Bouncing on the Nile like Baby Moses

First order of business: I have not been bombed. I am, in fact, alive and uninjured. However, I am also in Kampala, the city where the bombs are. But we'll talk about this more later.

Let's go back to Sunday for a moment. I was kind of depressed, which is why that blog was short, but Sunday was definitely interesting. We went to the 7-hour-long ABIDE graduation, which was SEVEN HOURS LONG. Maybe you understand the message I'm trying to convey here. The great thing is--well, let's back up a second. On Saturday night, Rachael and I hung out with "mom and dad" in their room just for fun. We found a long-dead mouse in a computer bag and played dress-up with Kathy's closet. I decided that, just for kicks and giggles, I would wear Kathy's traditional Ugandan dress to the ceremony the next day. Fast forward back to that long ceremony I was just talking about. I was dressed in a long wrap skirt, poofy dress top, and large scarf/wrap thingy. I looked like a giant pink and gold cupcake. All the Americans laughed at me, but when we arrived at the ceremony, all my Ugandan friends gave me hugs and said, "Rora! You look SMART!" which means, "You are one smokin lady in that dress mmm-mmm!" The bigger the better here I suppose. Unfortunately it was VERY hot in that outfit and ants were crawling all up in my clothes. But in that time I read a book, wrote a card, and jounaled a lot. Seven hours. Seven.

Then I managed to break a poor Ugandan boy's heart. Rambo from Bible Baptist, who liked walking me home from church each Sunday, came to the house that evening wanting my picture. Then he didn't want to leave. It was really sad. He kept saying "I like you, I like you" and I kept saying "There are many nice girls in Uganda, many...I will pray you find one..." He was really sweet, but.....anyway....After he finally left I got a massive headache and missed the final World Cup game and was in an absolute haze as everyone was leaving and saying goodbye at 12:30 am.

Monday was really sad. Rachael and I actually had to say goodbye to Daddy Dale and Mama Kathy and there were some tears. I will dearly miss that family, they've meant more to me this summer than they know. We left with the ABIDE leaders for a long trip to Kampala around 11. This was after we heard about the bombs and watched some terrible footage on the news. Comforting, right? On the way up, some zebras crossed the road. First zebras I'd seen in Africa. We arrived at Red Chili guest house around seven, exhausted and covered in dust (gotta love dry season). Rachael and I went to the guest house's restaurant and waited an hour and a half for sandwiches. And we were extremely uncomfortable because there were so many white people in there--we felt really out of place and small. I'm turning into an African.

The next morning we woke up bright and early (I was slightly brighter and earlier than Rachael) to go white water rafting on the Nile. We hopped on the rafting company's bus, which came to pick us up at the guest house, and went on an hour and half ride to Jinja, the source of the Nile. Once again, we were surrounded by white people and I felt really out of place. The boys were bound and determined to do the "Wild" course, which was hilarious because we had three Ugandan guys with us who were not very accustomed to water. Oh my. We also had Laura Love, who is not in any way/shape/form a thrill seeker. Then we had Big J, our guide, who was not very sympathetic to anyone. On the first class 5 rapid we hit--yeah, that's the biggest class you can raft on short of death--one of our Ugandan guys and I went under. I was terrified out of my MIND. When both of us came up, he was laughing and I couldn't speak, which is funny because I'm the certified lifeguard and he's not a swimmer. On the second class five--the biggest rapid we hit--I opted to go on the safety boat because it wasn't supposed to tip. Nope, we went under. My thought right beforehand was "I would rather get a shot than do this"--and I hate shots. I have never been so scared....ever. I think I swallowed about a gallon of the Nile while trying to get air. When we went to lunch right after that, one of our Ugandan guys claimed that he had a headache. He found some guys to take him back to the bus and I tagged along (a chicken move, I know, but my heart was still pounding for a good thirty minutes after the last tip). Therefore, I spent the rest of the day with some Ugandans, had some really good conversation, and wasn't scared at all--except when we got chased by Ankole cows and I stepped knee deep in mud. I also tried my first jackfruit, which tasted like candy. When our rafting group finally got back, we found out that they hadn't tipped again all afternoon. Great.

That night Rachael had a great experience. I tease that she has the bladder the size of a walnut, and on the way back to Kampala she was desperate. The bus driver pulled over to the side of the road so people could "su-su" and she discovered that the Ugandan version of a rest stop equals squatting on the side of the road, no bushes, with cars whizzing by. Thank goodness I brought a skirt out to give her a bit of protection.

Today we left Red Chili and went to Matoke Inn, which is the AIM missions guest house. It feels a lot like a grandma's house and it's just nice to be able to sit and reflect. There were indeed three or four bombings in Kampala on Sunday and Monday, and we're just praying that they don't target the airport--that would be problematic. I'm planning on just staying in this house, so I'm not really worried about being involved in any violence while I'm here

Tomorrow we step on the plane, which I'm actually getting really sad about. I'm a little bit scared to go back to America because I've just started getting used to things here.

On the other hand, my promised bowls of cereal DO sound pretty nice.