So, as if I didn't have enough hours on a bus under my belt, we decided to take another long ride to a town called Mbale for the weekend. (On the Elgon Flyer. Wonderful bus--they gave us napkins and toothpicks.) Right after class on Friday, we took a mutatu downtown and then a nice long & sweaty ride to Mbale. We met up with a man named Simple Freddie (yes, Simple Freddie) who took us to our hostel . . .
Immediately after we got inside, it started raining. But we were also very, very hungry. So the owner of the hostel drove us to a restaurant, ate with us, and took us back. I was really impressed with him--he is the principal of a school and started the hostel to raise money for the school. And he's getting a master's degree right now. Really cool. I have met a lot of people here just trying to the best they can with what they have. It has made me realize that I could (and should) be working a lot harder than I do. Anyway, the evening finished with Coke and listening to the rainstorm by an open window.
The next morning we went out to breakfast before heading out on a long, steep, magnificent hike. Dad, you would have died--it was that beautiful. (You also would have died because it was ridiculously steep. Like the end of Olympus, but the entire way . . . so coming back down would have been very hard on your knees.) These pictures do not even begin to do justice the depth, color, atmosphere, etc. It smelled like October. Felt like a little bit of home, that beautiful mountain of Wanle Falls.
Okay, a 70+ year-old woman climbed up this ladder.
Barefoot.
Carrying that giant load of firewood on her head.
A sweet little boy led us the entire way. However, once we got to the top his friends joined . . . and then some scouts . . . which meant entertainment through pictures. One of the little boys kept hugging me and whispering things to me that I couldn't understand, so that was a little weird. Also, when I told the scouts am 21, they said, "No, no, that's not right. You are 15 or 16."
Great.
We also tried to get a picture of just our little group of 5 but that proved to be impossible. As soon as the camera came out, they swarmed.
After the hike we went to the slums for a few hours. So many children. They all just came and held our hands as we walked, and one girl fell asleep in my arms. We had a lot of fun playing with them. Once dark came, though, we headed out and got some dessert (brownies and ice cream for me, naturally . . . anywhere I can find it is heaven) before going back to the hostel. The next day we went to church and then made the long journey back home.
So that was my fun little weekend adventure. I am excited to be in Kampala this week though because I can finally sit down and focus on everything that needs to get done. (e.g., did my laundry today . . . took about 2 hours just to wash.) It is strange, because just yesterday it felt like three weeks is a long time to still be here, but after looking at everything I have to do before we go, it suddenly doesn't seem long enough.
Oh time. I wonder if we will ever be friends.
