Independence Day Weekend

On Friday Uganda celebrated 47 years of independence. We all went into town to march in the parade. The parade consisted of marching around in a huge circle in a blocked off area. Schools and organizations marched wearing their different colored uniforms. Our girls wore their uniforms too. I marched with the girls and was the only white person in the whole parade. I have never had so many people stare at me in my life. Some people even laughed. As I was marching I heard one person yell "muzungu" and I knew without a doubt or looking over that he was talking about me. For the first time in my life, I am the minority. And it was very clear that day, surrounded by so many other people. I try not to take it personally when the children yell "mono" ("white person" in Luo) at me. After we marched one little girl came up behind me and reached for my hand. When I looked at her, she shrieked and ran off with her friends giggling. When we were done marching the girls changed into their dance uniforms and danced for everyone. It was a big deal because they had never perfomed in front of hundreds of people before. When we got back to the center there were sodas and our holiday dinner- goat. I tried a little bit but was not much of a fan. Maybe because I had just seen the animal alive and eating the grass around the kitchen the night before.

On Saturday my friend Aaron came to visit me. He has been living in northern Tanzania for a few months and decided since we live so close he would come see me. "Close" in U.S. standards, but in East Africa, the trip took him about two days. I was so excited about a friend coming and I wanted to be right there at the bus park when he got off the bus. Of course, it being Africa, things didn't quite work out like I planned. I had been in town all day and Kristen and I went to visit some people we met who had started an orphanage in Gulu. I did not realize, though, that they were pretty far away. When we got there, the children were going to dance for us but it started to rain so we all went inside to wait it out. 45 minutes later the rain started to let up and I heard from Aaron that he was almost in Gulu. The guy that runs the orphanage called a boda ride for me because I would never get to the bus park in time if I walked. As I waited, we watched the children dance. After awhile, we heard the boda was not coming so the guy and I walked down the road and found another boda. We slowly drove through the mud and finally got to the bus park. Aaron had been waiting for about 15 minutes, but he knows how it can be in Africa! This just shows you how frustrating the rain, bodas, and timing can be!

I took Aaron to eat at an Ethiopian restaurant in town that I heard was good. Unfortunately, we both did not agree. I tried the lamb but decided that Ethiopian tastes are not for me. I then took him to a coffee shop and we both got mocha ice cream that was delicious. We took bodas back to the center and I showed him around. The girls had a welcome ceremony for him and sang songs. I had taught them a couple of camp songs, "Step by Step" and "Amy's Amen" so I helped them sing them for him. Aaron also stood up and gave a short speech as well. I had bought some potatoes in town and had the girls make chips for us by frying them in oil. They were so good! Sunday we went to the church service at the center and just spent the day talking. Usually I like to keep people busy and entertained when they visit, but I had to realize that I just could not do that here. Part of the life is to just sit back and slow down, so that is just what we did. I also took him to see the IDP camp, the spring to get water, and the market. I was really happy to have a good friend here. It is also nice to have someone else see what I am doing here.