I hate hippos.

So its about time  I give ya'll an update. Right?
A few days ago (as in February 18) we got up at 6:30 to leave for Akagera National Park.
We kicked off the journey with two flat tires. Awesome. After taking care of that, we make our way to Akagera. Yay two hour car rides. We passed a lot of cows. And cows here are actually pretty weird looking, its something with their backs and their horns. Some of the females have horns, but they curve down and the male horns seemed disproportionately big....Anyway I'm casually watching the cows to make sure none of them are laying down (Jenn G taught me that if a large percentage of cows seen are lying down, it means its going to rain) and I see this weird horse thing. I'm all like, what? Then I realize, its a Zebra! There was a group of about 10 of them, and we stopped for a moment to "oooh" and "ahhh" and take photos like the big group of tourists we are. Then we pressed on.
The park had like a little reception area, just to mark the beginning of the park and our tour thing. One of the guides listed off the animals in the park, ones we would potentially see; giraffes, zebras, and elephants. Although he was quick to add that we would most likely not see the elephants, just because they're so hard to find.
We piled back up into our cars (mine consisted of me, Zohar [who's our madrich, did I mention that?), Eli S, Marnina C, and Jenn G]. Our cars were actually really cool. There were two removable sunroof things, but we were allowed to sit on them. So I spent the majority of this safari on top of our car, rather than in it. I was really hesitant at first, for a plethora of reasons. I put on sunscreen, so my hands were extra slippery and we had to hold on to a bar or the cover to stay on, that was concerning at first. Also it was really bumpy, and I was holding my entire life (my camera) in my hands. So 'twas a little nerve-wracking, until we saw our first animal.
Ironically enough- it was the elephants! We might have been 6 and a half minutes into the safari, and there were wild elephants like 30 feet from us. After a few pictures we pressed on. We ended up seeing more zebras, more elephants, giraffes, warthogs, hippos, and a lot more. I also discovered my serious fear of wild hippos. They could murder you in like five seconds, no mercy. Actually though. You could die. It would kill you.
We were lucky enough to have great weather, and I would say the whole trip was a success!
Yesterday we visited the market in Rubona (the closest village to ASYV), which was nothing special. A lot of avacados and tomatos. The interesting part of this story is on our walk back to Agahozo, we got caught in the pouring rain. POURING. Everyone was soaked, and we didn't even make it back to the village by foot--a bus had to come pick us up. I mean, its been fairly rainy here, but nothing like this! ...thanks for the warm welcome to the Rwandan rainy season mother nature....
Otherwise, I can't believe its my last week in the village. Time has flown so unbelievably fast. Soon I'll be back in Yemin Orde for a week, then the two day all YC sections changeover (which may or may not be at Tel Aviv University?), then I move into my Jerusalem apartment, then I go to Poland for a week (surprise!!), then I have another week back in Jeru and then its spring break and my family is coming and then its April. And at that point I'll only have too months left of Year Course! I'm so glad I did it, but I can't believe its almost over!!! Time flies!
To see some new photos click here!
One thing I am somewhat bummed about, is that I'm missing Purim (which is like the Jewish Halloween) in Israel this weekend. But I mean I guess its ok that I'm like hanging out in Africa and stuff too.

As always,
Julia Rose