Life on the South Side

This weekend we went to Western Uganda. We left Friday morning at 6, and took a taxi to Kampala, where we met a member of Parliament, the Honorable Raphael Magezi. We drove in a car with him approximately 5 hours, crossing the equator into Western Uganda, to a village called Igara west. We also drove through Queen Elizabeth National Forest on the way, where we saw a few baboons, gazelles, waterbucks, and one zebra. We are told that there are also elephants and hippos there, but we didn't see any of those on the way. We stayed at a government guest house for the next 3 nights. It was SO nice. Not only did they have a toilet and the shower in separate rooms, but also the SINK! And we all got our own beds (not bunk beds) that had these tall wooden posts to drape the mosquito nets over. We had a real kitchen table, and were served by cooks, it was the bomb. Oh yeah WE HAD A TV!! And we watched this super cool mexican soap oprah called Marie Chui... pretty sweet. Anyway, so the next day Saturday, we were toured around the village to be shown the different projects that the government was involved with, including a pineapple farm, a goat house, a poultry house, and a few other things. The really weird thing is that they all seemed to be under the impression that we were here to supply them with funds... which is not the case. And in a few places, the government officials even sounded like they were showing that we were there because of them, and that the government was bringing them this help (us)... it was a very awkward situation to be in... i felt a little used. And we were just paraded around all the villages all day, both Saturday and Sunday. It was probably the most exhausting part of this trip to date. My feet were throbbing by the end of the day, and I had a bunch of cuts on my feet... kinda gross. But on the good side, the western part of Uganda is BEAUTIFUL. I wish I had pictures of it, but my camera died right after the equator. Its nothing like the stereotypical Africa you think of- grass plains, exotic animals, dry heat, watering hole... It was lush and green, pine trees, rolling hills. It was phenomenal. So Beautiful. And the weather was perfect- It wasn't so hot during the day, and it got really cool at night. One of the villages we went into, we were about to enter a field of pineapple plants, and there were just a TON of kids, all of them with malnourishment features, and just ratty clothes. I put my fingers in circles, and put them to my eyes, as if i were looking at them through binoculars. And they. cracked. up. It was so funny! And then I just started doing random little games with them. I would start marching, and go "march, march, march" or i would start running with my hands waving around in the air, or act like a chicken, flap my wings... whatever I did, they would copy me. I was click my tongue, wiggle my tongue, make my eyes really big, clap my hands, dance, do the conga line... those kids were loving it. It was so cute. Anyway, so we're just running through this pineapple field, and a group of about 20 kids are just following me around. It was the fun part of the trip. We also visited a banana tree plantation, a fish farm, and a piggery. Then on Sunday, we went to a christian church with all the government officials. It was kind of cool! They had drums, and singing, and clapping, it was actually pretty fun. Except for they invited all the government officals to speak during it... where they were like... trying to get political support... in a church.... for 2 hours. A little disappointing. That day, we spoke at 2 different primary schools. SO FUN. The first primary school we went to, the kids came up and did a little dance for us, and after that the Hon. Magezi asked all the kids who had costumes on to go and find someone sitting at the front (The HELP team and other government officials) and give them their costumes, and that we were going to dance for them. HA! So these kids came up to us and gave us their grass skirts and head bands and such, and we just made a fool out of ourselves dancing! Pretty funny. Then we taught them a quick lesson. Haley taught sanitation, I taught nutrition, and Kellie taught about HIV Aids. All i really did was teach about the 5 food groups, which was hard, because the kids didn't speak english so we did it through a translator. The second school that we did was better, because they did speak english, so i threw in some fun things. We talked about exercise, and I asked them to show me the different kinds of exercise that they could do... which of course they didn't respond because they were shy, so i asked them to run in place with me, and do jumping jacks, and dance, and stretch with me, and they got a kick out of that. Afterwards, we ate dinner at Honorable Magezi's home. Ok this is kind of weird... but he has 2 wives. We met one of them in Kampala, we were dropping off one of their kids's shoes at their house, but then we got to Igara, and he introduces his wife... And I'm like... ok this is not the same one we met the other day... So polygamy lives in Uganda! Super... (not) Apparently only the rich and powerful (politicians) do it, so yeah. Weirdest moment ever. So he just goes back and forth between his two homes, which are like 5 hours apart. Sounds exhausting. I think I might choose to have only one husband... Just to make life a little more convenient, you know? The really fun part about the trip was I really got to bond with Haley and Kellie, Haley especially, because I had bonded with kellie a little bit more in the previous 2 weeks. They are both super cool girls! Kellie and I are like... always together, because we are working on the same projects, and Haley is like... the best, because she gets my random jokes. haha.