Day 5

First, let me say thank you for praying for us. While we haven’t had any forward movement on the girl child, we’ve felt much calmer about the situation.

Well, today didn’t exactly go as anticipated. But that seems to be pretty much the norm for us here. What was supposed to be a quick paperwork session with the attorney turned into an all morning ordeal. So we didn’t get to see David this morning. We did get to visit the U.S. Embassy, well, the parking lot. It was another morning of waiting and driving and more waiting. Not very exciting.

We had planned to see David in morning then have lunch at the house before heading to see the Compassion International project in Kigali. Well, since we didn’t see David and spent the morning being bored, we decided to treat ourselves to lunch at the coffee shop. It was delicious and a nice break. Then we realized that we still had more paperwork to take care of, we couldn’t believe it either. So instead of visiting the Compassion project we did paperwork.

Finally, at 3 we were headed to see David, or so we thought. Our driver had his own interpretation of what we were doing so instead we headed to the house to get packed up to head to Musanze for the weekend. After I finished my fastest packing job ever, we were in the car on the way to see David. But wait, we should get gas for the trip. Ugh. Finally, for real, we were on our way. At 4 we arrived to see our new son.

He was worth the wait. As he walked toward us he almost smiled. It wasn’t fully on his lips, but his eyes were smiling. He only took a minute to warm up to us again. We had brought his backpack with us with a couple of cars and some books as well as the toys we had at the first meeting. My plan was to get things out slowly. Isaac’s plan was to dump the whole bag out so the kid who has never owned a toy in his life could be completely overwhelmed. It was perfect. Little by little Sean and I managed to get many of the toys back into the bag. This wasn’t an easy task. David wanted all the toys right in front of him, on top of each other, so he could keep an eye on all of his new things.

We were able to take a tour of the orphanage but not allowed to take pictures. This was nice because we learned today that David actually lived at this orphanage for 3 years. Then last year he moved to the boys’ orphanage 2 hours away. While we were on the tour we were able to see lots of adorable children. Of course, we all hugged and loved on those cute kids. David did not like that. Kate was holding him and he was a bit squirmy, so I took him. He clung to me and laid his head on my shoulder. He claims us. He doesn’t want to share us. I love that.

Perhaps my favorite but not so favorite part was at the very end. Isaac was holding his hand walking him back to his room. Sean, Kate and I waited at the end of the hall and waved good-bye to him. He looked at the nuns waiting for him and turned back and ran crying to us. He didn’t want us to leave. Turns out the kid does have vocal cords and uses them when he deems it necessary. He was using them a lot as we left the orphanage. It was hard to leave him there crying, but we were excited that he was that upset we were leaving.

Then we were off for Musanze, but we had to make a quick stop at the market for 2 kg of ground beef (no we had no cooler for the 2 hour trip, health code standards are a little different here, not sure they have health codes). There is no such thing as a quick stop at the grocery store for meat on a Friday night. So after that event we were off, after we stopped for air in the tire. And of course, because this is how things happen here in Kigali, there was something wrong with the tire. Fortunately a couple of the 20+ men that seemed to be working at the tire repair area of the gas station were able to fix the tire. Isaac, meanwhile, had a lovely time waving and entertaining the others. Don’t be surprised if when we return you see my kids smiling and waving as we drive down the street. That’s what they do here and I’m afraid it might be a habit.

At 6 it becomes dark here in Rwanda. It gets light at 6 and dark at 6. Everyday. All year long. So by the time we finally left for Musanze it was quite dark. Now you remember that Rwanda is known as the land of a thousand hills right? And by hills they mean small mountains. Your ears pop as you go up these “hills”. Also remember here in Rwanda most people use their own two feet for transportation. Everywhere you go there are people walking along the side of the road. Well the same goes for when you are traveling between cities, up and down the mountainside. This wouldn’t have been a big deal, but it was dark outside. And there are no streetlights. Or lines painted on the road. And I’m pretty sure no one has ever heard about reflective gear. Very dark skinned people wearing dark clothes on a cloud-covered night are very difficult to see. Add to that the curvy, narrow road and you have the makings of a great adventure. Our driver is great. We are good friends now. He is teaching us Kinyrwandan and we are teaching him English. I’m pretty sure he is learning more. But he took very good care of us and got us to our destination safely.

So now we are at our friends’ new home in Musanze. Home doesn’t really do it justice, palatial estate might be more accurate. The ceilings are at least 12 feet high. The doors are 10 feet tall. The people who live here are quite tall so the door handles are about shoulder height for me. The rooms are huge. The furniture is huge. It’s gorgeous, but I feel a bit like Jack after he climbed the beanstalk into the giant’s house. But these are just the nicest people. She has been a great resource for us and a huge supporter of our adoption efforts here in Rwanda. So it was wonderful to be able to just sit and talk with her tonight.

But now I’m in bed. I had to jump to get into it. We have a huge day planned tomorrow including a wedding! We also get to see the land where New Hope Homes will be building new homes for kids. If you are interested in New Hope Homes please visit www.calmministries.org. The love they give these kids is unmatched and they are always looking for support. So for now I leave you.


Isaac entertaining everyone at Sector with his karate moves.

Isaac enjoying a game of football (soccer) with the locals.

Kate and Isaac drinking from the bottle, because its still fun.

View from our seats at the coffee shop.

Traffic in Kigali.