It's a Good Place

Last night Jeff, John (a Ugandan helping with the construction of the school) and I went for a walk after dancing to Ugandan radio. Jeff bought a radio when we were in Kampala. Then Jeff and John told me about “Night Dancers” which are village legends about seemingly normal people during the day, who turn crazy at night. They go around naked with bones hanging around them. They eat dead people and jump out of the forest at night to scare you buy dancing crazy. Villagers don’t like talking about it because you never know who is a night dancer.

I wake up this morning to find hot milk at the table, from powder I assume. It feels good to pour it (not to taste it though – I add three spoonfuls of sugar.) I was reading the Book of Mormon and Joyce, Molly and Aisha come in and see it where I left it on the table. They asked me why it had different books than the Bible and I explained how it was an additional book about Christ. Where the Bible is about those in Jerusalem, the Book of Mormon is about those who lived in Ancient America. Joyce flipped through and looked at the pictures in the front and asked me about each one.

Then Aisha asked me if I wanted her email address and if she could have mine..ha. She brought out an old notebook to write it down. Everyone here has cell phones and emails, but no electricity or running water.

Jeff asks the girls to sing. They are great. Each singing a different part of a hymn. I sit with Joyce after and teach her “ There is Sunshine in My Soul Today,” She really likes it and on the last verse Molly comes and joins us.

After a while Ronnie comes and takes Jeff and me on a boda boda he borrowed from someone, hoping this one to be more reliable. He drives us to a way out village that has an orphanage. When we get there I ask if I can take photos and shoot hundreds. The kids follow me around everywhere, giggling. I use the flash for the first time and the kids scream with delight and laugh hysterically when I show them their pictures from the back of my camera. We hang mosquito nets (mostly Jeff and Ronnie since I keep taking photos.)

Two woman named Joy and Sarah call me over the kitchen hut. They must of read my name from the visitor book we were asked to sign. They fix me some porridge in a blue cup and ask me to eat it. It was steaming and the health department said that was fine.. so I drink it. It is sweeter than I think it is going to be. But not sweet compared to anything back home. It was delicious and they were so glad I thought so.

There is a girl at the orphanage with just slightly lighter skin than the others and they tell me, “See! She is Muzungo like you!”

As we go to leave, Joy says she is going to make me a mat so I can have it when we come back to visit. I can’t wait to come back. I feel so welcome.

Next we go to a fishing village. We travel through the jungle for probably three kilometers, finally reaching Lake Victoria. All the huts here are made of log instead of mud. They are very clean and colorful inside.

A guy tells me if I want to take a picture of his girl than I will have to give him money. I shrug my shoulders and say I don’t need to take a picture, but thanks. There are plenty of others who want their pictures taken. Showing them their photos from the back of my camera is payment enough for them. Even though this village is friendly I can tell it won’t be a good idea to lay my bag down anywhere.

The village is very organized – it has a chairman. He shows us the people with the most need for nets (pregnant women, people living with HIV, and those with young children.) After passing out the remainder of our nets (we distributed 35 today) the chairman gives us a list of names for the villagers who could still use nets. Then we sign the village guest book.

Before we leave, the chairman takes us out on a canoe ride. He paddles us around the water for a bit and brings us back in.

On the way back to Ntenjeru we stop to kick in one of those huge clay mounds to see if there are termites (Ugandans just call them ants.) There are termites and they are angry. Oh, and on the way to the fishing villages I saw a monkey in the jungle! It was black and white with a long tail, recklessly jumping from branch to branch. Much cooler than having squirrels in your trees.

We stop in Ntenjeru before heading back to Nsumba (where the White House is) for a rolex and bag of juice.

Some of the Nsumba kids are in the lawn in front of the house and a woman is there nursing her baby and talking to us. She gives me her baby to watch and goes home for a bit. One of the Irish people comes out and gives everyone a piece of candy – “sweeties!” The kids are all running around with balloons that they got from the Irish. This morning I drew a face on Shakirah’s balloon and she drew one on another.

After hanging out on the porch for a while, I decide to play crazy-muzungo-chases-the-village-children. Ha. And then the kids chase me, then come the handstands. I teach a few of them how to play duck-duck-goose. They have never played before. After explaining, we start the game. When I called the first one “goose,” half of them get up and run after each other haha. Ten minutes later they have it down – even the mush-pot.

Then I teach them freeze tag and we play one round while new kids come who don’t know they are suppose to freeze and just run in circles laughing.

I say goodnight because it is getting dark (as if their parents care if they get home before dark.) I take a nice shower – which is really boiled water mixed with cool water in a small blue tub, and pouring the water over myself with my hands – but still it is nice and I feel clean and fresh.

Then we have dinner – I always put too much food on my plate – every night is like Thanksgiving – or a potluck. There are so many different things and I’m so hungry that I pile it on, but then I lose my appetite, like I did at camp, as the meal goes on. Ugandan food can be very bland.

Tonight we have watermelon!, spaghetti noodles, different greens, potatoes, fish, sweet bananas. We have peanut butter and jam now. Festus and Lydia (the woman who manages so much, like cooking and cleaning) went to Mukono (the district that we’re in – a bigger village.) and did some shopping.

Anyway- I’m off to bed. Oh, yeah, before making it to Ntenjeru we stopped by this guy’s house – his daughter helps with Volset when she’s not in school. His house is very nice with pretty flowers planted outside his front porch. He took us to his sugar cane field (with his son and daughters) and taught us how to tell whether they are ready and let us have some. I love sugarcane. It is easier when you have a knife. Ronnie helped cut mine up. Otherwise you have to use your teeth to peel off the outside and bite in. your hands get sticky and sometimes you guy your mouth. I love it.

Goodnight.