Tuesday, July 17, 2012

We made it!



We made it!



We arrived about 8:30 last night into Kigali, a bit road weary, but very glad to be here.  The plane was an hour and a half late arriving, due to sitting on the tarmac for 90 minutes in Brussels.  This made the flight feel even longer than anticipated.  Julie Yerger, the nurse at Kibogora, picked us up in 2 Land Rovers, so we could fit all our boxes on board.  Today, she took us around the capitol, helping us get our work permits, Visas (still need to finish that tomorrow) and groceries for the next month.  


Only one of our bags was lost in transit, and Tim and Julie are on their way to the airport as I write this, in hopes that it made its way here on tonight's flight.  Still, 1 out of 20 ain't bad.  Of course, if that was our Christmas decorations box, I might not stay such a great sport if it isn't found.  :-) 



We met the Methodist Bishop, whose name is Samuel.  Our Sam was pretty impressed that he shares a name with the Bishop! So far, everyone has been so nice to us.  We are staying at the Methodist Guest House in Kigali, and were greeted with the most delicious soup we've ever tasted last night.  After all our travels, it just tasted so good.....the guest house is named the Good News Guest House, and it fits its name.  Besides the obvious Christian reference, the good news of this place is: the people who run it are super friendly, they give us three delicious meals a day, our beds are very comfortable and there is even HOT water in the showers.  I'd say this is all very good news to people who are barely functioning due to jet lag!  Stephen is worried we will get too spoiled here before we go on to the hospital, but I am not worried about that at all -- I am already spoiled.  A couple more days of that won't kill me.  :-) 


Ruthie already figured out how to FaceTime her friend, Harley.  They were laughing and giggling on the computers earlier -- half a world away from each other.  Amazing. 



Julie took us grocery shopping, where I hopefully remembered all the food we will need for the next month. 

The check out lady at the grocery store,
Julie Yerger the Nurse, and Tim



 If not, I guess we will just deal with it.  My jet-lagged brain was having a hard time thinking of all the food details!  We also got an internet modem ~ so exciting ~ which we will try to set up when we get to Kibogora.  
Yes, another grocery store pic!  I guess I found the store
pretty exciting.
 It was so much nicer than I'd expected!!
Of course, this is the one in the capitol, so.....stay tuned for more
pics from Kibogora :-) 


This sign just cracked me up.  Yes, they have fish AND bananas! 


A great solution for traveling tummies - just took
this so you can see "sprite" written in another language.
We also visited a school for handicapped children, which is run by the Methodist church here.  I have a few cute pics of Ruthie and Sam from there, but don't know how to load them onto my computer from Stephen's phone!  When I figure that out, I will post them.  
My only scenery picture so far......some houses by the roadside
 I think I will sign off now, and go play cards with Sam.  We can't wait to go to sleep! Trying to stay up until 9 p.m. 

Before I go, some of you have been asking about our dogs and how they're doing.  Thanks for asking!  We received updates on Prince and Jack-Jack tonight, and an update on Star last week.  Here's a snippet from those:  "The doggies are great! They are used to being here now and we don't have to walk them on leashes anymore.  They use the doggie door and come and go as they please.  This was the answer to Jack's potty training.  Yay!  We love them dearly and laugh over Jack's antics.  They are so loving, both of them.  Jack sleeps in a crate (a larger one, we borrowed from our grand- dog) and Prince sleeps on a comfy chair by Jack's cage.  They send you their love, and so do we."  And from Star's foster mom:  "Star is doing great.  His hot spots have healed, and he has a beautiful, shiny coat.  He and Gypsy (her dog) are great friends, and look cute drinking together from the same water bowl.  My daughter, Karen, was visiting here last week, and she and Star really hit it off.  He followed her around everywhere.  Know that he is well loved and taken care of, and is a joy for me to have."  


We are so very, very thankful to have such kind and good foster parents for our babies! 


Well, we will post some more tomorrow.  If we get our Visa, we will probably go ahead and make the drive to Kibogora Hospital then.  If so, we may not be able to post til day after tomorrow, as we will probably be pretty tired from our travels.  Good night!
  

5 comments:

  1. Deep sigh. Teary eyed reading about dogs! So glad! I'll have to Google what FaceTime is! Lol!

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  2. I'm so happy for you to be there and getting settled with little worry! I hope the rest of your travels go just as smooth..
    your family is in our families prayers.
    what an exciting journey!!

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  3. Prayers for you're safe journey to Kibogora. Boys and I are keeping up with your adventure and we looked up Rwanda on Google Earth. - Julie Mazurek

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  4. yeah!!!!! I am so glad to read this post and hear that you got there okay and that you even had HOT water and yummy food! And I agree, the grocery store WAS exciting! But I am expecting it's been a bit harder since you've gotten to Kibogora and are adding up the days of jet lag. Praying for each and every one of your Bergs on a regular basis. Know that you are not forgotten and that we are asking God to cover you all.
    love you!

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