When in Rome… (Saturday, June 19, 2009 1:23AM)

            After about 10 hours in the air (the longest flight of my life) we have finally touched down in Rome to refuel before flying to Addis Ababa. I can honestly say that the moment we took off this morning was the first time it really hit me that I was going to Rwanda. Sitting in the airport, I was in the company of a very diverse group of people, all traveling to different parts of Africa for extremely different reasons. I met one group of students traveling to Zambia to do volunteer work, another man traveling to Rwanda to start up an outward bound program, and a very exuberant couple traveling to Ethiopia to adopt their first child. All of the people I talked to seemed fascinated by the work that my group is doing in Rwanda. I felt an instant connection to the people I met today, and their enthusiasm and interest in my work provided the justification I needed to prove to myself that I had made the right decision.

  Our flight to Ethiopia will be about 6 hours, where we have about a two-hour layover before flying into Kigali later this morning. My conception of time is already completely off and I’m not sure if I’m supposed to feel tired right now considering it’s only 5:00 pm in the states. I will post again when we have landed in Rwanda (hopefully somewhat rested by then).