Day 5 - Kigali, Rwanda - May 1, 2009

Good Day (again) from Rwanda! Today is May Day and otherwise known as Labour Day in most of the world except Canada and the USA. In French, "Fete du Travail". Ironically on this day of celebration of labour, the streets are empty. And another ironic fact is that on this holiday in Rwanda, we are working in our 3rd day of Choir Leader Seminars here in Kigali. Well, if it's worth anything, the streets were fairly empty today and traffic was not an issue.

When I woke up this morning, I heard (again) this nice choir singing some "choruses" (meaning 2-3 lines continuously repeated, we have some of these in the Celebration Hymnal). They sang in two-part harmony (not four) but it was truly an enjoyable to wake up to for the past couple of mornings. I asked the Apostle Minga and Anselme where this may be coming from and the Apostle noted a Catholic Church "down the hill" but Anselme said that it would be too far for the sound to travel. Well, whatever it was, they were angels that reminded me of God's presence when I woke up in the morning. The birds were really chirping today, too. Maybe they don't want me to leave.....

Didn't sleep well or long last night, still jet-lagged but was ready for 8:45 AM after a short breakfast of, you guessed it, baguette + some cheese (only a little ham today). I saw eggs but didn't have the time to ask for them or get them prepared anyway. Saw even more foreigners at breakfast today. Everyone is automatically speaking English and not French. I really have to dig into this a little more. On a related note, when I asked Anselme where the French Embassy is, he reacted like it didn't matter or he didn't care. If there was any, he said it may be a small office in a larger building. I don't believe the Rwandans are against the French language per se but more against the government. Every time the Rwandans hear French must remind them of how much the French must have disappointed them, abandoned them and hurt them.

Before leaving the room today, I took my 2nd dose of Dukoral and brought my Malaria pill with me to take later. (Good Boy!) That Dukoral is a strange medicine. I feel like I'm Experiment 501 as part of the Lilo & Stitch series. First you have to dissolve some powder in "5 ounces of cool water", the water fizzes like an "alkaseltzer" then you add the "vial" of vaccine. Mix it up and away you go. It must taste terrible without the powder. I prefer needles (probably don't hear that too much). Give me needles, no problem.

The weather is cloudier today and a little cooler, probably only got to 21 or so. Can't wait (sarcastic) to get to Congo where it's 31 + another 10 for humidity = 41 + thunderstorms. Pray that the electricity is a little more contstant otherwise there's going to be no sleep in Brazzaville.

Getting a little paranoid about the mosquitoes. Have about half a dozen bites now. Feel that I have bites where they are not.

We're 4 sleeps down, 22 to go.

So, back to our regularly scheduled seminars. Arrived shortly after 9 and review the introductory beat with the choir leaders and encouraged them to solidify their music fundamentals beofre trying to master other things. Then we had about 4+ hours of mini choir practices (5-10 minutes each) where each choir leader presented themselves to the choir members, did a warm-up exercise and then conducted a song of their choosing. Afterwards, their fellow choir leaders "reviewed" the conductor's performance by 1st; giving compliments and affirmations followed by 2; constructive criticism. Some are really getting it and I can see our "team" of Seminar Leaders expand from the 1 or 2 we have currently to 5-6 in a very short time.

OK, the stink was getting to me. Wow! There was a little breeze today and if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, watch out.

I looked up and there were birds in the church. Real "rustic" style. OK, sometimes you see birds in the odd Home Depot during the summer months in Canada but these birds had the church as their home. I was just watching out for any presents dropping from the sky.

We wanted to be done early today but by the time everyone had finished and we had our short (NOT) closing remarks by the Apostle and myself, we didn't eat until after 3:00 PM. Gave Frederic a DVD set of Cape Town choirs, reminded Anselme to have everything in order in terms of the expenses for the week and greeted the choir leaders "goodbye" till next time. When I was talking to Anselme about the expenses, he gave me back 2 $100 bills and asked if he could have others. The Africans are particular about their American money. The more recent and more pristine the condition the better the exchange. If it really is not to their liking, they will refuse to exchange it altogether. What was really funny is that he said one of the $100 bills that he was returning was called from the "Jesus series" (LOL). It's probably funnier in French but it was a cute comment nonetheless.

So back to the hotel by about 4:00 PM as we tried to get a hold of Evanice (Sister Kiboba) to see her before I left. Anselme said he would try over the next couple of hours but by 7:00 PM Anselme called me and said there was no success. I offered earlier to go out with them for a small snack or drink but they weren't interested. Watched TV, caught up on email, and now staying up (not going to sleep tonight, I'll probably pay for this later), finishing today's blog and now have to get into packing (ughhh! - hate packing). Ate also the remainder of bread, sausage, etc. So there's nothing left, in more ways than one. Zapped a few more mosquitoes with the deadly tennis racket. Something interesting about the Zapper, it smells like an insect BBQ when these things are fried.

Have to be ready by 2:00 AM to get to airport. Pray everything works out OK through Nairobi. Have only an hour between flights. Will meet Apostle Dzur tonight in Brazzaville. Good Night! Thanks for the prayers. Thanks C. for being the only one posting so far. Don't be shy, even a sentence or two is appreciated.