in Nairobi is like nothing I have ever seen anywhere else. No, I am emphatically NOT doing the driving for, as our cabby today put it so well, "Driving here, it would keel you!" And that is no overstatement, believe me. Not only is the traffic heavy at seemingly every part of the day, not only are the noxious diesel fumes enough to make the eyes water continuously, not only is there perpetual road construction everywhere , but there seem to be no traffic rules at all. Especially hair-raising are the traffic circles, or roundabouts, where traffic enters from several different directions at once, with drivers apparently "playing chicken" to see who enters, who gets the right-of-way, and who can slip most successfully through the smallest spaces.  Can't tell you how many times I was convinced today that we would hear the crunch of metal or the scream of tires or the blare of horns- but didn't. Instead, our intrepid driver, Edwi...

Haven't told you about one of my favorite places in Kigali, though there is no way I can adequately describe the Inema Arts Center. It needs to be seen for anyone to fully appreciate the experience...and experience it truly is, from the colorful mural on the front gate to the sculptures scattered throughout the grounds to the amazing diversity of the paintings displayed on the gallery walls, all created by the ten young artists who share the studio space. The "brainchild" and dream fulfillment of two uniquely-wonderful, self-taught artists- who also happen to be brothers- Inema is dedicated to reaching people through the arts, whether it is the young people in their dancing troupe or the women who come to learn fabric crafts using the center's sewing machines or the countless European and American travelers who come to see- and perhaps (the artists fervently hope), to buy.  We spent several joy-filled hours touring the center, meeting the artists, and hearing the ...

It has been one of those days...emotions nearly run amok, running the gamut from morning to evening in a day filled to overflowing with sights and experiences, with death and life, with people and places unlike anything at home. The morning began with a lovely walk up to our favorite coffee shop, Bourbon Street, combining exercise with conversation and people-watching and a really good latte. Then it was off to the Ntarama Genoside Memorial, a small brick church well outside Kigali where several thousand Tutsis were slaughtered by Hutus, many of them their neighbors. They had fled to the church for safe haven but were hunted down and killed by their fellow countrymen wielding machetes, clubs, knives, and heavy steel balls which could easily crush skulls. Soldiers came with grenade launchers, blowing holes in the walls so the killers could get in. Among those killed were many children, taken to their Sunday school room be slain. How can I begin to describe feelings which flooded my ...

If twelve hugs daily is supposed to make us thrive, then I should be in excellent shape for the remainder of our trip and beyond. Yesterday, we visited the Nyanya grandmothers in the countryside outside of Kigali and were so warmly welcomed that it brought tears to my eyes more than once. Beautiful, determined, incredibly strong women surrounded us at each site, eager to show us their projects: growing peppers, preparing to grow mushrooms. Dressed in their best garments, they presented the image of a colorful bouquet, each flower unique and lovely, each one adding to the overall beauty of the whole.  There is no way to adequately describe what it means, how it feels, to be welcomed so warmly and unrestrainedly by complete strangers...and in "real life", it all to seldom happens. We Americans have become suspicious of strangers, the "Other" who does not look like us, sound like us, smell like us, experience life as we do. But as I looked into the faces of each of t...

A different breath of air filling my lungs... a different feel of sun and wind touching my skin... a different scent of living things filling my nostrils       and my mind... a different sight of views both unfamiliar and exotic        filling my eyes... My senses reel...       gently and not-so-gently assaulted by       this different clime... this place across the world from home where my heart       feels both at home and feels a stranger, where my mind speaks a "yes" and "no" concurrently, uncertain of what force draws me here... draws forth my love... stirs up my sadness-tinged anger... elicits hope and grief in equal measure... This is Rwanda, land of a thousand hills, Milles Collines... where once the blood of many thousands ran... where neighbor turned on neighbor in media-flamed hatred... where "good" people performed acts unspeakable... while the nations of the world turned the...

How do we ever really see life through the eyes of another person? especially when our life experiences are so very different. How can I begin to understand what it feels like to be a Rwandan or a Kenyan when I come from a culture which is so totally different? It's not that I don't try, but I find myself bringing my middle class American values with me; how can I not? But how do we find common ground between cultures, between societies, if we do not first make interpersonal connections, find personal common ground? It is difficult for me to be perceived as "rich", when I have worked so long and hard to make this trip; hard to find hands perpetually outstretched for something, when I have nothing to give except my smile, my friendship, my compassion. And that does not put food on the table, does it?  And so I, with the loving assistance of many friends, am helping one   family, keeping one  young man in school, sharing with them our friendship and love, knowing fu...

In Rwanda, after a somewhat rocky start. Our wonderful driver, Charlie, got us to the  Kenyatta airport in plenty of time for our 12:45 flight. Problem was, when we went to check in, we were told we had missed our flight, that had departed at 8:45a.m., in spite the fact that our confirmation email clearly showed the flight time as 12:45p.m. We to go back outside to the ticketing office and explain the entire thing to yet another person, after which he checked and rechecked and again and finally  told us he could put us on the flight leaving at 3:30 in the afternoon. That's right, we spent from 9 a.m. until 3:30p.m. in the airport. Thank heaven for Kindles  and the Java House coffee shop. Oh, and the Serenity Prayer got a bit of a workout, too. By the way, discovered that there was no battery available for my two-year-old Safaricom Phone and I had to purchase a new one to enable me to contact friends, drivers, etc., only to find out when I needed to use it today to let e...

Yes, we're here, after 24 hours of travel time and nearly 40 hours without real sleep. Last night the bed at the Wildebeest was so welcoming and I slept until 9a.m. for the first time in years. No apparent jet lag...and a slow,pleasant day today, doing a few errands, catching up on email, reading, and talking with people here. For those of you in Carolina who continually complain about our roads being under continual construction (and I am one of you), after riding down a main road near here and watching our driver doing potholes and serving into the non-existent shoulder the road countless times, I pledged never to complain about our roads again. The people here would think they were in heaven driving I-85...while we Carolinians mutter under our breaths and curse the NCDOT. All a matter of perspective, I guess, but we Americans have so much for which to be thankful- and too often aren't!  Tomorrow we head to Rwanda to visit with friends and meet our newest grandmothers the...

Two more nights in my own bed...and then life changes for three weeks, with the first night spent on a plane winging its way over the Atlantic to Amsterdam. Then, after a layover for breakfast and walking, back on a flight to Nairobi, Kenya, where we'll finally get to sleep about 11p.m. Kenya time (about 5 p.m. here) after spending nearly 40 hours mostly awake (I don't sleep on planes. At best, I fitfully doze.) By the time I fall into bed on Wednesday evening, I will sleep! And with nothing special on the agenda for Thursday, sleeping in a bit is a definite possibility. Hah! Fat chance! We'll be in Africa, in Kenya, so how could we waste the time sleeping any more than necessary? The smells will be different. The sights will be different. The sounds will be different. And I plan to immerse myself in the total experience, being as fully present as possible to all that is taking place around me. Even as I close my eyes now I can "see" the people...the incongruous...