Oli Otya? Sula Bulungi.
I am back in Mukono after two days in Ntenjeru with Nick's Ugandan family. Elise and I had a wonderful time making friendships with the people there. We worked about 8 hours yesterday doing menial labor building more classrooms at a primary school. We loaded, shoveled, and carried wheelbarrows of dirt and brick. I think I'm going to make a massage appointment when I get home!
After yesterday's long work day, Nick's friend Steve caught up with us walking back "home". He invited us to a beer, which we couldn't refuse! Steve is a retired father of 9 boys, and was a very good conversationalist. We also found out that he is a huge fan of 1970's pop band Abba!! He turned to us and asked "Do you like Bob Marley?" to which we replied "But of course!!" He gave a DVD to the waitress who put it into the DVD player in this bar of two tables (yes, this was a VERY fancy place because not only did it have a tv on the wall, but it also had christmas lights surrounding the beer shelves!) But what made us laugh to ourselves was what appeared on the TV: not notorious Bob Marley but 1970's music videos of "Mamma Mia"...hehe hehe...Steve is funny. It was extremely generous and sweet of him to buy us all a beer and chat with us. We left after one beer to walk back the 30 minutes to our host family's for dinner. Steve and his generousity is just one small example of African hospitality. Although they are very hard workers, Africans are truly interested in the relationships that enrich their lives and how they can help your life. Some good mindsets that I hope are rubbing off on me!
We made it back to dinner later than we hoped, and helped make Lidiya's famous Chipati...the best in all of Africa. And my friends, let me tell you: it IS!! Lidiya is a school administrator at the school Nick worked for, and she puts onion, carrot, and green peppers in her Chipati...making it the most delicious anyone's ever had. I will DEFINETELY miss Chipati back home...I think I could eat it everyday. Especially Lidiya's. They made a huge feast for us: chicken, g nut sauce, rice, chipati, eggplant, and sweet potatoes. It was all pretty good. And we felt so honored to be fed so well!
We really got to know the girls and boys of Nick's house: Lidiya mother of two (Teddy- smartest 6 yr old I know, and Martha - super cute with braided hair), Molly and Joyce (orphaned sisters), Maureen (student), Fred, Hassan, Idi, Isaac, and "JaJa" or Festus - the "father" of them all! He is the director of the placement and a very educated, responsible man. I had a really cool conversation with him last night about what Ugandan orphans and children really need, US politics, and education. I would love to come back to Uganda and spend more time with this family. It's been time well spent building relationships with these people. They love to teach us Lugandan and ask us how many fiances we had!!
Today was Nick's last full day of work in Ntenjeru. For volunteers in the GVN program, you can do whatever you want for your last day in your placement. Many volunteers have a special meal prepared or take their host families out to eat. Some leave a present. For Nick's last work day in his village, he took his whole host family and the construction workers swimming at a nice hotel in Mukono, and treated them all to lunch! Elise and I got to join in as well. They were SO excited...they could barely work this morning as we were shoveling dirt! Then we showed up to the pool...and we were the only ones who could swim!! None of the Ugandans could swim! In fact, 3 of them refused to even get into the water because they feared it so much!! So, we spent some time giving swimming lessons and bouncing the little ones in the water. They LOVED it. It was so awesome to hear their squeals and laughs and watch them flounder around making splashes. Maybe not a day full of building schools or feeding children, but a great day giving a special memory to 15 people and building friendships with some who've seen too much hardships in life.
Maureen wanted to show us her secondary school and her dormitory. So we went with her after swimming and she proudly showed us her school and dorm. It was fascinating to see how much she loved her school and greeted everyone there with pride...showing off all her "muzungu brothers and sisters" (us white people with her). We felt lucky to know where she would be going to school and living once Easter break ended and we felt so proud of her and her studies to become a teacher (even though her dream is to be a doctor...she has not enough funds to accomplish this now in life).
We had wet eyes when we said goodbye. I'm amazed at how much these people have meant to me in only two days...but then again, should I be surprised? This is Uganda after all. And I love it.
We are staying in the Guesthouse in Mukono tonight, leaving in the morning for Jinja and White Water Rafting. Elise and I are super sore, but stoked to get into the Nile and have some more fun! Should be a fantastic experience!
Still no photos...sorry. The computers take about 4 hours to download (if at all possible), and sometimes the hard drives are full. I will try in Jinja this weekend.
Until then, much love and smiles to you all...I wish I could carry you all in my pocket through this magical country! I think you'd all find things to love.
Jillian
