The Retuen of Bob

November 9^th-13^th: Monday-Friday

Bob is finally back. He looked at the work the guys did on Jim’s house when he waqs gone and noticed a huge problem. The walls aove the windows are all wonky. Jim’s house is made of huge granite stones cemented together. While this looks really cool and it very strong it makes it rather difficult to keep the walls level vertically and horizontally. The boys had messed up the walls pretty bad so I and Lodokaro spent Monday tearing it down.

Tuesday Bob and I made shelves for his container. It took us all day but it looks very smart. I spent most of the rest of the week doing odd jobs for Bob and mass producing curtain rod holders both for his house and for the main house/Tricarico’s house. Also Bob had me begin drilling holes and running wire for outlets and lights in the workshop. Eventually Bob wants to have lights and a couple outlets run off of solar power and the rest of the outlets run when the generator is turned on.

Monday this week we had Guy’s Night. This started because every Monday all the girls on the mission got together for dinner and a bibles study so all the young guys were left on their own anyway. Now Jim is hosting it and he makes dinner and JB, Mark, Moses, Albert, William, And now Robert come from the clinic along with James, Bobby, and Ben. That night Ben volunteered to make dinner and we watched The Kingdom. Great movie. Thanks Brandon.

Mark’s last work day was Wednesday morning. Jim and I had him and Moses over Tuesday night. We hung out and watched a movie. Also though we were able to pray which was really great and I know something Jim has been wanting to do for a long time. I said goodbye to Mark that night since I didn’t see him the next day.

In Which I Make Macaroni and Cheese

November 6^th-8^th: Friday-Sunday

My foot has continued to improve over the weekend. The swelling has reduced a bit more each day. While it still produces puss every day it is still improving.

On Saturday Jim and I went down to Mbale with a bunch of the guys from the clinic. JB, Moses, Mark, Albert, and another translator form the clinic. Shoot, I really can’t remember his name right now. Mark needed to do his back to school shopping. I don’t think I have mentioned it before but Mark was approved for a scholarship and is going back to school to become a nurse. He is really excited. Also all the other guys needed to do some shopping and filled the car with cavaras full of purcheses by the end of the day, except fro JB who didn’t have any money.

We ate lunch at the landmark and all the guys really enjoyed it. We had a couple different kinds of dishes. Some chicken masala and lentils and things but the guys just mixed everything together. It was a very fun trip for me. not only did I get to hang out with the guys from the clinic for a day but also I was able to buy some more razors and since my last razor was so dull I couldn’t shave large parts of my face it was greatly appreciated.

After we got back Jim and I really wanted to go for a run. It was nearly dark though so jim grabbed his headlamp and we set out. About half way through the run it got completely dark. Luckily by that time we had gotten to the main road so it was relatively smooth and we could run side by side and both benefit from Jim’s headlamp.

Sunday after church when Jim drove some people back to Namalu I made my mother’s home made macaroni and cheese. Dispite several changes to the recipe due to different ingrediants I thought it tasted nearly as good as my mom’s. a very good meal. Jim liked it too.

Finally Much Forshadowing Is Explained

November 2^nd-5^th: Monday- Thursday

Monday morning began like any other day in Karamoja. I got up, did my devotions, ate breakfast. Actually it was very different since I am staying with Jim in the Okken’s house and all of this took place in there house and not three separate buildings as it had when I stayed in Karamoja this summer. However my dad was about to get that much stranger.

That morning I went to the clinic for Jim to have another look at my foot. The swelling had reduced to a large area around my "bite” on top of my foot. Jim commenced to numb my foot via injection. Why is it that the shots to numb you hurt so much? It makes you wonder whether or not it’s actually worth it. Dr. Jim next used a razor to cut the top of the bite off. Large amounts of puss and blood flowed out. Using tweezers he began picking at the wound. He then pulled out a massive chunk what looked like a giant booger. It left a gaping hole in my foot. Jim then pushed out a massive amount of blood and puss. It hurt an incredible amount. Apparently the anesthetic is only a local and, in fact, does not numb the entire point. Just my luck. So after cleaning out the wound Jim stuffed the hole with gaze and bandaged me up. Jim thinks the mass he pulled out of my foot was most likely just solidified puss and hopefully not a worm.

For the next two days Jim continued to extract some few bits of solidified puss and continued to push out more puss and blood. Jim also began to have me soak my foot in some warm soapy water to help clean the wound. I had been taking ibuprofen religiously before the operation and I now stopped almost entirely because, except when Jim was digging around in my foot, it didn’t hurt very much.

Both Bob and Craig aren’t in Karamoja right now so I don’t really have anything to do. The work crew is working on Jimbo’s house. They are laying stone for his walls and working very slowly and ponderously. So I have been doing odd jobs for the missionaries and hanging out with James and Bobby fixing hammers because amazingly the boys seem to break at least one a day breaking apart stone for the walls.

Every Monday night here Jim has been hosting a “Guys night” where James, Bobby, Ben, Albert, Mark, Moses, JB, and William come over for dinner and then usually a movie. This Monday Jim and I made chili with noodles. While the rest of the guys watched a planet earth James, Bobby, and I hung out in my room and played with some little key-chain dart guns my cousins sent me before I left Uganda. James got hit in the face a lot.

Thursday after “work” Jim was still not back from the clinic so I decided to make caramel rolls. My mom sent over her cookbook with my dad so I set about baking. I had just finished the dough when Jim got back. That night for dinner we ate fresh warm caramel rolls for dessert. It tasted almost just like they did in America. Almost. I stored the extra dough in the freezer to make some more later.

Thursday morning I went to the clinic a bit early, in time for prayers. After prayers I talked with JB. His son is very sick with malaria and is getting worse because he cannot keep down anything, not even water; he is just throwing it right back up. JB’s wife and son are living in Namalu which is a town about 15 minutes drive from the clinic and station. He has been commuting back and forth. JB is almost always smiling and joking but today he was really down and quite.

That night Jim had the entire clinic staff, including Jenny a nurse who is her for 10 months. That night Jim and I made tacos. It was really fun to explain how to add all the ingredients and then fold and eat the taco. One of the clinic workers has two little girls who I got to know a bit this summer. Jim served everyone a soda and these two little girls drank theirs in about two minutes flat. I heard jenny explaining to some clinic workers what cheese was. After dinner we watched a planet earth, mountains. It made me really miss the mountains in Montana.

In Which we Find More Hot & Food That JB Likes

October 31^st- November 1^st: Saturday & Sunday

Saturday began with the hottest shower I have had in recent memory. Blissful. After packing Jim, JB and I piled into the car and setout for Lagogo mall in search of an early morning milkshake. Our hopes where dashed however when we learned that the coffee shop was all out of ice cream. Curses. On the way to the mall, while stopped at a light (which was green incidentally, just to help you understand how superfluous traffic lights are in Uganda) I spied a series of signs saying things about cheap furniture and excellent deals on couches. one caught my eye however. It read:

Women

Like It

Big

Perfectly innocent I’m sure but still rather humorous. Next we stopped at Capital, a large and spacious shopping center which spanned two stories connected by an escalator. JB and I did shopping for Jenny while Jim got his things. My foot was really hurting me by this point so I was realived when we piled in the car and set out for Jinja.

On the way I told Jim and JB of my climb up Kili. We arrived in Jinja where Jimbo picked up two pictures he had ordered. Actually Jim only ordered one but they seemed to think otherwise so he got two. Then he mailed some letters and we set out on the road again. Another few hours found us in Mbale where we stopped at the Landmark for lunch. There for the first time on the trip JB actually enjoyed the food we made him eat.

That evening after running a few errands in Mbale we camped out at the Shelbournes who are gone on furlough. Jim started me on anti-biotics and stuff and I had kept my foot elevated while we ere driving so the swelling had began to reduce a bit. That evening after a warm bath (blissful) we watched Sabrina, the one with Harrison Ford.

We were on the road early that morning. Poor Jim was really tired since he wan’t able to get a lot of sleep the night before. When we got off the tarmac he let me drive so he could try to get some rest although I don’t think my driving helped him out very much. It felt a lot like coming home when we passed through Namalu. The men wearing their crosheted hats, the women in their skirts, the kids without pants. We pulled into the Okkens compound where Jim and I would be staying since they where gone on furlough. The Tricarico kids came over and helped us unload. We were met inside with a pile of boxes and action packers. The Wrights had moved all of Jim’s thinks from his room and the main house over to the Okkens the day before.

It was slightly strange to be back in church. It seemed so recent that I was saying goodbye and now I am back. It feels different or maybe I am just different. I said hello to the clinic guys and gave Logiel Mark a hug. That afternoon Jim and I unpacked, put away his (actually now its our) vast store of food and got settled in.

International Travel, Hot Showers, & Getting JB To Try New Foods

October 29^th -30^th: Thursday & Friday

My plane left Tanzania at 9:45 an unsurprising half hour late. The flight took just over two hours with short stop in Mwanza before continuing onto Uganda over Lake Victoria. That morning I had finished packing, found my bible, and hugged my goodbyes. Unity drive me to the airport where I checked on my action packer (weighing 20.3 kilos, only 0.3 kilos over the required limit. A fact I am proud of since I guessed not having a scale) saying goodbye is always a bitter-sweet thing. Sweet that I love these people enough to miss them but bitter, because I am leaving.

I landed in Uganda shortly after noon. It was raining. After passing through customs I loitered outside the airport sheltered from the rain by an overhanging ledge until a security guard said I couldn’t wait there any more. He led me away from the other dozen travelers waiting in the relative dry around the door and into the parking lot where he kindly brought me a plastic chair to sit in, though not a umbrella.

Jim found me thus some ten minutes later. We embraced and then drove to a hostel/restaurant where we met Derrick for lunch. I had amazing lasagna and coffee and chocolate ice cream for dessert. Derrick is the administrator for CURE hospital which treats kids in Mbale. After lunch we toured an impressive catholic hospital between Entebbe and Kampala. Afterwards Jim and I met JB (John Bosco) a Karamojong Translator from the clinic who Jim had invited to come down and spend a few days with us in Kampala. JB is a tall, thin, married with a young son and 19. He is incredibly good natured, with a smile almost constantly brightening his face.

We met Derrick then for Coffee in the most western place I have ever been here, Café Java. There we spent several minutes persuading JB to try some of our iced coffee, a theme which would persist through out the weekend.

That evening after checking into to the guest house where we would spend the night we met Derrick again for dinner at Krur, a Thai restaurant. There we persuaded JB to get a basic rice dish. I tried red Dahl something which was pretty good. It was my first time having Thai food and I though it was pretty good. Shortly before ten we went to the movie theater in Garden City where we watched Inglorious Basterds. Altogether not the best choice. A strange mix of violence, history, and dialogue, it was never the less not a good choice. That evening Jim took a look at my still swollen foot which not required painkillers regularly each day and more to sleep. He declared it puss free after some minor surgery although the dinner was doing a number on my bowels.

The next morning I took a hot shower and loaded our stuff in the car. We would be staying the next night in another GH in Kampala due to Jim’s inability to find cheap accommodations more than two nights in a row. That morning we ate breakfast in Café Java (pancakes for me. God bless panned cakes). Then we took a long walk through down town Kampala. While endowed with skyscrapers and traffic lights (shish no one follows incidentally) Kampala still is distinctly African. We say many large storks, looking like bald, sun-spotted old men of dubious intentions.

After that we wandered around Garden City for a short time, cigar hunting. Unfortunately we were unable to find any in sealed packaging capable of making the strenuous trip to Karamoja. For lunch we again met Derrick and a group headed by Jim’s good friend’s mother. The 11 of us ate at an Italian restaurant where I ordered a four cheese pizza with four un-pronounceable named cheeses which was delicious. Despite our best efforts to get JB to try something else new he ordered chicken and chips.

After lunch Jim and I went to a local gelato place for dessert where we bought JB a blueberry flavored scoop which we finished for him. We returned to the GH where earlier we had dropped the bags and while Jim napped JB and I watched Mr. Bean The Movie and I checked email. JB greatly enjoyed the movie. Still full from the late lunch we left the guest house in search of pool table. we found one in a bar where Jim and I were the only Whites. Jim and I began a game which soon revealed our lack of skill and threatened to end at dawn. However JB stepped in for me and brought about a swift completion to the game. Jim soon left because the cigarette smoke was making him ill. JB and I stayed and ordered more drinks. The bar had now filled with Africans all of whom seemed to know each other. JB and I played several more games against the locals and lost every single one, although I almost one but I missed the clincher shot. Jim came back several hours later and we departed and returned to the GH and slept soundly.

Saying Goodbyes & Licking Stamps

October 26^th-28^th: Monday-Wednesday

This last week at school was great. I love all the little kids here. I enjoy playing and teaching them so much. It turned out to be pretty hard to say goodbye. I helped Gladness in her class the last week. On Wednesday o brought a bag of Jolly Ranchers (given to me by someone in my church, I can’t remember who though) to share with the kids, as a going away present. At the end of his day they all sat down and said goodbye to me. They sing a little song they know

“A long, long time

we are together

but the time is over

we say bye bye”

pretty cute and kinda cheesy. I thanked them and then handed out the Jolly Ranchers. They were really happy with them and liked them a lot. I gave the rest of the candy to the teachers.

I went running again Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday I went on my longest run. About 8 miles I think. It combines all of my routes and does a loop throughout most of Moshi. kind me saying goodbye. Monday I ran across another speaker, I think this one was political again.

Monday brought rains, on and off all day. Tuesday more of the same. Massive amounts of water fell, creating miles and miles of mud. Every road and footpath was turned into a river and a then into a muddy swamp. Tuesday I went to the choir practice. It was dark and rainy that night. I played with a couple of the little kids in the church. The choir sounded amazing as usual. After they had practiced a bit they were goofing off on the keyboard, playing with the beats. They found and started impersonating rappers. It was hilarious. They were really good. Then they made up a rap about the church. I couldn’t really understand what they were saying but they all had the swagger and the dance moves down. It was almost dark by the time we left. We had waited for a break in the rain. Neema, Lighty and I decided to make a break for home. We couldn’t take a shortcut though because of the mud so we had to take the long way. Only just out of the church gate it began to drizzle, the drops increased to a light rain, it began to rain heavily and soon had turned into a torrent. We slipped and slid in the mud. I learned how to say “nina chukia matope!” which means “I hat mud!” Once I was soaked through I took great joy in the experience. It reminded me of running in Karamoja.

Wednesday my mom was able to wire money to me so I could pay Unity for housing me and be able to buy a visa back into Uganda. I went out to eat at my favorite restaurant in Moshi. Inditalianos. I had amazing paneer and cheesy Nan. I had bought postcards in Zanzibar and Moshi and wrote17 to various friends. It took me several hours. After lunch I mailed them. That evening my foot swelled enormously after I notice a small bump on top of my foot. I assumed I had been bitten by a spider, little did I know what lay in store for me.

Wednesday night Unity organized a going away celebration for me. He invited all the young guys in the church to come over. Most of them were able to come. Unity made me get pictures with everyone and then he down loaded them on my computer. He asked everyone to say something about me and most replied in Kiswahili and he translated. It meant so much to me to hear everything they had to say. Then he presented me with a certificate for volunteering at the school. He also bought me a t-shirt of Tanzania that he had picked out. Then I got a chance to say something. I said basically that I was very thankful for all of them. For being my family while I was here and I would miss them. I almost started to cry. I love them so much and I may never see them again.

Then we ate a snack of g-nuts, tea, cake and I shared some skittles with them. Unity then had us all go out and take a bunch of pictures in the bed of his truck. After that everyone left except for Unity’s family. Before we ate I gave them their gifts. I had gotten kangas for all the girls. Kangas are thin 3 ft by 5ft cloths that women in east Africa use for everything. I gave the guys some of my movies, Gladiator, Count of Monte Cristo, and K-19. We ate dinner all together that night. I stayed up until nearly 2 packing. It’s funny because I didn’t want to pack. If I packed that it would be acknowledging the fact that I was leaving.

I Speak At A Rally & Visit A Maasai Church

October 23^rd-25^th: Friday-Sunday

I went running on Friday and Saturday. My new shoes my dad brought have me have worked great. All the aches and pains I was dealing with have gone. Hopefully they will not reappear and were simply the cause of my old shoes and not something else. Friday I was running down a dirt road in the slums to the west were I live. The entire road was blocked by a large crowd that was grouped around a speaker on a small stage. She was ranting in Kiswahili. All the decorations and t-shirts worn by her co-horts were in Tanznia colors. I had to worm my way through the crowd. A silence fell as everyone watched my cross the open space in the middle. Feeling the need to say something I cried “Yeah, Tanzania”. The crowd broke out in applause and cheers.

It is hard to imagine I will leave for Uganda next week. It will be strange to say goodbye and even stranger to say hello and to return to Karamoja. I have been using my remaining time here doing odd things on the web since it will be a bit more limited once I return to Karamoja. I will leave next Thursday. It should only take me about 3 hours to reach Entebbe, Uganda.

My last Sunday here Unity was preaching in a Maasai church about an hours drive from Moshi. he invited me to come along. Although I was sad to miss my last Sunday in Unity’s church I wanted to spend the time with Unity and he seemed really eager for me to go.

We drove for more than an hour to reach the small stick and mud church. We were part of the way by a church member and he directed us to follow several goat paths in Unity’s truck in order to avoid the long way around by road. Upon arrival some young men in the church came and took our bibles and we were ushered into a small building behind the church where we met several pastors and where given bottled water.

After a brief period of the pastors talking in Kiswahili we prayed, and then church began. Unity and I were given seats in the front of the church. Also another two visiting pastors and the pastor himself sat upfront. The church building was exceedingly small. Perhaps 8-10 feet wide and not even twice as long. However forty or more people managed to seat themselves inside. Only a few of the men were dressed in traditional clothing but many of the older men had their earlobes stretched. We sang and the Africans danced. We prayed and then the choir performed.

Unity stood up to preach and introduced himself and then allowed me to say a few things, why I was there, my name, etc… Unity preached for a while and then he blessed the pastors son, this is why we came since the pastor cannot bless his own son, and also prayed for many of the church members who were suffering form sickness. After a closing song we all trooped outside to shake hands. I got to talk to the youth in the church, most were my age or a but younger. They were all very shy but one in particular was very outgoing and talkative.

We ate lunch there. Rice, beef and some vegetables stew, and sodas. We sat behind the church behind the building we had prayed in that morning under an awning made from kangas patched together. On of the kids asked me if I would be around that summer for a youth conference thing in Moshi were all the youth in the soroundung churchs come to Moshi for several days of singing and prayer. I told him I wouldn’t. he said maybe I could come back another year. It made me realize I may never get the chance to visit Unity and his family again. At least not for several years.