From Korntal to Kigali in one day

Friday, June 29th. The alarm clock rings at 3:15 am. Soon afterwards I am in the car, being driven to the airport. Rain is pouring down on the streets, thunder shakes the air above us and lightning brightens the sky every now and then. I hope the plane will leave in this weather. Suddenly I see a truck on the side of the road. The driver‘s cab is ablaze, the frame black against the bright orange flames that flicker into the air. We are already past the site of the accident when I realise what I saw. What kind of start is this for my trip to Rwanda? 

When we arrive at the airport in Stuttgart, the rain has almost stopped. The airport is much more crowded than I expected. People excited to start their vacation queue in front of the check-in-desks. To avoid long queues at the security check and unnecessary stress, I immediately say goodbye to my parents, pass the security and go to my gate. I have to fly to Amsterdam first where I will board the plane to Kigali, Rwanda‘s capital. The flight is short, but I am tired enough to fall asleep nevertheless. With a start I wake up. I am not sure, whether I also made a noise, but the woman in the seat next to me laughs nervously. 

At the airport in Amsterdam, I have some hours before the next plane departs. I sit down at the gate and watch people walking past. A lot of Americans are waiting for the same flight. I can tell their nationality from the way they talk. However, they are mostly going to Uganda, the second stop on this flight. We have to pass another security check. Here, they have machines for a complete body scan. I have never seen this before. One has to step into the cabin, arms raised above the head. Something rotates around the body and the security persons receive a picture on their screen. I would also like to see that picture, but I don‘t catch a glimpse of it. 

With a short delay, the plane finally departs. I watch the landscape below us. It is a beautiful day, no clouds block the view. In Germany the ground is tiled with fields and spotted with small woods and towns. The landscape starts to change, hills become mountains. Some peaks are covered with small patches of snow. We are crossing the Alps now and enter Italy. Italy seems pretty similar to Germany from above. Now and then, I fall asleep. A coastline appears and beneath us is nothing but blue water. Later, small islands become visible in the distance and thicker clouds announce more land. Sicily. It is mountainous and less green than Italy and Germany. Again above the open sea, I fall asleep. I wake up in time to see another coastline. Soon, the desert spreads out beneath the plane. The structure of the ground changes, but the colour stays very much the same. Rarely any streets cut through the light brown, no towns are to be found. The ground is very bright. Looking back inside the plane, I hardly see anything. When my eyes adjust again to the relative darkness, I look at the map shown on the screens. It is mostly yellow and in some parts green, but I can‘t make out on the ground what is meant to be green. 

Suddenly, the plane enters clouds and everything is a greyish white. The plane starts to shake and wobble. The seatbelt signs above the passengers’ heads blink and the captain states the obvious. ,We are experiencing turbulences - possibly because of the clouds.‘ A moment later: ,Cabin crew, take you seats.‘ Even when the turbulences stop, the clouds stay and I can‘t enjoy the landscape anymore. It is desert anyway. After a long time, the clouds break at some places and I make out a grey surface beneath us without being able to tell what it is that I see. To grey to be forest, but not smooth either. It looks as if we were flying much higher now than we were before but maybe it was the endless desert that made it look as if the plane was flying lower than it actually was. We are approaching our destination and it gets dark. Nothing for me to do except for waiting and eating the served food. 

We didn‘t manage to make up time, but arrive with an even greater delay at Kigali. ,Please be reminded that you are not allowed to take any plastic bags into Rwanda‘, one of the flight attendants announces. 

I leave the aircraft and immediately, I realise this familiar smell. With that smell, the excitement hits me. I have arrived. Leaving the aircraft behind, I follow the other passengers towards a big modern building. Kigali International airport is written in big letters across one side of it. I am not the only white person disembarking here. The passport control lets me pass after just a few question and after some nervous waiting, I also find my bag. People are waiting outside for the arriving travellers, but I can‘t see Beatrice, my host, anywhere. A cheerful atmosphere surrounds me. Hugs, laughing, welcome flowers. Luckily, my mobile phone works and Beatrice and I manage to meet in the crowd. She welcomes me with a big smile and a hug. A colleague from work drives us to her house. The road is perfectly covered with tarmac. One thing confuses me, though. Some cars have the steering wheel on the right side, some on the left. ,Yes, we are mixed.‘ is the response on my enquiry. Although it is dark already, there is still life in the streets, a lot of cars and many people. At some point we leave the big road and turn right into a smaller, sloping, bumpy road. The houses lining the road are surrounded by walls. We stop in front of a blue and white gate. This is where I am staying for the duration of my internship in Kigali. I follow Beatrice into the house and meet her niece and the housekeeper. Food is prepared on the table and on the TV, news are running. Beatrice and I eat together, but we are both tired so after a short conversation, we go to bed.