On to M'bale

We left Saturday for a new city - M'bale. A smaller city than Kampala, the capital, but still a city. The trip took 4 hours. Now remember that if this was in the US you would probably cut the time in 1/2. The roads here are terrible - HUGE potholes, no traffic rules, no stop lights. So travel is slower as you pass around the potholes, big vans, cows, people, motorcycles... Anyway, we got here and checked into a hotel. I noticed that our toilet and fans didn't work. We were only here for about 20 minutes so I didn't have time to go get help from the front desk. I told Laura not to unpack because I might ask for a different room - no way would I live without a fan. There was also a huge gecko in our room and Laura freaked out. The window in the bathroom wouldn't close and so we spent our 20 minutes jerry rigging (sp?) that shut.

From here we left for a day trip to Sysii Falls. I really didn't have any expectations. People from past trips said it was like being in Hawaii - REALLY?? Well, it was about a 40 minute drive, 20 minutes of that was EXTREMELY BUMPY because it was a dirt road. We were a little worried about passage because we had just had a big rain storm. The only problem we ran into was a bridge that had been washed out. To the right of that was a temporary bridge of boards. It was pretty scary going over that but both our vans made it safely. Watching it as we went over, nothing shook! We traveled another 10 minutes. Every 2 minutes or so would be a new village with little shacks and people hanging out outside. The kids were all so happy to wave. I found out later that visitors are very exciting and that people are immediately accepted as friends - even if it's you neighbor that is having visitors - you are automatically friends with all!

Eventually the road ended and here was this oasis! REALLY BEAUTIFUL! In front of us was a mountain and 150 feet up was a gorgeous waterfall! I've never seen one that tall - maybe but this seemed really tall. The water at the top was chocolate colored because of the rains. We found a parking area and here was a beautiful green lawn with a huge grass covered hut where there was smoke coming out of. There were beautiful trees lining the grounds and tables and chairs were set up for us. They had a delicious barbecue set up for us to eat and finally something close to home food - guacamole!!!!! It was soooo good because the avocados are soooo fresh! We ate and ate and it was great.

After we ate we hiked a little ways to the bottom of the falls and took pictures. I can't wait to post them! A group wanted to go up further - to the top. I couldn't go because I had my camera and they said you needed your hands to traverse it. Laura went and I was a little worried because the shoes she wore were very slick and didn't have much traction. But they took 2 guides and there were several men going along. To start the trail they had to walk on top of a fallen log. Those of us staying behind were worried as we watched them go over this log that was over raging water. But every one made it just fine. After they left a woman with a baby on her back, a toddler holding her hand and a stack of bananas on her head crossed it with no problem - what were we worried about?!!!!

The hiking group took about an hour going to the top and down. We could see little specs of color going up and then at the top they were little people waving at us. Apparently there were villages at the top and small children to talk to. Coming down was slippery but everyone survived. We at the bottom just enjoyed the scenery and hanging out. Actually there was a 1 year old baby with us. The last year this group had met this baby when she was a couple weeks old. Her name is Mercy and both her parents are dead. The mom died in childbirth. The person who owns this oasis is also a doctor in a clinic where Mercy was born. One of the people with Libraries of Love fell in love with Mercy and is trying to adopt her. It's been a year and much delays but they are close. We were ordered to take pictures, measurements... and send them back to the expectant mother.

Syssi Falls - a must see!

Traffic and Trash

I will never complain about Austin traffic again! First of all, it just hit me after 4 days of being here that there are NO (yes I said NO) traffic lights!!!!! Officially you are suppose to drive on the left side of the road. All through town there are two lane roads but if you were to watch it from above you would think there are at least three. There are 2-3 lanes of cars - mostly 14 passenger taxis and then HUNDREDS of motorcycles zipping in and out and around these cars. Pedestrians have no right of way. There are drainage ditches (full of nastiness) on either side of the roads so you can't swerve there. I am sooooooooo thankful that we have VERY good drivers. I can't imagine trying to do it ourselves! Ok, throw into this chaos ROUND ABOUTS!!!!!! It's absolutely crazy. I've tried to take pictures but we've been told to be careful taking pictures of the streets. Think how you would feel if a van of Africans drove by in Austin snapping pictures of you. I'll try to take some indiscreetly.
I will also pay my garbage fees without complaint. We drive by huge piles of rubbish and today actually saw a garbage truck picking it up. But apparently this is a trial thing - only been around about a year. Normally people just burn their trash. They are trying the trash trucks but they are breaking down and no one knows how to or wants to repair them so this pick up stuff will probably stop. Mostly people burn their trash. At each school we've seen burn piles and kids playing nearby. Don't they know burning those plastic water bottles is BAD! I tell you, an asthmatic would have trouble here. Between this smoke and the dust in the air it is bad! But it does make for beautiful sunrises and sunsets!

Weather

The weather here has been very nice actually. I imagine a June in Texas and it's probably as hot as that. HOWEVER, there are these incredible cool breezes that make sitting under a big tree truly wonderful. The nights are just the right temperature as are the mornings. It's hot out in the direct sun.
The mosquitos so far haven't been a problem. In fact we haven't been using our nets at night (Mom, I hope you aren't reading this!). But really, I think I've seen maybe 1 mosquito and no bites. We still wear our deet morning and night. We travel to MBALE tomorrow and apparently that's where we will really need the protection.

Rock Stars

I definitely felt like a rock star today - not that I don't feel like it everyday, it was just very obvious. Today was the day we went to visit the 3 libraries and do the official openings. We dressed up and hopped in our bus. When we arrived at the first school, the kids were so excited to see us. We got out of the bus and were shuffled out of the way. We locked our bags up and went to the library. The head masters, government officials, and teachers were there and we did a ribbon cutting. Then we headed around the corner and there were all 1200 kids lined up on both sides of a cement courtyard the size of 2 basketball courts. When we walked by they clapped for us. We sat under a tent and they served us water. Then the ceremony started. The scouts (girls and boys) raised the flags while the whole group sang the national anthem - one of the prettiest I've ever heard and of course the sound of children's voices make any song sound wonderful. We then heard many speeches from many officials thanking Libraries of Love for everything they've done. We were treated to some traditional African dances by the children and one group did a 15 minute recitation of a poem they rote and memorized - it was very impressive. At the end we did a fun kid song with them (you know the kind with hand symbols and silly motions). Then we left to the sounds of cheering. Many of the kids we had played with a couple days earlier shouted out our names and gave us sweet notes telling us how much they love us. Many ran up to hug us goodbye.
This continued at 2 more schools. We really didn't play with them today because we were in our dress up clothes but there were lots of hugs and holding hands. Some showed us their notebooks with their work. At the last school as we were leaving they wanted us to sign a piece of paper for them - I really got my autograph down good!
I keep trying to imagine our children in the similar situation. If a group of Ugandan adults came to visit our school and donate a playground for example, how would they react? I'm sure they would be nice and give an assembly but they wouldn't put their hearts out there like these kids. That's the Ugandan people - so sweet, so open, so inviting, so grateful, so BEAUTIFUL! It's very refreshing.

Building Libraries

Tough Work! You go into an empty room, look at like 200 boxes, unload them and then start sorting them. The last to days Ii've been in the Non Fiction area. We sort first by number 768.1 and then if there are more than one, then by Author last name. It takes us about 4-5 hours to do this per school, depending on if we have help or not and if that help is helpful. The Ugandans were eager to help but sometimes had a difficult time with our instructions. For example, they might alphabetize but do it right to left. Or ignore the decimal point. One person didn't look at the number first and went straight to alphabetizing. You don't want to offend them by fixing it in front of them so you have to wait until they go out for a break or something. The past couple days we've had to wait for the building team to finish with the shelves and during this time we played with kids.
The kids are incredible. They LOVE us. First of all at each school we have been greeted with an assembly of singing and clapping. People will come up to you and say "you are most welcome here". So nice! The kids will come up to you and politely get your attention and then take your hand and show you around. They especiallyl love the teenagers that are with us. I called it the Laura parade when I looked out and saw Laura surrounded by smiling children, each one trying to get closer to her. They would sit around us and ask us questions about the US. We'd play volleyball, jumprope, duck, duck goose ... with them and they loved it. I got to talk with several teachers. Never thought about having to teach the history of Africa - it takes years!
I wish I had more time to tell you about it, but the Internet cafe closes at 9 and so does the restaurant. We just got back from a long day at 8:45. So for now... Good bye. Hopefully I'll have time to download a couple photos next time.

Here at Last!

We are here! We are here! We are here! It took 60 hours to travel from Austin to Chicago to London to South Africa to Uganda! We spent probably 24 hours in airports. Let's just say I don't want to see one for a while!
Not much to report so far. We got to our hotel at about 10 pm and went to bed around 11. I slept maybe 3 hours. I fell asleep easily but woke up and took many hours to fall back asleep. Surely I'll get use to this soon! The people on my team are so nice and it looks like it's going to be a fun bunch to work with - 8 from Kansas, 8 from Austin. We start our first library momentarily. In fact - just got word we have to run.... more later!

London we are Here!

We got to London safe and sound. The bad news is that British Airways went on strike. Because of that we had to reroute through South Africa which added another 8 hours to our trip. Because of this and the fact that they are only open certain hours of the day, we can't go into London for the day. We were looking forward to doing some touring and getting out and getting over our jetlag. Instead we are stuck in the London airport for 8 hours. It is an hour into London and an hour back, we would have to go through immigration and South African Airlines doesn't open until 2. Too many bumps in a trip downtown.
The good news is that we will have like 5 hours in the South African airport and can probably buy some World Cup souveneirs. Is that good news?
The team is all together - we met in Chicago. There are 8 from Austin and 8 from Kansas. 2 people had to stay home - one because of a major tooth infection and one because of a case of shingles. At least they got those symptoms in the US!
I wish my students could see the keyboard I'm using (I'll take a picture). The at sign is near my right pinky, our normal at sign is the euro sign and there is a english pound sign next to that. The enter key is a tad bit higher than our enter key and so it's hard for me to get use to it. I can't find the quote sign. Never thought about this difference!
More news later!