Most of my dreams are just wisps of a vision and they vaporize with the morning sun. Once in a while, though, I will have a dream that really gets to me. I had such a dream about Rwanda the other night. It is still with me this morning, two days later.
Well, I say that the dream is still with me, but really what I mean is that the feeling it evoked is still with me. I can't actually remember anything about the dream except that I was walking along a red clay road. I don't remember now where the road was. I don't know where I was going. I just know I was happy to be walking. I also remember the smell of the air. Rwanda has a distinctive smell, like barbecue almost. I remember snippets of sound--so many birds, cow bells, the deep tones of Kinyarwanda and French being spoken by people who were out of my line of vision, and music--East African pop music with it's synthesizers and mellow dance rhythm.
And once again I am homesick for someone else's home. I cannot explain the feeling beyond saying that it is a deep longing. I am really looking forward to traveling with my family next summer, and showing them this place I love. I worry a little that they won't be as captivated by Rwanda, that it won't get into their souls the way it is now a part of mine. Then I smile to myself, imagining my children and my husband discovering the gifts of this beautiful nation for themselves.
Well, I say that the dream is still with me, but really what I mean is that the feeling it evoked is still with me. I can't actually remember anything about the dream except that I was walking along a red clay road. I don't remember now where the road was. I don't know where I was going. I just know I was happy to be walking. I also remember the smell of the air. Rwanda has a distinctive smell, like barbecue almost. I remember snippets of sound--so many birds, cow bells, the deep tones of Kinyarwanda and French being spoken by people who were out of my line of vision, and music--East African pop music with it's synthesizers and mellow dance rhythm.
And once again I am homesick for someone else's home. I cannot explain the feeling beyond saying that it is a deep longing. I am really looking forward to traveling with my family next summer, and showing them this place I love. I worry a little that they won't be as captivated by Rwanda, that it won't get into their souls the way it is now a part of mine. Then I smile to myself, imagining my children and my husband discovering the gifts of this beautiful nation for themselves.
No two experiences are the same. Best you can expect is that they, your family, will finally get to walk through your dream and live inside your soul for this period of time. They can learn first hand what touches you so deeply. Any other effect will just be icing on the Rwandan cake! <3
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