ROBERT
So as most of you know my boyfriend arrived in the country almost 2 months back but he had been working in Kenya and had orientation with his organization so I hadn’t been able to see him nor msg him for the month he was here. We did speak on our 6 monthery which was great. So anyway I got a ride to Kampala with the school bus that was taking Beths family to Entebbe airport. It took around 4 hrs. I met up with Lydia in Kampala so Beth could farewell her family. I spent the day with Lydia just meeting her family in Kampala. (So Lydias mum and real sisters live in Kampala and her fathers second wife lives in Mbale.)
Beth came back to Lydias that night. When we were walking to get Beth I covered my head with a scarf as if I were Muslim as an attempt to protect myself from attention in the dark suburban streets. Lydias shoe then broke so I gave her mine so I was now a barefooted Muslim Muzungu wearing a skirt that showed my legs from the knees down, so I don’t think I did a good job in disguising myself.
We had a great chat, told Beth my testimony and got interrupted by Lydia cos she couldn’t handle the seriousness, and had some more funny chats with the girls. When we were going to bed, Lydia had to explain to me the potty system. As most Ugandans are afraid of the dark and toilets are always out of the house, they have a plastic bin that they use as a potty at night. I thought it was hilarious as I haven’t had a potty since I was a bub. So I had a good laugh when someone used it cos of sound effects(Lydia couldn’t understand why I found it funny).
The next morning Lydia had a job interview for a job that she just found in the papers. She told us how much she hoped it wasn’t one of those jobs that you go from door to door to sell things like shoes, saucepans and the like. So we jumped in a mutatu and tried to find our way there. At one point we thought it was still a good distance away and for the sake of time we would get a piki piki. So we got on and the cheeky men drove us 100m down the road and we were there. They demanded we give them 500 shillings and Lydia insisted we wernt going to pay them. They went and got the police and Lydia just instructed me not to pay at all. So I sat there waiting for Lydia to tell me what to do. My driver got really angry and grabbed my arm hard and said some rather harsh and angry swearwords at me and told me to give him the money. So I gave it to him whether Lydia wanted me to or not. Finally we went in the gate and it turned out it was just the job Lydia had not wanted. So there were all these poor uni graduates hoping for the best and would arrived, crack up laughing and walk away before anyone could see them there. Finally at 2pm we left for town center. So we had a look then decided to go to the market the following day for a shop.
So next day we got to the market had a brief shop for some essential clothes then I got a boda to go meet Rob.
I thought almost every second that I was going to die on this motorbike as the traffic is crazy in the city. Finally I saw Rob standing out as clear as anything being the only muzungu amongst many Africans. It was fantastic to see his smiling face again. We were not allowed to hug to say Hi so we had to shake hands keeping with Ugandan ways (ie nooo affection in public. It was cute and yet very refreshing when I read a write up in a newspaper today that stated “prostitutes dare to even kiss in public!” –it came with the exclamation mark.)
So we would have some explaining to do if we hugged. So Rob took me out for tea at a beautiful Italian Restaurant in muzungu land. We shared stories and photos. Ate some great pizza and risotto and just caught up. The next few days saw us talk, talk and talk some more. Shopped in the market. And just hung out together enjoying each others company. I stayed at some Americans that work for Robs organization. They live such a refreshing missionaries life with very little processions making it very easy for them to offer hospitality to Ugandans with out worrying they might steal something or make them feel more inferior than they already feel or making them long for something they will never have and be jealous. They are wonderful beautiful people that came from very tough backgrounds and have changed into the most beautiful people with all credit to God and the effects of his amazing love working through these people. They also have recently adopted a gorgeous little 4 year old Ugandan girl who is HIV positive. They are giving her a loving family and a chance at life. In the orphanage she had just been laid out on a mat to die but now with treatment and love she is a bundle of energy.

here is a snap in Robs work place. We just wanted a photo of us together in Uganda but it could be anywhere really.

Valentines Day & WHITE WATER RAFTING
So our Valentines day started very early as we were heading to Jinja (Which is the source of the Nile and is partway between Kampala and Mbale), to go white water rafting.
White water rafting is part of Robs Emi team bonding so two other girls and three other guys were with us. Rob was allowed to invite me along and he said it was my Valentines present. We got a bus to Jinja and were given a great second breakfast. With eggs and toast and chapatti and milk tea. It was fantastic. We changed into our rafting gear, jumped on the back of a truck and got to the starting point. By this stage I was starting to get a bit nervous even when I hadn’t seen the pictures I have showed you.
Anyway we learnt the ropes, were told what to do when we flip and we began a rather hair raising adventure.
It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much fun. We went down water falls that were maybe 2m long. We went flying through waves that were another 1.5m tall. We had a guide in our boat and he would shout us orders (like a coxwain …hmmmm I miss rowing), so he would should “GET DOWN” if we were likely to flip which was at every rapid. They were massive and we flipped a few times. I loved the flipping. It was great. There wernt any rocks so you just had to put up with being sucked under water for a few minutes at a time, coming up under the boat, or having limbs flying into you, but other than that its pretty safe. We did up to grade 5 rapids. I wonder if we even have them in Australia. I don’t think the Yarra moves that fast…just joking.
It was an all day adventure so we had lunch on the water of pineapples and biscuits. YUM. There were some still stretches and we had fun tying to race the other boats with our paddling even when they didn’t race us back. We still had pride in winning though…its all about team bonding. There were people along the side of the river. Some of them starkers as they were bathing on the shore. There were a few in homemade wooden boats fishing, and many women washing clothes on the banks. We asked our guide (who is a local), if the people on the banks thought it was weird that muzungus would raft down the river for fun and he told us that they think its just the same people going down the river every day. Hahah they must think one big family enjoys a ride down the river every day.
The best Rapid was the last one. It’s known as “the bad place” as it has massive grade 6 rapids followed by two grade 5 rapids. As novices we are not allowed to do the six so we got the boat out, and walked on the bank past the six then prepared for the 2 fives. The other girls got out so me and the boys jumped in. We were going along and the first rapid we couldn’t turn the boat around in time and over we went. We all got chucked out then sucked under. We were told not to fight against the water and try to swim to the surface as we might swim the wrong way and be stuck under water longer then we need to. So I let my life jacket do the work and after quite an extended period my head emerged. But if you think that that’s the hardest part out of the way then your wrong. As soon as you come to the surface the one thing your mind focuses on is getting some oxygen, but no hope cos as soon I got up I got sucked under the second level 5 rapid then flung through massive waves that come every second so every time you breath you get water, start choking then try to breathe again. It felt like a very long time. Finally when I was getting pulled to the edge by the natural flow of the water I saw (and still very clearly have an image of) Rob looking at me but he was still stuck in the very middle struggling to get a breath. Hmm at least I knew he was out of the worst of it. But he ended up another 200-300m away and had to get picked up by the life boat. Well I joked with Rob that I hadn’t yet seen a look of fear on his face and that I was expecting to on the rafting, and I did. I cant say at that stage I enjoyed seeing that look as we were both still fighting to breathe but now at least Ive seen it. What surprised me most was that after all that I still had firm grip of my paddle. I didn’t realize I was holding it until I got to the shore. I was like ha fancy that they told us to keep our paddle if we could and there it was in my hand I had no idea throughout that whole thing that it was there. My index finger had a cut on it as my grip must have been so tight.
So they fed us soda and chips while we waited for every one to come together, chatted to another Melbourne University Science graduate that couldn’t find work, then it was back to the truck and to the place where we ate dinner. It was a beautiful place with a great view of the river. We got western food and SALAD!!! Yummm
I left with sun burnt knees, great memories and a small amount of pride that we flipped the “bad place” and survived. Ok so only one person has died rafting in the last 10 years but still it was adrenaline pumping.
Thanks Rob! What a great memory we have for our first Valentines day, let alone our adventures in this far away land of Uganda.

Here are some snaps of the crazy white rafting. It cost too much for me to buy photos of us so i just got these ones of the net but its seriously the same crazy rafting and flipping trip that we did. I think if I saw these photos first I would never had said yes cos it look far too crazy for me. But it was and it was FUN!

sorry for the letdown

Ok so I was intending on putting my whole typed blog update but I ran out of time so I just had to stop after loading one picture so here is some more.

Now I have been to the top of mount Waneli twice. Mt Waneli is a large mountain that stands just beside the town of Mbale. It is huge and looks magnificent from my house here in the village. I watch the sun rise from behind it when I get up early and its just glorious. My Ugandan friend Lydia is originally from a village up the very top of the mountain so she has taken me to the top twice.

The first trip.

We went to town around 9am to find a truck that was heading to the top. We had to wait for quite some time so we waited in a café and had chai (milk tea). We then paid our 1000 shillings each and jumped in the front of a truck carrying some goods to the top of the mountain. They are quite dodgy in that they will send all the people that want to ride in the back of the truck, to a point on the road that is beyond the police check point. So all the people have to get Bodas about 2km out of town so the driver doesn’t get a fine. So after a short drive we got to the point where they were to wait and they all jump on the back of the truck.

So we drove up the mountain. It was just glorious. It has beautiful views all the way of magnificent waterfalls that stretch possibly 200m down the mountain. There are many villages that line the roads. We saw many little children carrying jerry cans to get water from the well or from some of the many natural springs of water on the mountain. Most of the children are far too young to be sent to get water but that’s how they do it here in Uganda. They never seem to keep an eye on their children.

Of course they don’t often see a Muzungu so many of them were very excited to see me sitting in the front of the truck. A few kids gave me evil glares then they would draw their finger slowly across their throat attempting to scare into me the idea that they wanted to kill me. Hmm sick idea of a joke, or a very scary thing that a child so young would have such a hate for muzungus.

The mountain has so many villages scattered across it. We see many women and children sitting outside their huts as though there is not a worry in the world or no urgent duties that need doing before the sun goes down. Others wash clothes in brightly coloured basins that strike a contrast with the mud, stick and straw huts in which they sleep. Bent over at the hips, often resting one arm on a knee they draw the cloth out of the soap sud filled water, scrubbing twice the cloth against itself then plunging it back into the water. At the same time they shift the cloth in their hand to allow a new space to be scrubbed against itself producing suds, as an almost indicator of the soaps quality and effectiveness. Other basins that line the ground outside the hut doors are also water filled however this time a little dark bottom can be seen from a child bathing. Siblings may assist in splashing enough water on the childs body to give it a good cleaning. Again the African style of drawing water out towards the body has the hand cupped slightly and the thumb lined to ensure maximum amount of water reaches the body. The little bodies can often be seen with a ring of beads tied around their midrift. I have been told that it is an attempt to ensure the child grows to have a small waist and a good African bottom. Cows munch on the grass asending high up the mountain. The rope attached to their foot is pulled taught as they stretch to the furthest point it will allow. Struggling against the rope and yet there is plenty of grass for it to chew within ropes reach but somehow not desirable enough for the cow.

We reached the station point where we were to get out and start walking up towards Lydia’s village. We had a beautiful hike up the mountain. Once we reached Lydias village we where met by her uncle and aunt and their eight kids. They are all gorgeous kids and the smallest ones were scared of me. We went and had a look at the sight that Lydia is hoping to turn into a camp site for tourists so that people up the top can attempt to break out of their poverty cycle.

The view is absolutely amazing. Mbale town can be clearly seen as well as all the little huts scattered through out the Mbale district in their own little villages. The drop from the mountain is so sudden that you feel you could do a road runner trick and run off the edge and just keep going.

The family told us they were give us some lunch so we waited around. We went and met her Grandmother who was just gorgeous. She has a tiny hut about 1.5m x 2.5m. She fed us Irish with curry sauce which was sooooo good but we had to leave room for our lunch. We visited a few other families and was warmly welcomed by them all. She showed me the school which was quite sad to see. Just a large mud hut, no chairs or desks and one broken blackboard. I cant imagine how much the children can actually learn when they have no pen, paper chairs or desks.

Finally Lydias stepmom (in other words the second wife of her father. He has quite a few wives and many children.) had lunch ready for us at 5pm. So we ate the toughest chicken I have ever had to bite through. I thought you would need dog teeth to be any way successful at eating it. I watched Lydia and used some of her techniques to rip through the meat. As I was the guest of honor I was given the “pleasure” of eating the gizzard. For those that don’t know, the gizzard is the part of a bird that is filled with stones and does the initial digestion of any food consumed by a bird. I forced myself to try it and I even took a photo as evidence. Once I got to the stones I had to give up so Lydia’s step mum was more than happy to finish it for me. I think I have failed to mention to you the Ugandans eat with their hands.

I really needed to be heading home in order to get there before dark but Lydia and her family had a “chat” / heated discussion about someman that has ripped them off and never given them some doors they paid for. SO by the time we left the sun was going down. One of the little girls from a nearby hut run out and handed me 1L of milk in a cavera (plastic bag). It was such a beautiful gift from such a poor family to give me a whole litre.

We started to descend and they asked Lydia if the muzungu would be fine walking down and just as I said Yes I slipped down onto my butt. So they ran and got a stick for me. They also gave Lydia and I a huge sack of Irish, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and maize on the cob. So two little boys carried about 10kg on their head. It got dark at the point where we reached the road. We were too late to get a truck that was coming back down the mountain. So Lydias cousin put the massive load of food on her head and walked without hands balancing and we started what we thought would be a long dangerous walk down the mountain and back to town. It could have taken us hours and was extremely dangerous to be moving at night as that’s when people attack and kill once night comes. We walked about 20mins when a piki piki (motorbike) came past. It already had 2 men on the bike but Lydia stopped them and they were happy to take me with them. So me and my bag and my cavera of food squished on the bike. Thank goodness they drove slowly on the gravel bits as we could very easily slip when its such a stead descend. I made it home safely but worried the Duffields a little which I fully understand.

SECOND TRIP

The second trip that we made up the mountain was with Beth and her father, grandmother and grandfather that had come to visit Beth. Her grandparents are 80yrs old but they are fit people. So we bought some sweets for the kids that we knew would follow us on the mountain. Again all the way the children screamed out to us. This time Lydias father was driving us all the way. There again were some stops up the mountain to get some snaps. We made it to the top after having to get out once because we got bogged. Again the family was happy to see us.

We had lunch there again, had another look at the glorious mountain. This time while I waited for the grands to climb to the view point I was able to spend time taking in the glory of God. It is truly spectacular.

We left after lunch and drove all the way down in the tray of the ute and tried to throw sweets for the children as we went. Some of them were so scared they ran as if some muzungu was throwing grenades at them. It was actually quite horrible to see just how frightened they were when we threw things at them. But others knew they were sweets and we caused a few punch ups as they fought over the sweets. On the way down we saw a school mission statement that made us laugh. Have a look.

Possibly the funniest sign Ive ever seen. Hmm would you consider sending your kids to this school???

We then drove back down the mountain, ate some quality muzungu food at Oasis restaurant, got a lift home with Lydias friend and dropped off some school materials, nearly got eaten by a dog when our car got bogged in the mud as it was raining heavily but made it home safely.

This is my favorite photo of the trip. They are such beautiful people.