July 4th weekend in Northampton (Florence) seems a perfect time to post this last blog for the trip, after all, this is also a holiday weekend in Rwanda with July 1st being Independence Day and July 4th Liberation Day. I delayed writing this last blog because of some "should thinking" that blocked my writerly instinct - the last blog
should sum up everything; the last blog
should be some type of introspective and insightful reflection; the last blog
should bring closure. Luckily, I came to my senses and realized that just as I can't really respond to those people who see me on the streets now and ask, "how was it," I also can't write a blog that completely pulls it all together. Instead, I can welcome myself, Patricia, Saadya and Nava back to Northampton and give you a little insight into how we ended our journey and how we made the transition and reentry into our more typical lives.
Saadya and Patricia left Kigali first on June 8 so that Saadya could finish the school year with his classmates at Heritage and attend the middle school graduation ceremony. They opened the house, got the cars started again, stocked the refrigerator and brought the cats back. Turns out they also came back just in time to get Saadya registered and ready for the fall when he will enter Northampton High School. As we drove to the Kigali airport I watched them take one last look around the city and our neighborhood and tried to imagine how it would be for me two weeks later. They got one last Bourbon treat at the airport and then with a stamp in their passports they were on their way back. A day and a half later, I got up in the middle of the night and called my brother's mobile phone to hear that they had landed at Bradley with all of their luggage and were making their way home. Over the course of the next 2 weeks, thanks to Skype, we talked frequently and heard about some of the difficulties of their transition back to the US.
On departing, Patricia reminded me to make sure that Nava had a good time in her last two weeks while I finished up my work. Finishing, for me, meant giving and marking exams, writing reports and saying my good-byes. I was pretty busy but we still managed to get in a few more adventures:
One more trip to the Leico swimming pool with some friends
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| Leico swimming in the late afternoon |
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| Nava and friends |
One last safari (this time just a day trip) to Akagera to enjoy the unique East African wildlife
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| Hello big guy (don't be surprised by his size, he can move) |
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| Lots of giraffe and zebra on this trip |
Fun with her friends including 2 sleep-overs
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| Admittedly this photo is from Nava's birthday party in May but these silly girls were school-mates, pals and they all stayed awake to the wee hours at the sleepovers |
Watched a lunar eclipse
Adventures and shopping in Kigali
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| I finally got to the wedding circle to get a photo and there was nobody there - still, here she is, the mother of Rwanda |
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| Even President Kagame managed another drive-by to say good-bye |
A good-bye party with my colleagues at KHI
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| A fabulous evening at Car Wash with the best chicken we had in Rwanda and loads of speeches |
Finally the big day came, June 21 our departure from Kigali. In the morning I sold off our kitchen items to the highest bidder on Kigalilife and gave a number of items to our staff. Nava went to her last day of school while I packed, weighed and repacked our bags. Chantal cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. In the late afternoon, Elias and Joel came over and we sat on the back porch drinking a last Primus and chatting. Finally at 5pm our convoy was ready to roll. The toughest good-bye was house-staff: Sylivan, Christine and of course, Chantal. We didn't need 2 cars and an entourage but in the end Pepe and Zaidu came to drive us with the KHI car while Elias and Joel accompanied in his sometimes illegal car and Jeanne (the woman who brought me to KHI) was waiting at the airport. We waved, hugged, shook hands, hugged again and then passed through security, checked bags, did one last exit card and joined the crowd of mostly Muzungus leaving.
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| Nava in the waiting area |
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| Good bye Kigali |
A day and many hours later (and a short excursion into Brussels) we landed at Bradley to be met excitedly by Patricia and Saadya who had everything ready for our arrival. Over the next days we managed our jet lag, finished our last doses of malarone and slowly slowly realized that we are no longer in Rwanda and Northampton is just not Kigali. I returned to work where my colleagues had decorated my office in a jungle theme complete with monkeys and elephants.
At night, I often find myself waking up confused about which city I'm in and which house this is. I won't whitewash the experience and make Kigali or Rwanda a glossy wonderful place where everything worked perfectly and life was charmed. I will, however, go the bank early next week to open that new savings account targeted for our next trip.
