Last week! July 9 - 14 (erin)

Sunday afternoon I went to Berna’s house to visit her twins. They are very cute, Paula and Prima. We went to the supermarket together and then we took the twins back home and she walked me to my place. We picked up Chandra and had a snack and drink at the Brovad.

That evening we had Chris and Nora, Sister Prossy and her daughter Favour over for dinner. We made spaghetti (of course) with sausage, garlic bread and Szechwan green beans. It was a good evening. Sister Prossy brought us all souvenirs as gifts. Then we went to the Brovad to watch the last football game but I only lasted about 20 minutes and I needed sleep.

Monday, Chandra and I went to Kampala with Nora. We caught a coaster bus and I was all settled in my own one-seater thinking it would for once be a comfortable ride. Well right next to me was placed a duffel bag with one live chicken in one end and a second in the other end. Then the seat was folded down onto them and a lady in her Gomez (traditional dress) sat on the seat and luckily for me the chickens were covered. Part way through the trip I swore I felt a chicken peck at my leg and I panicked but when the lady checked under her dress the chicken was nowhere near me so I guess it was my imagination going wild again.

The drama continues. As soon as we started pulling away I saw three little wee spiders coming down from the window right into my face. I swatted them away. Less than 5 minutes later, another 4 little spiders came down their webs and looked at me. Then there were two on my arm, one on my sweater, one on my bag and one in my hair! So I used Chandra’s newspaper to swat them away. And then I started looking around for where they were coming from and noticed that just to the left of my head was a huge web filled with these little spiders!! So I used the newspaper to scoop them all up and dropped it on the floor. Then I continued swiping away little spiders coming down from the window and hoping that they weren’t all crawling up my legs. There have been many times on this trip where I have felt like I am on Fear Factor and this was one of them…how long can you sit on a bus with tiny spiders crawling all over you? Apparently 2 hours, but I didn’t win any money.

Kampala was its usual crazy self and we nearly got hit a number of times. Nora is a fast walker and at one point her and Chandra were like a block away as people kept budding in front of me. I thought I’d be lost forever, but I managed to catch up before they even knew I was missing. Chandra got material and took it to a seamstress to get outfits made for some of her family. I got material for curtains. It is imported from the Congo. For the ride home we had to wait on the coaster in the taxipark for a long time for it to be full. Vendors would come by the window and try to sell all sorts of things. Children’s toys, bread, candy, sunglasses, clothing, mosquito nets, drinks, you name it. Some guys even sang to us, crooning love songs. I caved and bought a lollipop. He tried to sell it to me for 2000 shillings but I laughed at him and he said, oh okay, 200.

That evening Chandra went to Nora’s to make chapatti and Charles came over and we had spaghetti leftovers with Jen and watched a Luganda movie. Charles and Jen (the Aries’) found it pretty funny but I guess I wasn’t in the mood, or I just don’t get their humour.

Tuesday morning Fred came by to visit and then we went shopping for our party the next night. Jen and I met an American at the bakery that is doing some work with USDC. And we took pictures around town.

We invited Bruce and Brigitte for dinner at the Brovad to thank them for the use of their kitchen. We invited an Irish boy over to our table who kept us entertained. Then I went to meet Charles’ family. They were very nice. They had a wee little kitten, probably 6 weeks old. Someone had hit it with a big stick and its back legs were broken. So it walked around dragging the two legs behind it. It was the cutest cat ever, but so sad! As soon as I touched it, it started purring so loudly. Then it followed me over to my seat and sat between my feet. When I picked it up it just cuddled on my lap. It was really enjoying the attention, poor little thing. I want to take it home!

Wednesday, the three of us went to Tekera to say goodbye to everyone there. We had to ride in the back of the pickup truck (sorry Mom, I broke the rules again!). It was not very comfortable because the truck was filled to the brim with solar power equipment. The cab of the truck had 7 people in it so we had no choice really. But we were kind of upset about it all because we had asked if there was room and they said yes…we easily could have found another way out there. Anyway we got banged around pretty good and Jen nearly fell out of the truck a few times, but we made it alive.

We watched the boys work for awhile and then said our goodbyes. Got some good pictures. We gave Senior a Canadian flag and Junior a Canadian flag hat. Then we went to the hospital so we could take more pictures and do some paperwork. Jen and I went into town to say goodbye to our friend Jack at the bank and go to the internet. Then we prepared our rooms for the goodbye party we were having that evening. We dressed up and then went to the Brovad for dinner and met up with Jack there. Then we went home and everyone started arriving. There was Charles, Jack, Louise, Jeff, Tony, Favour, Phionah and a couple others. Fred, Sam, Becky, Sarah and Richard came later on. They played a game called The Fun Box and it was fun but I didn’t play cuz of my stupid head again.

Thursday, Jen and Chandra went to internet café while I slept off my headache drugs from night before. Then Jen and I went looking for a craft store that the American told us about but didn’t find it. We visited the liquor store to buy gifts and I bought a shawl thing I had wanted in the clothing alley. The rest of the evening was non-exciting, at least for me.

This morning Chandra left for Kampala with Favour. She had gotten the impression that someone was driving them but when they arrived, they had 4 boda bodas to pick her and her suitcases up to take them to the taxipark! Haha! Luckily, Nasser arrived to pick me up to go to Kitengeesa, so he took them to Kampala and he called his friend to get Jen and I. This afternoon we have been playing around with our pictures, cropping and enhancing them. Jen and I have also been negotiating room rates at different nearby hotels for Jen’s last month here. We are getting good at it! The owner of the new hotel across the street said that Canadians are rich and have funds so we can afford their offer…we had to laugh and explain that not every Canadian is rich!

Tomorrow we are going to a drama put on by the nursing students. Fred is the organizer and writer so it should be really fun. Then Sunday we head to Kampala with Charles, Louise and Fred. We meet up with Chandra and do last minute shopping and then that evening we go to Entebbe. And that leaves us with…Monday, our flight home! We leave at 9am. We arrive the same day in the evening Vancouver time.

So I guess that’s it!