Nomad's Pub

travel instructions...

We leave tomorrow for a four day trip here in Rwanda. Mostly we will be in or around Kibuye, and mostly we look forward to the trip. New sights; a breath of fresh air; time at a lake.

This has been a long week. Difficult emotionally. We study and observe and absorb so much; ask questions that have no answers or questions that simply are not allowed. What can we do with it all? Processing takes so much time. So much energy that has already been drained from us. We fall into bed exhausted at 21:30, with a migraine, with too many more questions.

This trip, we look forward to it, yes. But we also dread it. On the last day--the day we will return to Kigali--we will stop at yet another genocide memorial. "Prepare yourselves; you will see the dead bodies preserved in lime...and there is an over-representation of children among the dead."

Tell me, how are we to prepare ourselves for something such as that?

The only dead I have ever seen have been peaceful, laid at comfortable rest.

How are we to prepare ourselves for seeing so many dead bodies killed so horribly?

Or is that just their warning to bring lots of tissues and be prepared to be ill?

Because I don't know. I want to know. How...?

posted by Lada @ 8:55 AM