Entering the Dance

Flying over Kenya's Rift Valley

Taking a trip to the other side of the world is one of the best ways to have the phrase “You are Not in Control” uttered over you life, like a latent blessing. We’re thankful for safety, and that we did arrive pretty much on time in Rwanda…but we are learning again that we don’t control outcomes (even process) and we need others.

Kenya Airways treated us to a couple of great flights (with service to beat anything in the US) but then lost our baggage, so it tempers my enthusiasm for them just a bit. It was a fascinating lesson in negotiation to participate as one of those who had to report lost luggage. In the States, we would find the person in charge, produce our luggage claim tickets and expect them to find the location of the missing pieces by computer. NOT so in Rwanda. There was a group of about 8 of us—two Americans, the rest of African variety. At first it had to be determined if all of the luggage was actually off the plane. The attendant, who didn’t exhibit much air of authority, was reluctant to issue a ruling on that…so we waited. After a while, he declared that no more was coming. Then what followed was a rather confusing but somehow wonderful interchange. Every one (except for the Americans) entered into some kind of dance, to see who would go first, what should be asked, said and determined. There was much conversation (that I actually followed pretty well, given the hand movements of the baggage attendant) that the bags would likely arrive on a later flight. No one seemed to challenge this assumption, and no one suggested (as I was thinking) that perhaps he should just call Nairobi and see if they had them. “They will come” was uttered with great confidence. ‘When’ was not important, obviously.

We then each had to not only provide the tag number of the claim ticket, but identify each piece of luggage on a large chart the attendant had. This chart held the primary significance. We would point to a picture of a piece of luggage and say “that one”. If we seemed to hesitate, he was very concerned. It had to be exact—with the colour as well. I (quietly) watched about five people go first, then took my turn in the dance. All the others helped me, of course, although they had never seen my luggage, but you would not have known that. My French helped a little, and finally, the attendant had recorded the essential details, numbers and all. It was more difficult for Mark, as we couldn’t seem to locate a picture of a case for his camera tripod on the master chart. This caused a lot of “ahhing” and ‘Oomming’ until we found something close enough. The attendant seemed worried that it wasn’t an exact match. At any rate, we spent about 24 hours without our luggage, then it arrived, just as he promised it would.

The first night at the guest house there was a miscommunication about dinner, and we found ourselves alone, in a strange city, not speaking the language, totally unable to provide for ourselves. Archbishop Kolini just happened to show up and ordered dinner for us. But it was a reminder that on this trip we’re really helpless—totally dependent on others to provide and direct, and even to speak for us. Actually not a bad lesson at any time, or any place…but it’s pushing against our illusions.

We have not found it easy to get “online” to post to this blog, mostly due to the part of town we have been in. But we’ll try to bring things up to speed. I am learning, or re-learning, some very important things. One is that I came here with the idea of doing three or four things each day. I now know that it will only be possible to accomplish only one ‘task’ daily. I’m also seeing how important relationships are here. We say that Rwanda is relational, but we don’t really know what that means until we step into it here in this place. More about that later….

Peace.