The Island

We leave for Volset around 1pm. One of the leaders from Irish group apologizes to be for Barry and his brother for giving me a hard time. I tell him it isn’t a big deal at all. He says, “No, they were out of line. They let down their program and their country.” Haha pretty dramatic, but I really appreciated him talking to me. He told me they did not represent the attitudes of the rest of the group. I can tell those guys are trying to make it up by being really friendly and telling me I am a hard worker.

We wait for the boat in the village we got gas from before the Introduction. Still feeling the effects of the migraine. An extra Mirinda soda made it feel better. We go from a taxi with 24 people to a small boat with too many for a seat. We each pay a man in a blue vest to carry us from the shore out to the boat.

Erin uses her Luganda to trade some pieces of bread for a sprite. Everyone laughs. Fiona (the girl from Mukono) calls me and asks if I’m Adam and tells me she will text me. The text went a little something like this:

“its m fiona.munange thres nthing in ths world tht i value lyk having a whte friend. Whrver u r knw tht i wil kp u as my no. 1 frnd. Hve a great day, fifi”

haha.. I have no airtime so I don’t text back, but what would I say even if I could?

I read for a while then stare out. The sun is setting and the sky and water bleed into each other until I can’t tell where either begins or ends. At this moment I like Africa again and am happy.

We arrive to our port at dark. The boat pulled right to shore this time, so I just jump off instead of getting carried. We hike up hill through tall grass and almost run into a cow with horns. We get to the house and no one is home. They supposedly know we are coming. After waiting we open the door by reaching through a hole in the wall.

We put up mosquito nets. Jeff and Kelley put up a tent under the church (an unfinished mud structure.) Leaving Erin, Nuru, (a volunteer who comes to help from Mukono) and me in the house.

The woman gets home and is not expecting us, but is totally fine with us there. Only in Uganda can you break into someone’s house, set up beds, and then be asked when the owner comes home what we would like for dinner tomorrow.