It's now the end of July, and besides Kenya, I have successfully visited Jinja and Kampala. The boys who work at Adrift just kept telling me that I wasn't going to leave, so I didn't. And just as I was beginning to make plans to go to Kigali, Butare, and Bujumbura, I was attacked by an unidentifiable stomach bug that put me out for almost a week, and my bank card was attacked by the Barclays ATM. I withdrew some money from my account to pay for the medicine I needed to feel better when the machine scratched the CHIP identification, making it impossible for me to use my debit card thereafter.
So I have been stuck in Jinja, in both a good and a bad way. The only other development has been that people believe me now when I say I'm coming back to Adrift to get a job, and I've realized that I have to leave at some point, so I've started taking a few pictures. Also, because I've been so bored and Adrift has been so busy, I've started helping in the kitchen. Next week, a large group is staying at the campsite for a full week and we'll be running a program of traditional food, so I'll learn how to make things like chapatis, posho, matoke, beans, etc.
My rough plan for the rest of my time here is this: Next week, I will be in the kitchen all week, rafting perhaps if there is a small trip, learning to kayak and then leaving on Wednesday night to go back to Nairobi. In Nairobi, I will try to find volunteers from my organization that want to go rafting for my last weekend. Then, as soon as possible, I'll return to Jinja to spend my last week working in the kitchen, kayaking, rafting, laying by the pool, learning Luganda, cooking traditional food, eating my last meals of matoke and beans, rolex chapatis, and sumbusa, learning to drive a boda boda, and perhaps even bungee jumping (tandem, I won't be able to walk to the edge of the platform on my own). I'll hop the bus back to Nairobi on Monday night, and catch the plane on Tuesday night. I'll get to Zurich in the morning, and chill in the airport until I catch the last plane to Toronto. You're allowed to start deciding who will be in my recieving party now.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Meghan Meets Kenya and Other Countries
I apologize for my blatant neglect of my blog. I will try to be better.
But I have revised the title of my blog as I finished volunteering and am setting out on a backpacking trip. I finished my four-and-a-half months in Kenya at the end of June, but hung around in Kenya until the third of July, whereupon I took a bus to Uganda, as I do often. The last two days of volunteering at school were hectic. On Thursday, myself and a few other volunteers bought pizza for all the kids at school, and in the afternoon, we all walked to a nearby field to play games. The kids were thrilled, and we enjoyed it as well. On Friday, after lunch, Pastor Regina told me that the boarders, the kids who live at the school had a presentation for me. We all went into the church hall and the kids sang a bunch of songs in Kiswahili. Most of them were church songs, but there was one that was about me and the work that I did at the school. It was amazing to hear all the kids singing, and to see them dancing and clapping in time. I took video of it, but I don't know if I can post it. I'll certainly try this week. I walked out of the church hall in tears.
I'm currently in Jinja, Uganda, planning my further travels. I'd like to visit the rest of Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. Tanzania has been mostly fazed out of my travel plans as I'm not really interested in it. Also, I've hypothesized that I'll be back soon to climb Kilimanjaro and watch the wildebeest on the Serengeti, after which I'll relax on the beach in Zanzibar. There is very little else of interest for a poor backpacker like myself. It was also pushed out by my desire to spend another week or two in Nairobi in August, hanging out with friends and visiting the schools that I worked at. I'll keep you posted on my travel plans as they happen.
Also, I want everyone to know that I just spent about three hours on the internet for a total cost of 4500 Ugandan shillings, the equivalent of $2.20 US dollars. I will now go get a Rolex chapati for lunch at the cost of 700 Ugandan shillings, the equivalent of 34 cents American. I love it here.
But I have revised the title of my blog as I finished volunteering and am setting out on a backpacking trip. I finished my four-and-a-half months in Kenya at the end of June, but hung around in Kenya until the third of July, whereupon I took a bus to Uganda, as I do often. The last two days of volunteering at school were hectic. On Thursday, myself and a few other volunteers bought pizza for all the kids at school, and in the afternoon, we all walked to a nearby field to play games. The kids were thrilled, and we enjoyed it as well. On Friday, after lunch, Pastor Regina told me that the boarders, the kids who live at the school had a presentation for me. We all went into the church hall and the kids sang a bunch of songs in Kiswahili. Most of them were church songs, but there was one that was about me and the work that I did at the school. It was amazing to hear all the kids singing, and to see them dancing and clapping in time. I took video of it, but I don't know if I can post it. I'll certainly try this week. I walked out of the church hall in tears.
I'm currently in Jinja, Uganda, planning my further travels. I'd like to visit the rest of Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. Tanzania has been mostly fazed out of my travel plans as I'm not really interested in it. Also, I've hypothesized that I'll be back soon to climb Kilimanjaro and watch the wildebeest on the Serengeti, after which I'll relax on the beach in Zanzibar. There is very little else of interest for a poor backpacker like myself. It was also pushed out by my desire to spend another week or two in Nairobi in August, hanging out with friends and visiting the schools that I worked at. I'll keep you posted on my travel plans as they happen.
Also, I want everyone to know that I just spent about three hours on the internet for a total cost of 4500 Ugandan shillings, the equivalent of $2.20 US dollars. I will now go get a Rolex chapati for lunch at the cost of 700 Ugandan shillings, the equivalent of 34 cents American. I love it here.
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