Unfortunately, electricity has been a scarce commodity recently, and Internet even scarcer, making posting next to impossible. While I have managed to upload quite a few photos, I can't actually see what all of them are. I have faith in you though, dear readers, that you will be able to still grasp what is happening in some of the pictures without the usual captions.
Having Andrea here was amazing, and she got to experience what life is like in Uganda both as a PCV (hard but an adventure) and as a tourist (also hard but an adventure - with hot showers!). We had a great time working with the pupils at my school and on the implementation of a Positive Behavior System as a replacement for corporal punishment. Andrea helped me set up games from a Base Pack, a backpack full of sports equipment provided by the Kings Volunteer Foundation, for the first time as a new reward for my pupils' good behavior. Everyone was so excited that she was there! Walking to the staff room during break was like being in a zombie movie as literally hundreds of pupils froze in their tracks to watch Andrea pass by, only moving so that they could always keep her in sight. And while the teachers didn't stare when we reached the staff room, some of them did propose marriage - which Andrea gracefully declined despite her long twenty-minute history with one of the male teachers.
Next, we set off to Murchison Falls on what was just one of the many long bus rides of the two weeks - while public transportation is an experience all to itself here, you certainly will never have any personal space to yourself. We went on an amazing safari which included a boat cruise on the Nile and white rhino-tracking, and then headed down to Rwanda, a beautiful country where we encountered some of the most resilient people I have ever met. On Andrea's last night there, we had a swoon-worthy meal - at least to my Ugandan tastebuds - overlooking the capital at the aptly-named Heaven.
Views so good even the driver was taking a picture!
These guys were serious about their photos.
Even though I had seen them in zoos before, I don't think I ever really realized just how tall giraffes are. Look at that one on the right tower over the car ahead of us!
This employee had an amazing story - after both his parents were killed
during the genocide, he started playing the guitar after a visiting
American left one at his orphanage. He is still pursuing his musical
passion today, working hard and playing whenever he can.
We found a drink - or "medicine," apparently - that Kris likes!
Saying goodbye at the airport was incredibly hard. As Kris and I watched
Andrea pass through airport security, I couldn't help myself and began
to cry. Public tears are unheard of here, so as a weeping white woman I
was even more of a spectacle than usual. A soldier with a rifle slung
over his shoulder clasped his hands and bowed to me as he went by,
whispering, "Sorry, sorry!" The guilt from the fact that he probably
thought I had just heard horrible news about my entire family, when in
fact I'm crying because my friend is on a flight back to America, did a
lot to cure my tears. At least until I got home.
Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.
-Albus Dumbledore
