Winding down

Since I blogged last, I've experienced a lot of ups and downs (more ups than downs).

Thursday was a big day. We visited the home of one of the Mushroom Project participants, Edward. He told us that he wanted to build his own shed (instead of having us build it for him) as long as we could provide the materials. Happy to oblige this request, we got him everything he needed and drew the dimensions and he set to work. As we were leaving his house, I spotted a little boy wearing a shirt that said, "I'm a Jayhawk" on the front and had the KU mascot on the back. I got SO excited and asked to take a picture with him. Kansas City residents must ship a bunch of clothes to Uganda, because that makes the second KC-related t-shirt I've seen. Also on Thursday we started packing the mushroom gardens. This was by far the most memorable activity yet. After explaining the process to Jjaja, she got to work laying banana leaves on the ground, covering the banana leaves with tarp, and sprinkling the surface with alcohol to make it sanitary. We then helped her transfer the cotton husks from the barrels to the tarp, as well as pour the bottled seeds into neat little piles. She then organized us and her helpers into an assembly line of sorts, and we all got to work layering the husks and seeds in the black plastic bags, which we then tied tightly and poked to leave room for the expansion caused by germination. At one point in the day, I was working next to one of the project participants, Henri, and told him I was happy he had come out to help. He corrected me, saying, "You do not need to thank me. This is our project. We don't want you muzungus to just come and hand us things. We want to be involved ... make it ours." It made me smile when he said this, since we had been told before arriving in Uganda that a lot of people would just expect us to dole out charity, to simply give them things. Henri wanted ownership. I told him to spread his attitude around.

Mushroom packing was such an interesting, unique process that I started wondering whether I'd be able to grow mushrooms out of my dorm room closet, or at least out of my backyard to sell to the KC Farmer's Market. The only bad part of the day was that Katie wasn't there and Ellen was recovering from illness: both had gotten food poisoning, probably from Nile fish. Frankie also contracted what seems to be ring worm on her arm. Our whole team seemed to have something funky happening, except me. Little did I know what would happen next Tuesday...

After work on Thursday, Bryan, Daisy, Frankie, and I went to the Jinja Agricultural Trade Show. I now know why all the schools here have such bright and variegated uniforms: to keep track of the hundreds of kids they transport on field trips to this festival. It was SO crowded ... almost too crowded to see much. We weren't there for long before the torrential downpour began, instigating utter chaos within the fairgrounds. Once being able to finally escape the hordes of children, Daisy and I, sopping wet, made it into Jinja to pick up some last-minute materials for our dad's surprise birthday party. When we told our mom our plans the night before, she was confused about why we would want to do anything special for him. Either birthdays here aren't a big deal in general, or my family just doesn't have the means to make them a big deal. But she pinky swore (which she also thought was weird) not to tell him anything. Once arriving home, we had our mom send our dad out to get chapati so we could hang balloons over the kitchen doorway. We didn't have tape, so I whipped out some of the billions of Band-Aids my mom packed for me to use as adhesive. When he got home, he was SO surprised and kept repeating, "I am the happiest man of the moment. I am so so happy I turned 47 in the presence of you people." We made him some peanut butter/Nutella/banana chapatis (possibly one of the best concoctions I've tasted in Uganda), Milo (Daisy's Singapore version of hot chocolate), and Jell-O. For rarely having sugar, he handled his sugar high pretty well. Birthday celebration = success.

Friday we left with FSD and the 20 GESI Uganda kids to head to Sipi Falls, about three hours east, near the border of Kenya. After eating dinner at our bunkhouse restaurant (situated on the side of a very steep mountain), a few of us climbed to the mountain tip. Laying on this little grassy plateau, we could see what seemed to be billions of the brightest stars I've ever seen. Luckily we had a constellation expert in the group who was able to show me my sign (Scorpio). Someone had brought some jackfruit wine to celebrate the birthday of one of the boys in the group (I have yet to taste a real jackfruit, but I always see them on roadsides and on the backs of trucks ... there massive and prickly and look like they'd taste sour). I saw more shooting stars that night than I've seen in my life. We could barely make out the view around us: only the slight outlines of valleys and mountains were visible. We resorted to wake up really early to watch the sunrise to get a better feel for our surroundings.

So Saturday morning I arose at 5:50, scurried to the top of the hill, and waited. And waited. And waited. Unfortunately, because there were so many mountains, the sun came up behind a ridge, illuminating the sky 45 minutes before we could even see the sun itself. It was a tad disappointing, but breathtaking nevertheless. I couldn't go back to sleep before breakfast because I was so excited about the morning menu: French toast with honey, peanut butter, and strawberry jam. And optional powdered sugar. Delicious. After breakfast, we set out on a "two to three hour hike" which turned out to be seven hours. It was strenuous because, like I said, Uganda has some steep mountains. It didn't help that it started pouring halfway through, making for some super slippery rocks and bridges (which were already precarious enough). We were able to take cover for a little bit under some eucalyptus trees and coffee bean bushes, but decided to just trudge onward. Throughout the hike we passed by four waterfalls in total. The last two were the sweetest. On the third, we were able to go behind it and into a cave. The fourth, well, that requires a new paragraph...

Oh the fourth waterfall. From a distance, it didn't look all that magnificent or big. It became magnificent and big when our guide pointed out to us a barely visible red rope hanging next to it. Yep, it was a repelling rope. The ten bravest members of the group assembled and headed to the waterfall. Once getting over there, we were met by 5 or 6 guys laying out harnesses and ropes. There was no waiver to sign, no money to pay up front, no explanation really ... they just asked who wanted to go first. I decided I might lay low and watch the first couple courageous volunteers before WALKING BACKWARD TOWARD A CLIFF as the man controlling the rope waves, "Bye! We will miss you!" Needless to say, preparing for repelling was scarier than any heights-related adventure I've done. Skydiving and paragliding don't give you time to think. Repelling did. Once I got past the initial overhang and just trusted the men above to lower me gently, it was the most amazing experience ever. Ever. Ever. Ever. I can't be emphatic enough about how gorgeous the view was: the waterfall right next to me, hitting rocks on the bottom and splashing back up, misting my face and creating little dancing rainbows all around; the valley, with its matooke and coffee plantations; the mountains on either side, on which people terraced their cabbage and sweet potato gardens; the slowly setting sun. I have never been so captivated by anything. I highly recommend it :). The hike out of the valley was pretty brutal. Otherwise Saturday was spectacular. It ended with me picking avocados from a tree outside my bunk room for next week.

We were greeted Sunday in Mbikko by a one-humped camel on our street right outside our house. We asked our dad once inside if he knew why it was there. He hadn't noticed, but quickly got his camera mumbling to himself, "Uganda does not have camels. I have never seen a camel. Never. Only in movies. They only exist in movies." Apparently the Jinja agricultural show had imported it from Cameroon, and the owner wanted to stop in Mbikko for a beer before heading home. So he just tied it to a tree. My dad was so excited. We had a debate over dinner about what was held in a camel's hump. Our dad refused to believe it was water. I need to work on my skills of making a convincing argument. After dinner, I gorged myself with Nutella (my love affair with this Italian hazelnut-chocolate spread just started on this trip ... I hated the taste of it in Italy but am infatuated now). I also noticed that all the water bottles here say, "This water is UV-treated and ozonised natural mineral water." Is that supposed to be comforting?

Monday was an uneventful work day. What was eventful was the talk we had with our dad about international monetary aid in Uganda, public speaking, and the importance of self-expression. He is so wise and I feel like I'm learning a lot from him. I'm going to miss our conversations.

Tuesday was also unproductive, given that Stephen Lewis, the primary donor to St. Francis and the "fourth-most influential man in Canada," was making his first-ever visit to the health center. The Jjajas and the OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children) had organized dances and songs. Speeches and handshakes galore. We couldn't get transport to our project, and we couldn't use the office space we typically do, so we just joined the tons of other people taking pictures. Tuesday night was crummy. I started feeling queasy (coincidentally after I had overstuffed myself with peanut butter and Nutella) before dinner, and it just kept getting worse. I woke up at 2 and vomited (luckily only once), but couldn't get back to sleep due to intense chill and fever spells. My parents were very nurturing, sitting on the side of my bed until they thought I was asleep. My dad wanted me to see a St. Francis doctor in the morning, so I very slowly made my way to St. Francis for a blood test. The doctor there said microscope slides indicated I had malaria. He sarcastically (although his sarcastic tone scarily wasn't convincing at first) said that only people who live in Uganda survive malaria. So I got some meds from the pharmacy, and called Dr. Debbie (the FSD Australian doctor) to notify her. Before I even said anything about my symptoms she blurted, "You DO NOT have malaria. Those small clinics always over diagnose malaria. It's probably a bacterial infection." So she told me not to take the malaria meds and instead take a strong anti-biotic. My FSD coordinator told me to take both medications, to be on the safe side. So to this day I'm not really sure what I have. I feel much better today. All that's left of whatever I had yesterday is a slight fever and low appetite and energy. It is still kind of unnerving not receiving an accurate diagnosis.

It's crazy to think that two weeks from this evening will be my last night in Uganda. Everything is moving so quickly!

Take care all,

Abby