As many of you know, I have an insatiable curiosity about EVERTHING. So, I run around taking pictures of plants, fields, gardens, traffic, roads, scaffolding, you name it. I am quite sure when I get home, I will wonder why on earth I snapped a photo of that.
This blog will be a plethora of odd little tidbits I found interesting. The gardens fascinate me. At first glance they look like a weed patch. But upon questioning people, I find there is rhyme and reason to them. They plant a stalk of corn and surround it with climbing beans. There are squash or melons covering every square inch of ground. We have fresh mangos, oranges, pineapple, and apples daily. I discovered an orange tree in the front yard. Many gardens have casaba plants. Do you know what that is? I bet every one of you have some in your cupboard. Tapioca!! It's a tuber, kind of like a giant yam. And, yep, the grow a lot of yams, as well as potatoes.
We tip-toed through rush hour traffic tonight. Pick up points with hundreds of taxi motorcycles, and one or two cars line the streets. Joan tells me it costs her a $1 to get a ride to work on a scooter taxi. Kigali has a population of a little over a million people. That's close to five times bigger than Boise.
There are lots of people going lots of places. At the market, there were those hawking parking spaces for a tip. The only way to get one was to pay up! I often see bicyclers holding on to the back of a truck catching a free ride up the hill. And did I mention there aren't any flat areas bigger than a postage stamp. My legs ought to be in shape when I get back. Even the stair steps are adjusted for the incline in the land. It makes them fun...one side is six inches high, and the other end is 12 to 14 inches high. And some have a small cradle in them for runoff. I watch where I am going ALL the time.
Nearly every home is a gated compound. In the poor areas, there a mismatched pieces of rusty corrugated metal instead of fences. I was warned to be careful and not cut myself as I hung on for dear life walking up the trail. There are also "living" fences of various vines and plants. I'm still working on a photo of one fence in which the plant has no leaves. Was our God creative or what?
The walls of the classroom are decorated with Biblical paintings. Moses has been staring at me for the better part of a week. Charlton Heston he ain't. They begin with creation and proceed around the room to the resurrection. I find it interesting that we all picture God's creation and people through our own eyes. Here, Jesus is black. Duh. What else would he look like?
June, Appreciate what you share with us. Always looking for more in what you see, do, and feel. Prayers for you and your team and the folks you minister to. God's will be done. His blessings to all of you.
Carolyn