So three weeks have passed, and I may have forgotten about this blog 🙂

Spain, specifically Barcelona, seems like a dream now, the good kind, full of clear fragments stacked and fueling memory. We walked everywhere is seems. We also had a great bike tour of the city. Here’s what I remember: the clang of church bells, the smell of bread-baking wafting from the open doors of the ubiquitous bakeries, Anthony Gaudi’s fluid walls all curve and movement, being inside the Sagrada Familia and feeling like I was a part of a kaleidoscope, lofts of pigeons and their sturdy iridescent necks, being one of 100,000 in the Barcelona soccer stadium, the quietness in early morning, the kindness of everyone we met, and olives stuffed with anchovies. Yum! We feel so lucky that we’ll be back to this part of the world in a few weeks.

On March 8^th we flew into Kigali, Rwanda, and saw a kind man holding a sign, Ben & Sarah Snyder—Heaven. Yes, that’s the name of our hotel in Kigali. The next day we headed out to ASYV for a few days of meetings with teachers, visiting classes, going to Village Time and Family Time, immersed in this healing place. We listened to stories. Isn’t it all about stories? I think stories are our humanness, how we touch each other.

On Sunday, the 12^th, we were back at the airport to pick up the 24 students & chaperones from Nobles. We’re with these intrepid travelers until March 24^th. Ben and I have been leading this trip with others for four years pre-Covid. It is a whirlwind of experiencing and learning. We started at the genocide memorials which are truth-telling and heart-wrenching. We immersed ourselves into a group of great students and leaders at African Leadership University, finding such inspiration and hope in their hunger for success and love of learning.

Yesterday was about animals and the beauty of the Rwandan hills and lakes in Akagera National Park. A safari turns me into a kid again, that dashing around in an open-top jeep in search of and finding amazing animals. And now for the next week we are ensconced in the healing community of ASYV, a place filled with greenness, birdsong, and love.

Thanks for reading!

Stay safe out there.

Love,

Sarah