Two months in and I'm finally writing my first blog post! I know you've all been waiting anxiously, so let's hope this doesn't disappoint.... 5AM rolls around, after a too-late night out on the town. And by town I mean soccer pitch. And by too late, I mean 11PM. Because suddenly we all become 95-year olds in this heat and can't stay up past dinner. Ren and I roll out onto the street, lugging our assortment of buckets, pillows, blankets, and backpacks up what I liked to call "mini Mount Everest". For anyone who was concerned, yes.... tassels was packed safely in my bag. For anyone who is now confused, 'tassels' is my purple chenille blanket that comes with me everywhere. We wait for our coaster, which speeds right past us, and parks directly in the Girls' dorm lot. Classic. Where's our taxi service?! Still bitter, team Arua. Still bitter.
We give our last hugs for the next month, until we see everyone again for swearing-in. Then the trip that we never saw coming begins.
As much as I know you all want to hear about the 11-hour trek to the furthest northern region of Uganda, I'll keep it short. Basically, we get to the bus park at 7AM and realize that our bus dosn't leave until 12. Ok. Godfrey and Madame (our supervisors) are literally nowhere to be found. Great. They roll through after we had waited for 3 hours and finally called Godfrey to come guide us.
Time is rolling by; ever so slowly. And I am now so dehydrated that I think it must be a joke (as we were told to keep drinking to a minimum, god forbid you have to pee on that 8-hour drive). It got to the point where Godfrey was so concerned about our well-being and alleged malnourishment, he bought us a bushel of bananas. Not one each. A bushel. That was 11 bananas people!
I swear I've never felt numbness like I did in my butt and back in my whole life. However, I did come out of it with a really sick sunburn and on only my left arm, to boot! ;) Godfrey has been dropped off at a stop near his house, leaving Ren to sleep at mine for the night.
It's nearly 10pm, and we practically fall out of the bus, buckets, blankets and backpacks in tote. We get only 5 feet, when Madame asks a group of bodas to take us home. We quickly and not so nicely remind her that we are not allowed to take those. For those of you who may not recall, let me elucidate this for you. Rules number 1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7 of Peace Corps Uganda? Absolutely no riding the bodas allowed. Ever! She grumbled, and we kept walking. I was genuinely unsure of how much further we could go, as Ren and I kept side eyeing each other laughing deliriously. Finally, we arrive at her gated compound, where we are "welcomed inside", meaning we had absolutely no choice despite our fatigue and lack of hunger. We were greeted with tea, and hand washing from madame's many daughters, customs that were far from usual for us. We both stared blankly at the TV screen just to avoid further conversation. Two hours later, we have been served delicious sticky rice and chicken, and are led to "my house", a large plastered shed, if you will, but we will come to that later... Ren and I giggle mindlessly as we slowly realize the water does not run, and it is a casual 400 degrees, and opening the windows is not an option. At last, we have made it to Kitgum, and we slip into a sound, deep and sweaty sleep until we are awoken the next day at 7 am.... More on 'future site visit' to come!