Day 5 = AMAZING!

(Jane Huber-group 1)
Just got back from the gorilla trek...OH MY GOD!!!!!
I'll start from the beginning of our experience. The Muslim call to prayer woke us up at 4:45 in the morning... but that was good because my group had to wake up at that time anyway so we could get to the base of the volcano in time. We rode in a car for around 20 minutes when we arrived at "base camp." We were initially set to see the "Sussa" gorillas (Diane Fossey's gorillas) but guess what? Dominic Maghahan (actor from Lost and Mary in LOTR) was there and had priority. We stared for around 5 minutes before I had the courage to go talk to him. I shook his hand, said hello, and he denied his identity...but it was painfully obvious, he just didn't want to get too much attention. Then we drove to an outskirt city by the volcano to see the "Amohoro" gorillas. Then we began the ascent. Easily the most physically exhausting exercise I have ever had, we had to climb an entire volcano side...took around 2 hours... We constantly fell down and slipped and were stabbed with thorns and nettles... sometimes the hill was around a 70-80 degree slope, and we were completely exhausted. Then we saw the gorillas. We were told that one must maintain a distance of 21 feet for the safety of both gorillas and us... But that didn't happen. Immediately, as we were in the slope of the crater of the volcano, surrounded by the gorillas eating vegetation, single-file, a baby gorilla walked right between alex rothstein and i, knocking our legs really hard (we were told to remain still and not upset his parents). Then they moved on and we had to track them, our guide chopping a path for us with his machete. We had another series of close encounters (though not as dramatic) in which anna viers and rachel bilski were pinned against the treeline, and there was a 3-month old baby constantly latched to his mother's back. Then, we thought we had lost the family and were searching when suddenly we spotted the mother and child in a tree, 15 feet away. Then I was hit on the top of the head really hard and knocked to the ground, Natalie Thomas smacked in the back. It turns out that a playful "blackback" gorilla threw a log at us. I was fine, and so was Nat, but it was a very dramatic moment...fear and adrenaline combined to make us hyper-aware of the movements of all the gorillas around us (i got a picture of the one that hit me). Then the blackback got down from the tree and cornered us all, but the guides intimidated it by making noises like the gorillas (low, husky huffing noises). Then we followed them to a nesting area where the lead male got into a fight with a younger male. It was a very short fight, and it seemed to just end... no clear winner. We then followed them to watch them eat, and were ready to leave. The descent down was very easy and quick...The guide teaching us Kinyarwandan...especially phrases for stopping and resting. Easily one of the greatest experiences of my life and I think that everyone in the group felt the same way. The gorillas are incredible animals and the fact that we were able to see them so close makes it even more amazing.

(Mary-Group 4)
Our adventure started with pushing Greg's car out of the driveway and down the road to get it to started and ended with a 3 mile walk (uphill) back to our guest house. We arrived at the brick making area after a short, yet very scenic, ride. Immediatly, production ceased and we were encouraged to try the many tasks that brick making involves. Drew and Dan were recruited to fill up the five liter buckets with water from the muddy watering hole at the bottom of the hill. The rest of us tryed our hand at hoeing the mud to make the mush for the bricks. We put the mud into the brick molds and made numerous bricks, all while being laughed at (clearly we were the entertainment for the day). Drew was called the best hoer and Dan was the strongest, and as translated by Greg, Dan could "kick us all". The work was truly difficult and we all got a feel for how much work it takes to make money in Rwanda. The supervisor told us that the best brick maker would make the equivalent of $7 a day if he worked from 5 in the morning until 6 at night. It was a fun experience, in a different sense of the word, but we all enjoyed the experience. We finished the afternoon off with a walk back to the guest house for a much needed shower. Ms. Overbo gets the award for being the dirtiest and I think that the brick makers enjoyed her the most, even though they said that the "muzungu woman not very good."

Carmen(group2),
Today we weaved baskets and mats. In the morning we woke up at 7:20 and headed out for the mats. We had to walk 7kilometers through the small villages of Rwandan people. As we walked through, young kids would come running out of their houses to greet us. We also walked down many mountains of beautiful countryside. The views were unbelievably amazing. Misted fog covered the banana fields and houses of the locals. Once we got there, we were greeted by five women who brought us to their homes and pulled out mats for us to sit on. Once we sat down, they handed us a partially woven basket which we were to finish. It was a really fun experience to weave the baskets, because it familiarized us with the culture of local women in Rwanda. After we finished we bought our baskets back from the women and they sent us on our way.

(Emma-Group 3)
Today Grace, Abby, Katie and I went to Imbabazi orphanage. It was amazingly beautiful there! Rosamond Carr, who used to run the orphanage, made the most beautiful gardens and they are still kept up really well. On the way there we made friends with our driver, Jared. He taught us a Rwandan song and everything! Once we got there, we met K-Ellen, the woman who takes care of the orphange now. She told us all about the kids, their daily life, school, and their stories. The kids there are very fortunate. They actaully better off at the orphanage than in a normal family. We got to sit in the back of a 6th grade class while they were learning math. It was interesting to see how different the teaching style is. Then some of the orphans who were our age took us to the top of a tall hill where we had an amazing view of Rwanda and a few volcanoes. Then we ate lunch with K-Ellen. She made us cheese sandwiches and Kool-Aid! Then we got to go into a 3rd grade and 1st grade classroom and teach them English songs and they taught us songs in Kinyarwandan. They just laughed at us when we tried to pronounce all the words! Then we drove home and we got to meet the guy that Rosamond Carr talks about in her book when she is teaching him to drive a car. We ran into him totally by chance but he was really interesting to talk to. Overall it was an amazing experience and I wish I could go back!