43. On Our Way Home

Monday, Aug. 15, 2016

Boarding at Kigali International Airport

We're at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. The flight from Kigali (via Entebbe, Uganda) was fine and soon we will be in Detroit. I knew these 9 months were going to fly by. Naomi is surprised how fast it went. I haven't asked John and Isaac yet.

Our last day in our house was a hectic one. People coming and going all day, picking up the items we were giving away and selling. John's big table/desk was carried away on the heads of two men, our king size mattress was folded, tied with rope and carried on the head of a young man. Sorry, no photos of that! John delivered our car to it's new owner, we gave last parting gifts to Grace, our housekeeper, and Simiyon, our guard. Our landlord, in classic Rwandan style, called to say he was running late and would not be able to get to the house before we left for the final walk-thru.

Packing was a bit stressful and took way too long because we had to pack and re-pack to try meet the 23KG limit per bag -- 2 bags per person. In addition we knew Delta Airline's restricts to 2 carry-ons, each no more than 12 KG. In the end we did it! Our 8 large suitcases, each about 23.7 KG (the check-in clerk was lenient) and they didn't control the carry-ons at all! So we had 12 carry-ons all together. Keeping track of all these bags was not easy! Ruth Ann's neatly packed bag of "food for the road" got left behind at the house, one of the 8 large bags and one of the carry-ons was left on the hotel shuttle bus we used to get to the airport. We noticed the big bag missing before we got through security, but not the carry on until it was too late! Our friend Patrick was still outside, though, ready to help us. And he found a way to retrieve it and get it to us via another passenger he knew! Thank you Patrick!

We thank so many other friends who helped us pack up and get going back to more adventures in a different part of the world... Ann Arbor, Michigan! Dear friends in Rwanda, you have blessed us richly and made a huge impact on our lives. We will miss you, "nda gukumbura" and think of you often, and we pray God's blessing on you. Imana ibaha umugishu.