Truckin' Along

Something felt wrong right from the get-go. My boda driver couldn’t get the bike started and once I had mounted, his initial start ended in a rather dramatic lurch and a stall. I momentarily entertained the thought of getting off, but shrugged off my feelings and stuck with it. It didn’t take more than 15 feet before it became evidently clear to me that my life was in the hands of a man who was either just learning or incapable of driving a motorcycle; his starts were rough, his shifting was atrocious (consisting of high revving and bouts of bunny hopping) and he seemed intent on avoiding slowing down to the point of needing the clutch, nearly stalling on a number of occasions. This went on for some time and I went against my better judgement, choosing to white knuckle it and pray to Jesus instead of getting off. At about the halfway mark, soon after turning onto the main road to and from town I began to consider what was ahead (a turnabout and a series of speed bumps that require a certain degree of finesse to navigate safely) and decided that though there are times when it is appropriate to put your life in the hands of God, there are also times when it is appropriate to trust that he has given us common sense and gut feelings for a reason. I went with common sense. I had him drop me off and ended up walking a good chunk of the way until I got too hot and grabbed another boda at Amber Court. Honestly? Probably the most terrified I’ve been since I got here; I’m talking cold hard fear. Lesson learned: listen to my gut.       

And another boda story: Erika, Chalice and I needed to get to town from church (which is halfway between home and town) and didn’t want to get two bodas. We’ve fit three on a boda before but this time there was an added challenge; Chalice was wearing a skirt and needed to sit side saddle. Our solution? Erika sat nearly beneath the driver, Chalice sat sideways and I sat on her lap with her arm around my waist like a toddler. People’s reactions were mixed; some just stared at us as we drove by, some laughed, some gave us the thumbs up. We didn’t make it all the way to town as we were all in various degrees of discomfort and sliding off, but we made it and saved…nothing really because we paid him well considering he was nearly sitting on the handlebars and the back tire kept scraping over the bumps, due to the added weight, the whole way into town.

My week has been incredibly productive so far. On Monday, I was finally able to go see one of the local chairmen of Kimaka (he was in the village for a few weeks over Christmas) to get him to sign something that I needed to open a bank account for Ekisa. Aaron (our night guard) came with me and we walked down the dirt road about 15 minutes from our house through a village, of sorts. The women looked up from their washing and cooking to greet me graciously as I traipsed through their “yards” and the children came running, yelling “mzungu, mzungu” and stuck close, never taking their eyes off me the whole time I was there. We found the LC in his office; a thatch hut with a wooden table and bench. He was incredibly sweet and thankfully didn’t insist on a “token of appreciation”, like most do, because I had no money with me, completely forgetting about that little quirk regarding African politics. In fact, he asked who wrote the letter to which I replied that I had (thought it would be easier than trying to explain what I needed and having him write it himself) to which he replied that I was a very good secretary and that maybe I should come work for him. I have no intention of getting into politics of any kind, but I did say that if he ever needed help with something specific, that would be happy to assist. I may have no intention of getting involved, per say, but it sure doesn’t hurt to have friends in high places. J

That afternoon, I went with one of the mamas to her home after her shift, just a 10-15 minute boda ride from our house. I have been to a couple of our other mama’s homes in the village before and seen their modest living (though they still insisted on feeding us soda and snacks), but mama Akullu has a small house that she has built with her husband and lives there with him and her three (almost 4) children. When we got there and had settled on the couch, she had each of her girls come in and say hello; they each took turns kneeling down in front of us and taking our hand in both of theirs, greeting us and welcoming us to their home. George and I sat and visited with her for an hour or so before she got up to fix a snack. An hour later she came out with potato omelets, tomatoes on the side, and a smoothie that she whipped up with avocado, lemon, passion fruit and a little sugar. Looked scary, but was surprisingly good. I have not been to one single home yet where I was not greeted and welcomed with the utmost grace and generosity. There are definitely some aspects of Ugandan culture that leave something to be desired, but on the subject of hospitality, they are second to none. I still have standing invitations to visit the homes of a couple more mamas and an open dinner invitation from the auntie of one of my favorites, Mama Christine. She was staying with her aunt in Bukaya during her time off and as I have been tending to a nasty burn on her leg for the past month or so, I went there a few times during the week to bring her supplies and check on her. Her aunt was so sweet and grateful and always insisted I stay, but I appeased her by saying I would come back for dinner at a later time. Christine will likely be going into labour sometime in the next few weeks and will stay with her aunt for the first month or so, so I will probably wait until then so I can have some quality time with auntie, mama and baby.

 Mama Akullu and I in her home.

Tuesday, was overhaul day. Emily and I did some significant organizing and moved the furniture around in her bedroom. That afternoon we went into town to inquire about getting some pallets made to size to put together a pallet couch (that Emily saw on Pinterest) to fill in some of the space we’d opened up with the new furniture arrangement. We went to a place on a sketchy road a few streets down from Main Street where someone we know had seen some pallets. We talked to a guy, gave him the measurements, negotiated a price (25,000sh, down from 70,000; go Emily…) and got a call 25 minutes later to say that they were ready for pick-up. This place has its perks.

It has been really hot lately (high 30’s, low 40’s), so yesterday afternoon I went to the pool, something I need to do more often and have resigned myself to doing once a week, if only for the much needed exercise. It was quiet, nearly deserted and the pool was a glorious reprieve to the heat. And if the sun, the surroundings, and the beautiful, wispy, ever-changing clouds that were simply mesmerizing to watch weren’t enough, we had the added joy of watching 8-12 monkeys play fight and chase each other through the trees and around the pool, knocking over chairs in the process. Honestly, it was heaven. 

Our view from our recliners...

A zoomed in view from our recliners...

Of the few people at the pool, I ended up chatting with a couple from Holland who were in Jinja with their adopted son for a vacation. Funny thing is, they were at the keep the night of the Christmas event and had noted that my last name was Dutch…

Love these little guys...

And today? After my visit with the LC, and having the Emily’s sign a huge amount of paperwork, I finally had everything I needed to open the bank account; they didn’t even need to come in. It was a process, let me tell you: passport photos, LC letters, proof of residence…I spent hours waiting and had to go back to a guy three times here in Jinja to get our constitution and registration forms certified (side note, after waiting in line for nearly two hours, he informed me that had I just walked in, he would have done it for me straight away; but I don’t regret waiting because I don’t exactly feel comfortable with the fact that I would have gotten special treatment simply because I’m white). I spent a good hour at the bank this morning and was hoping to have it squared away, but I will need to go back to the LC this week (if I can get a hold of him) to have him sign another letter. The annoying thing is that had I worded the original letter slightly differently, it would have been fine. But on the plus side, I do have account numbers and everything we need to get Emily’s dad to get things set up for a bank transfer state side…no more atrocious bank charges sucking away our much needed funds!

Currently? I’m hanging out at my favorite spot…a restaurant called Gately on the Nile, getting some things done and spending some much needed time alone. 

My little table...

Unfortunately, they are moving in a couple weeks and even if the new eating area is as beautiful, it will be reservation only; no more stopping in for a good ‘ole cup of orange pekoe tea; sorry for me.   

Things are pretty fantastic here in Jinja. I am happy, healthy, busy and productive and truly feel like this is where God wanted me. I doubted it in the beginning, trust me on that, but I have since filled a hole in the organizational, accounting, administrative department that was just my size and have developed some pretty fantastic friendships; some close, some on the acquaintance level, but all contributing towards that most wonderful sense of community that I have so frequently talked about. Seriously, I’m hardly ever in town without bumping into at least one person I know…case in point, bumped into Brice at the bank this morning. Next project (besides the ongoing accounting stuff), besides putting together a bunch of lyric books for Bible Study so everyone can better sing along, I’m currently working my way through Grant Writing For Dummies. I’m particularly excited about this because it’s something I can continue to do from home.

I don’t have the slightest idea of how many people are actually reading this, but just know that I am forever grateful to those of you that have been following me and have supported me as I continue on with this incredible adventure in this incredible place called Uganda, Africa.   

A few randoms:

On a market shopping/lunch date with the wonderful, Jackie. There's this great little Ethiopian restaurant in town with some pretty great goat pilaf. This plate costs 5000sh (about $2.00) and is more then enough for two people.  

Young love...Zuena and Jojo (with my Tasha in the background)...these two are too cute for words...

 Lindsay's go-away dinner at The Mezzanine during sunset; gorgeous place.  

A picture I forgot to add before of us market shopping for our awesome New Years outfits. Everything in this pile was 1000sh (about $.40).

And finally, the Ugandan version of advertising. A huge truck with massive speakers (notice me in the forefront plugging my ears) and a bunch of guys on stilts and rollerblades holding up traffic and being a general nuisance.