So, last time I wrote my blog was wednesday. Wednesday wednesday, what's happened since wednesday? Let's see...
Wednesday night was a bit of a catastrophe, and I'll not spend long outlining why - Chelsea lost 2-1 to Everton and I gave a boda driver 10,000 shillings (instead of 1,000) by accident; it was going to happen at some point, but it's still very frustrating when you only had a 10,000 and a 1,000 to begin with. Guess which I was relying on for the rest of the night... okay you see what I mean. Now I don't think I've mentioned the boda-bodas yet in my blog, but even if I already have, I'm going to do it again... Boda-boda is a term that arose many years ago when travellers needed cheap transport all the way across the country - they would wind up at one side of Uganda and shout "border-to-border?Can anyone take border-to-border?" Which inevitably got sucked into the local lingo and watered down into it's current form, "boda-boda". Needless to say, they also became far more ubiquitous and are useful for almost any journey as a cheap, quick and easy mode of transport. But, you say, what are these boda-bodas? They are motorbikes. Motorbike-taxis, with a driver and a long seat for passengers. I'd never ridden a motorbike before, and it's awesome. Not all of them are great, but if you pick carefully (and there's plenty of choice) then you get a pretty flash new bike and a friendly driver who will take you anywhere for about the equivalent of 30p. It really is quite ingenious. Before we came out to Uganda we were advised against using these bodas, but once you arrive it quickly becomes apparent that they are the only practical form of transport around, and they are really not as bad as the travel websites make out... Kampala, the capital, is another story, but Jinja is a pretty sleepy town in general and we've been recommended by all our headmasters to use bodas. So, my friends around the world, don't worry about me and my other fellow gappies.
Friday, I got ill, and I'm still not feeling great (although I'm definitely on the mend). IT'S NOT MALARIA. I've just got a bad cold. So, I pretty much haven't done alot for the last couple of days except drink tea, eat too much and watch DVD's with my pal Tabby the cat. I made a fantastic discovery that the hotel 100 yards down the lane does there entire restaurant menu as a takeaway. Cue ALOT of steak and chips over the next few months! To counterbalance my apparent laziness, I did venture out yesterday to skype my fam and buy some food to cook for myself - I can proudly say that I cooked a vegetable chicken stew, and that it was pretty good. I'm actually quite impressed with myself! I have also done a bit of sleuthing and found a local piano where I can go and get in some much-needed practice, and Soph and I can rehearse the LMVC music, especially if we want the choir to be up to scratch. The aim is to take the school choir to the national music festivals in Kampala this summer, which is very exciting (and also absurdly scary, seeing as we haven't actually been able to start rehearsals yet.) We're going to need alot of crossed fingers all around the world! Today, I'd like to wish all my readers a happy Valentines Day... I'm just reminiscing back to a time about 5 or 6 years ago when I spent this very day in a packed car with my family, driving across a very cold and snowy french landscape - we were on our way to a ski holiday at Les Deux Alpes... It all seems such a far cry from where I am right now, writing this in an African garden trying not to move too much because it's so incredibly hot... I'm rambling aren't I?
One thing I haven't mentioned is the street kids project I was working at on Thursday - this is run by a combination of Ugandan and English charity workers and is currently trying to find its feet as an NGO or CBO... it provides a shelter and friendly environment for local children who do not have a home to go to, or whose families cannot support them, leaving them to roam the streets. It's very moving, because many of them have skin conditions, malaria and are malnourished, but are still as buoyant and playful as if nothing was at all the matter with them. There are many focuses of the project, for example treating the various ailments and rehabilitating those children who have an addiction to sniffing parafin, and I will be sure to write alot more about the project over the coming weeks. If you want to email me with any further questions about how you can help, or if you have ideas that may be helpful for any of the projects I am involved with, my address is miles.lemlawrence@gmail.com and I would be happy to hear from you.
Until next time... Miles
No comments:
Post a Comment