I have said this before but I must reiterate the fact; there
is never a quiet day in Uganda. Although I may sometimes think I have had a
dull day and done very little I will look back on my day and realise, ‘Woah, I
was actually really busy!’ That is what I like about my life here the most.
Although I may think I have had a quiet day and not really done anything, it is
rarely the truth!
This weekend we went for a trip down to Kabale. However before the trip we had a pretty dramatic week with beating in the school. As a lot of you know I am very against beating in every possible way, therefore when I found out that someone (supposedly our honest friend) had beaten some of the children in the school for speaking “Vanacular” (i.e Lugandan!) I was outraged. After hearing about it I decided to not get too angry but instead do some research because nobody wants to be falsely accused of beating a child! So research I did, only to hear what I didn’t want; the children claimed they had been beaten, I was not happy. To the point I left the house and sat outside the church just letting the emotion pour out of me in tears.
After quite some time of crying and feeling confused, lost and clueless, Justine walked out of the church and held me in a big cuddle until my tears subsided. It took a little longer than probably necessary but that might have also been because I miss my Mum and Michelle giving me cuddles when I am upset therefore welcomed the cuddle with open arms (literally!). After a long talk with Justine I felt much better and walked home with a plan. I was going to carry out more research, talk to the others and then head to a “meeting” on Friday to discuss the matter with everyone. I hear you ask why is it a “meeting”? That is because it was a bit of a joke! Firstly one of the teachers took a tantrum, then another teachers phone kept ringing (I’ll let her off though because her child is in hospital with malaria) and then the teacher who I wanted to question was SUDDENLY very busy as soon as the matter was brought up, well I felt like walking out. I was furious and to make matters worse, NOTHING WAS RESOLVED!! However a P7 boy did come round and say the teacher in question had said to him, “You are not to talk to those Bazungus about anything.” To conclude, I still have no idea what is going on, but it is bloody frustrating I can tell you that!!
On a brighter note, I had another wonderful weekend! After the meeting had finished Kate and I walked home to make ourselves some yummy African Chi (Milk tea with mixed spices!) which, with a mix of some good tunes, made me pretty cheery! After a quick dance around my room, pack and getting Calum ready we managed to get to the taxi end of the village. This was a little stressful but instead of boring you with another unsettling story I will skip to the exciting part, we managed to get a truck to Masaka! It was unbelievably exciting! I felt so free and independent, I felt like nobody could tell me what to do and that I was really living the dream. I may have arrived in Masaka with a few scratches (hit by a tree) and a very dirty face but none of that mattered, because life is good!
Saturday morning we were up early to get a bus down to Kabale to meet Holly and Emma who had gone down on the Friday. It took a while and although it cost a little more than it should have we had comfy seats and good laughs (plus a little snooze!) Eventually we made it to Kabale where we bought fabric to make into trousers, ate some food and then headed over to a little island via dug-out canoe. It was another wonderful journey as we watched the sun set, played guitar and occasionally put our cameras down long enough to row, it was another trip that reminded me of how much I love Uganda.
Eventually we made it to the island to meet the other two who were making themselves some fruit salad and drinking Amurula, for any of those who don’t know, it is a cheaper Bailies, so good though!! We didn’t have to late a night because for some reason we were all pretty knackered and ready to get into what was about to be the comfiest beds I had ever experienced in Uganda, I slept like a log that night!!
Sunday was spent swimming in Lake Bunyonni, trying and failing to get groupie jumping photos and canoeing around the place, although we did very little canoeing as the water was so good to swim in! I really enjoyed my day and hated when it was over because although we were going to get a yummy Crayfish stew, it meant it was time to leave the island and head back to Kabale. After a quick change (I couldn’t be bothered showering) we headed back to the mainland for our crayfish stew and a lovely boda ride back to Kabale.
Once we reached Kabale Kate and I found a spectactular market where as per usual we managed to buy some new clothes. I am telling you this, if Scotland had markets like the ones here I would have more clothes than Victoria Beckham, I think right now I am on a par with her! I keep giving things away but somehow the pile is still has big, if not bigger! Therefore after successfully spending 50p on two pillow cases, a new jumper, a new dress and a cool bit of fabric we headed to the hostel we were staying in. I amn’t sure what was wrong with us this weekend but we were all very tired very early so headed to bed about 10ish, the party animals that we are!
Monday! Kate, Calum and I were up at half 6 and heading along for our bus which was due to leave at 7 while Emma and Holly stayed back happy to get matatus. I was more than happy to get up early because I am honestly petrified on matatus and would rather sleep on a bus than risk sleeping forever! Kate and I stopped off in Mbarara where we bought some bread, cucumber, salamis and yummy cheese (my blue cheese is currently stinking out my room!) for our picnic which we ate in a really lovely park. It was nice to have a sandwich again and to be in a park, if it was stifling hot I would have felt like I was home, oh the fact that it hasn’t rained in over a month also made it clear I wasn’t home! Sadly we knew we had to leave therefore after some organic juices we headed for a bus where we had to wait 2 hours to leave!! Ugh, it was horrible but we made it back to the lovely little village we call home in one piece to eat some more cheese and to watch Phantom of the Opera, an all round splendid weekend!
This weekend we went for a trip down to Kabale. However before the trip we had a pretty dramatic week with beating in the school. As a lot of you know I am very against beating in every possible way, therefore when I found out that someone (supposedly our honest friend) had beaten some of the children in the school for speaking “Vanacular” (i.e Lugandan!) I was outraged. After hearing about it I decided to not get too angry but instead do some research because nobody wants to be falsely accused of beating a child! So research I did, only to hear what I didn’t want; the children claimed they had been beaten, I was not happy. To the point I left the house and sat outside the church just letting the emotion pour out of me in tears.
After quite some time of crying and feeling confused, lost and clueless, Justine walked out of the church and held me in a big cuddle until my tears subsided. It took a little longer than probably necessary but that might have also been because I miss my Mum and Michelle giving me cuddles when I am upset therefore welcomed the cuddle with open arms (literally!). After a long talk with Justine I felt much better and walked home with a plan. I was going to carry out more research, talk to the others and then head to a “meeting” on Friday to discuss the matter with everyone. I hear you ask why is it a “meeting”? That is because it was a bit of a joke! Firstly one of the teachers took a tantrum, then another teachers phone kept ringing (I’ll let her off though because her child is in hospital with malaria) and then the teacher who I wanted to question was SUDDENLY very busy as soon as the matter was brought up, well I felt like walking out. I was furious and to make matters worse, NOTHING WAS RESOLVED!! However a P7 boy did come round and say the teacher in question had said to him, “You are not to talk to those Bazungus about anything.” To conclude, I still have no idea what is going on, but it is bloody frustrating I can tell you that!!
On a brighter note, I had another wonderful weekend! After the meeting had finished Kate and I walked home to make ourselves some yummy African Chi (Milk tea with mixed spices!) which, with a mix of some good tunes, made me pretty cheery! After a quick dance around my room, pack and getting Calum ready we managed to get to the taxi end of the village. This was a little stressful but instead of boring you with another unsettling story I will skip to the exciting part, we managed to get a truck to Masaka! It was unbelievably exciting! I felt so free and independent, I felt like nobody could tell me what to do and that I was really living the dream. I may have arrived in Masaka with a few scratches (hit by a tree) and a very dirty face but none of that mattered, because life is good!
Saturday morning we were up early to get a bus down to Kabale to meet Holly and Emma who had gone down on the Friday. It took a while and although it cost a little more than it should have we had comfy seats and good laughs (plus a little snooze!) Eventually we made it to Kabale where we bought fabric to make into trousers, ate some food and then headed over to a little island via dug-out canoe. It was another wonderful journey as we watched the sun set, played guitar and occasionally put our cameras down long enough to row, it was another trip that reminded me of how much I love Uganda.
Eventually we made it to the island to meet the other two who were making themselves some fruit salad and drinking Amurula, for any of those who don’t know, it is a cheaper Bailies, so good though!! We didn’t have to late a night because for some reason we were all pretty knackered and ready to get into what was about to be the comfiest beds I had ever experienced in Uganda, I slept like a log that night!!
Sunday was spent swimming in Lake Bunyonni, trying and failing to get groupie jumping photos and canoeing around the place, although we did very little canoeing as the water was so good to swim in! I really enjoyed my day and hated when it was over because although we were going to get a yummy Crayfish stew, it meant it was time to leave the island and head back to Kabale. After a quick change (I couldn’t be bothered showering) we headed back to the mainland for our crayfish stew and a lovely boda ride back to Kabale.
Once we reached Kabale Kate and I found a spectactular market where as per usual we managed to buy some new clothes. I am telling you this, if Scotland had markets like the ones here I would have more clothes than Victoria Beckham, I think right now I am on a par with her! I keep giving things away but somehow the pile is still has big, if not bigger! Therefore after successfully spending 50p on two pillow cases, a new jumper, a new dress and a cool bit of fabric we headed to the hostel we were staying in. I amn’t sure what was wrong with us this weekend but we were all very tired very early so headed to bed about 10ish, the party animals that we are!
Monday! Kate, Calum and I were up at half 6 and heading along for our bus which was due to leave at 7 while Emma and Holly stayed back happy to get matatus. I was more than happy to get up early because I am honestly petrified on matatus and would rather sleep on a bus than risk sleeping forever! Kate and I stopped off in Mbarara where we bought some bread, cucumber, salamis and yummy cheese (my blue cheese is currently stinking out my room!) for our picnic which we ate in a really lovely park. It was nice to have a sandwich again and to be in a park, if it was stifling hot I would have felt like I was home, oh the fact that it hasn’t rained in over a month also made it clear I wasn’t home! Sadly we knew we had to leave therefore after some organic juices we headed for a bus where we had to wait 2 hours to leave!! Ugh, it was horrible but we made it back to the lovely little village we call home in one piece to eat some more cheese and to watch Phantom of the Opera, an all round splendid weekend!
All my love
Your Ugandan Girl. X
Your Ugandan Girl. X
No comments:
Post a Comment