Holy Rusted Metal Batman!- I'm in Africa!

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So I wake up just about every morning around 6am when the Muslim call for prayer starts. Its really kind of a pleasant way to wake up, listening to a quasi-singsongy voice floating up from down the hill. However, just a few moments later, normally I have some thought along the lines of Holy Freaking Cow! or Holy Rusted Metal! Or what the!- I'm in Freaking Africa! Then the next thought is - there it is again- this high pitch screeching type sound that I have yet to identify. I think it comes from some sort of bug outside my window. As far as I know, it is not coming from Taylor or Jack Jack. But it might be coming from Lenny- My new lizard roommate. Lizards here are considered a blessing to have in your house. And I can't help but think Lenny is pretty darn cute- as long as he keeps his distance and stays out of by bed!

This week was the first week of school, but it hardly felt like it. Very few students showed up for the first day, and most of the teachers didn't bother to come either. There were families still registering their kids for the school, and no one really had much to do! Oh how different it is from the first week of school in the USA. So I've been spending my time preparing my science laboratory- putting up posters about the human lungs, pollination, hydrogen, etc... and taking inventory on our equipment and reagents. The lab is a basement type set up, very dark and a little damp. Although it is a good-sized room, knowing that I could have 60 kids or so at once with enough chairs for maybe 15, it all seems a little overwhelming.

To get to and from school I either walk with one of Molly and Paul's adopted children who attends Kibuye High (where I'm at), which takes about 40min to an hour, or I take a taxi- which is a not-very-close-equivalent to a bus system, or I have a private driver hired by Molly and Paul to take me. Its been adventurous. When I'm walking, many little children seem to like to follow me for a little way, just so they can get a good look at that funny looking Mzungo. When I wave at them, they giggle and try to hide behind eachother so I won't see them. All just too cute.

So I've gone to a wedding, a graduation party, and then Uncle Paul's 60th birthday party. The weddings in Uganda are pretty similar to in the west- except there is no "kiss the bride." Its all very Bollywood in that way. The brides are known for having hugh dresses with super long trains- apparently inspired by the royalty of Britian. Getting married is a very big deal here- and its everyone's big dream. So, for those of you who know me well, you can imagine how well I fit in with a crowd like that. I've had several well-meaning people offer to help me find a husband, which I awkwardly have to refuse, and then they awkwardly stare at me wondering how on earth could I possibly not want to get married right away. Luckily, I've had no marriage proposals per say, but several men have professed their undying love for me and want nothing more than for me to take a ride on their boda boda.

Which brings me to the boda bodas. God help us! I did not know that so much insanity could congregate in one place. The boda boda drives (boda boda's are motorcycles with an extra seat in back for you to sit on) weave in an out of traffic at high speeds, never minding any street signs (which there aren't any anyways, so what's the difference.) I swore before coming here that I would not ride on one. But honestly, its sort of a necessary way of life. When you need to get to someplace quick, or where Taxi's don't go- you take a boda boda. I've ridden on one 3 times- and only by the grace of God am I still alive to talk about it!- Ok so maybe I'm slightly embellishing...slightly.

Uncle Paul's 60th birthday party was lots of fun. He keeps insisting that he is only halfway through his life, because the Bible says we can live for 120 years. In a country where the average life span is around 47 years, who's going to argue with him?!
He got a cake that was actually 3 cakes high. His boys kept spraying shook-up soda all over the place (we've been fighting the ants ever since) and then they brought out the African drums and danced the night away! Uncle Paul was a VERY happy man.

And finally, I just finished the first book in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyers. I thought that reading Twilight would make me upset, as I am currently living in a very different world over here, and it is unpleasant to think about the poverty surrounding me while there is so much comfort back home. But instead, it had the opposite effect. It was comforting- bringing to my mind a sense of normal life- sanity...As much as a teenage vampire love story can bring anyway. I found myself greatly relating to Bella Swan. She found herself surrounded by ravenous, blood-thirsty vampires, oozing venom and finding dear Bella to be the equivalent to a 5-star meal! I find myself surrounded not by vampires, but by blood-thirsty mosquitoes that seem uncontrollably attracted to me. And instead of venom, they ooze aweful diseases like Malaria. And being such a naturally sweet person (I flatter myself), I can't help but draw the suckers from miles away. So here's to you Bella- the sweetest of them all... but I don't think I'll be falling unconditionally and irrevocably in love with these blood-suckers anytime soon.

And sorry folks, but I am still having difficulty loading pictures at this time. But check out the pictures posted on my facebook.
~Blessings.

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