saying goodbye

In a few hours we will get on the plane for a very long journey home. We are both very sad to leave Rwanda and would happily stay for another month.

I began the day with a final run up Nyamirambo hill. There was a slightly overweight woman running on her own and we teamed up for a bit. It is heartwarming to see all the runners and especially women, as we never saw any female runners last March. She told me that she runs every morning as she has back pain and it helps. Maybe she can talk to some of my patients!

Nyamirambo hill starts off as a steady incline before reaching Everest like gradients. At the top, you turn onto a cobblestone road and have a view of Kigali and the surrounding hills. There are many birds, as the cobblestone road goes through a quiet neighbourhood with trees and flowers. It is a brisk descent to the market, which is already a hive of activity at 6:00 AM. There are men with huge bags of coal, made from eucalyptus trees. There are always tons of fresh fruits and vegetables.

We attended morning report, started the OR list, and then made the rounds to say goodbye. It is very sad and quite emotional to receive the gratitude of all the people we have been working with and teaching this month. One nurse asked me if I would be back in two months and looked devastated when I said it would be a year. We had a few teary moments in the garden outside the OR looking at the avocado tree and watching the birds.

Shannon has been a terrific companion and we've had a great month.