Looks like it's my turn to write the blog. I think it's gonna be hard to beat the Patriotism of John, the time magazine literary skills of Ross or the sarcasm of Gemma. So I've decided to keep up the Ugandan tradition and punish you with some jokes. :)
Well, today started with a 6:20am rise for Ross and I to make confession with Fr. Godfrey (Legend) followed by 7 am Mass. It wasn't that hard to get up as I was still on a high from yesterdays Safari trip, still can't believe I saw giraffes, elephants, hippos, and a lion in the wild, and the crazy dreams from the Malaria tablets are starting to kick in!!! Also felt the wrath of the dreaded tetsi fly, but the swat team were all over it.
Mass was held in the Parish's beautiful cathedral and was carried out in Runyoro, the local language. The sun rose during the Mass and shone through the stained glass windows which was cool. There were about 70 parishioners there and it was astonishing to see how generous they were during the collection despite the poverty they find themselves in! They had a lot to offer! We were introduced to the congregation and got a wee round of applause.
After Mass, Ross and I joined Father with the headmaster of the local secondary school for breakfast. Father made us porridge, coffee, eggs and chicken, which was eggsellent. Apart from being offered a job, on the condition I start up the school knitting and cooking clubs, I had a very insightful conversation about the school (class sizes – 70 plus!!!!!, resources, pupils' attitudes to education). If only some people realised how privileged they were to have a free education in the conditions we have, Especially with the superb teachers at JHN!!!!!
Back down to the Millennium party palace to find all the other lazy sods still in bed, bar McShenouda who had woken up early to practice his Scottish accent. Collected some cash for a wee jaunt to town to pick up some water, juice and a present for Father. Also picked up a QUALI-T cowboy hat – I'm pulling off the Clint Eastwood look now although I've been told it's more like the Milky Bar Kid (maybe that's cos I'm strong and tough). Had a bit of banter with the locals about the Premiership, although my football songs seemed to confuse a couple of them but what's new?
Back at the base, everyone had finally started getting ready to say our sad goodbyes, packing the luggage into and ON TOP OF THE VAN! Guess who's stuff was first up!?! Cue the long journey looking over my shoulder to check they hadn't dropped off, not to worry though Martin was on the case :). We emptied our rooms and headed to our last breakfast, and my second of the day, at the Millennium. We had a talk with Father G and had a prayer and wee sing-song. Gave Father a framed photo of our awesome choir from a couple of days ago, we were AWESOME!!!!!
Off we set on our 4 hour journey to Kasambya, to try and find a piece of tarmac in Uganda, and it only took 3 hours 20 minutes! Honestly though my bum can't take any more of this :( Busted out the I-pod for some tunes to ease my pain, only to find I'd forgotten to charge it....Jasmine to the rescue though, with her collection of Steps and Westlife, what a tragedy! Should be band!! The drive was actually quite spectacular. One minute the scenery is reminding me of back home in Scotland, then I see 20 people trying to hitch a lift and mud huts the size of my bedroom with 8 people staying in it. Although every time my once white, now dusty brown, arm waves out of the window all I get is smiles, waves and chants of “MUZUNGU” (white person).
Finally caved in and booted up the mobile to check the internet, the bill is gonna be huge :(, happy to hear that Rage Against The Machine climbed their way to Christmas number 1!. Olly must be loving it! Our 3 Ugandan guests were obviously sick of my puns and we had to stop a few times. 'Twas all good and we were back on our way. As we branched off the main road and went deeper and deeper into the Ugandan rainforest it became clear that us Muzungus where a rarity! The looks we were getting were priceless!
We stopped at Mubende, the nearest big town to Kasambya, about 40 minutes away from the Kiss office to collect Kate's Christmas parcels. She got a brilliant Terry Wogan t-shirt, what Vision {editor - i'm told this is a pun about Eurovision - took a while...] her friends must have. John managed to barter with a shopkeeper for a football shirt, he was well chuffed with himself.
Arriving at Kasambya was amazing, if only for the fact that the last leg of the journey was not roller-coaster like! The children had lined the streets to welcome us with waves, songs and dancing!
It's been a long week and the tiredness had started to kick in, but this welcome gave me a little boost and helped me through the next hour. We were introduced to our hosts and went up to our new lodgings.
Upon seeing our new rooms, we realised how lucky we were, even in Hoima. Its John and I sharing this time, Marty and Ross, and Sorsha and Gemma. Jasmine is down at Kate's place, which although is quite similar in terms of amenities, has a major homely feel about it. No shower at our new place, buckets of water will suffice. Obviously the old hole in the ground as a toilet was both as much a novelty as it was frightening. There are two toilets and apparently one of them is designated girls only because they don't trust our aim! [puns censored].
As we settled down and unpacked our cases, there were mixed emotions. I think that we are still feeling a bit down about having to leave Hoima so soon after building up such amazing relationships with the wonderful people there. Hopefully we will build the same strong links with our new friends here.
One of the main positives about Kasambya so far is that our cooking is now up to us, I'm in my element. We went up to the market and bought ingredients for the next few days, cant wait to get in amongst it. The market was a weird experience, EVERY set of eyes in the place was on us. The grumpiness had started to kick in and it all became a bit too much, for me anyway, I needed my nap!
Went back to the digs and had a lie down, only to find there was a cricket sharing my bed!!! I was bowled over! Woke me up anyway. We all got washed and went down to Kate's to watch Cool Runnings, where my puns were starting to get an icy reception, while some people finished their diaries. It was good to chill out for a bit and really helped everyone de-stress and collect their thoughts.
It had been a long day and we headed back up the road looking at the amazing sky and I don't think I've ever seen the stars look like that in the UK, Bit of time to reflect on the last few days and look forward to stage 2 before a well deserved sleep, I don't think anyone had trouble sleeping anyway.
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