33 Chicken

This is a really long blog post, but probably the best so far…so read it all…. Okay? Okay J

Wow. What a weekend. Or as Zig would say, “WAW!” Yep. It was crazy. Let me start with Friday. So, we went up to this AIDS Clinic that was built by USAid up in the middle of the Jungle to watch an MDD performance (It’s not called MDT here, it’s Music-Dance-Drama). It was a super rainy day and the mud was sooooo slippery. But Becca, Lacey and I had to get back down quickly so that we could make it to a traditional dance performance. So, we climb down the hill and by this time our shoes are COVERED in mud. At the bottom, miraculously, there was a boda boda. So random. What he was doing there is beyond me, but it was definitely an answer to prayer (I’ve had so many of those the last few weeks). There are three of us. One boda. One driver. He says, “No, no, you can all come!” So, sure! Boda driver on, then Lacey, then Becca, then me. He starts the engine and slowly starts driving, when BAM. We all fell to the side. Now our whole bodies were covered in mud. Once we got to the town (we drove very slowly and a cop shook her finger at us), we walked down the street and EVERYONE was peeing their pants. “THE MZUNGUS! BAHAHAHAHAHHA!” They all pointed at our mud and were laughing their heads off. A woman literally fell out of her chair. It was so funny. A girl at the Youth Outreach office helped us clean up a little bit, thank heavens. But I’ve never had about 100 people full on LAUGH and POINT at me. We were laughing so hard. It was quite the experience.

So, then we meet up with Luta. I love Luta. Such a sweetie. He is with the Youth Outreach office. He’s 19 I think. Just like Wilson and all the other guys, so sweet. So he invited me and whoever else wanted to come to see his team and where he teaches dance and stuff. So we went down to this little village in lower Lugazi called CoaCoa village. We met this lady who takes care of a bunch of kids in the dance group and lets them practice there. Basically, it’s kids from tiny to my age who can’t afford school who audition for this dance team. Luta and this other guy run it. They train these kids in traditional dance and take them all over the country to perform and with he money they earn, pay for the kids schooling. So we got to watch this incredible traditional dancing with real African instruments and EVERYTHING! Definitely my favorite thing I’ve experienced so far. I loved it. These guys are incredible. They perform for the different Kings in Uganda. So cool. And a private performance for a few Mzungus. Then they made us dance. We put on these really long fur things (goat fur or something like that is what he told us) and they made us dance and try and shake their hips. Once again…twice in one day, I was full-on laughed and pointed at. By this time, word had spread around the village that Mzungus were there and the whole neighborhood was sneaking around the trees to watch. Everyone was laughing! A few women in the corner were crying they were laughing so hard. So funny. What an experience.

So, I write everything I want to remember to say on my hands or on some other body part. Sometimes I write it on my legs. I never remember things. And I haven’t had tmie to write in my journal, so …that’s my method. Just so you know. Hey! Mom! Or Drew! Or whoever talks to him first, tell Todd McCabe that I’m singing his song in church here next Sunday! Just thought he might think it was cool that his song is in a different continent. I’m hopefully going to sing it in both of the nearby branches!

So, something really sad has happened. Drew in my group caught Ivan stealing some clothes off our clothesline the other day. There have been some other things missing too…like digital cameras and such. The cops are investigating now, but David (our AWESOME guard) said it was really important to get the cops involved. So he’s in custody right now and in a few minutes they are going to search his house and al the places he has been. Supposedly, if the stuff is found, he will be put in jail for a few months. If not, he’ll be let off. So…I have no idea what’s going to happen. It just makes me so sad. I don’t really know what to believe and I won’t say whether he actually stole or not, but I just think Ivan is a sweetheart either way and I am so grateful for him. Honestly, we would not have been able to do 90% of what we have done so far if we didn’t have Ivan. He’s been a huge help with everything and I personally trust him so much. But, I guess we’ll see. It has been a hard thing for everyone to deal with and it is something no one wanted to do, but something had to be done.

On a happier note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!! IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY, SHOUT HOORAY! I WANT TO SING TO YOU TODAY! BUT I’M IN AFRICA AND YOU’RE IN THE US TOO, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TO YOU! I hope you liked my makeshift lyrics. I really hope you have a wonderful birthday and I’m so sorry I’m not there to spend it with you, but I’ll bring you something AWESOME home :)

So…I’ve had a few weird things said to me lately. These are some funny stories. Yesterday we went to the house of the Branch President of the Mukono ward for dinner which was so fun and he rocks! But afterward, there were about 15 of us cramming into a place to ride home in which only 11 people should have been sitting. SO….as we’re going up to the bus/taxi/van/whatever, this guy comes up to me and says, “You are a beautiful woman.” Alright…uh.. “thanks man.” This is pretty normal and I’ve gotten used to it, right? So…then he starts following me up to the van. “Will you marry me? We be married. Let us get married. You are so beautiful. You are so beautiful!” Uh…I run up to Jake (guy in the group) and say to him, “This is my omubisi, sorry!” The guy just laughs, “No…let us get married. Come with me! You are too beautiful. I am serious. Serious. Serious!” AHHHHHhh. So Jake is not backing me up and I’m getting a little freaked out cause this guy is all up in my grill. I start getting into the taxi, towards the back part. He is in the taxi now and my whole group is peeing their pants but no one is helping me! Everyone’s just laughing! So he says the same things over and over and is right in my face when finally we start to drive off and he has to jump out, then he starts CHASING THE TAXI. Oh my goodness it was so funny. I wish I would have got in on camera, but alas, I didn’t. It was quite the proposal.

Also, today a lady in the market passing by said, “hello” so I said, “hello” back, then she says, “you look just like my daughter!” Uh……HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAH. It was really funny.

Oh and on one of the taxi’s yesterday, there was a guy in the back with his 33 chickens under the back seat. Don’t worry. There were just 33 chickens…just chillin the back of the taxi. ….Just hanging out. WHAT THE HECK? None of the other girls would sit back there except Melissa so I decided to be brave. I kept my feet up. I didn’t want to get pecked to death. And the chickens were fighting. Well every once in a while there would be a big thud and then some squawking. It was scary. I am not a big fan of animals. Actually, I don’t like animals…at all. It was really exciting. Also, it was about a 90 minute drive. Wonderful.

Now for what you’ve all been waiting for….RIVER RAFTING ON THE NILE. YES. I ACTUALLY RIVER RAFTED, CLASS 5 RAPIDS, ON THE NILE. And for all you who didn’t believe me…Dad, Drew, Merrill….etc, there ARE Class 6 rapids on the Nile. All of the guys said that. Only kayakers were allowed down it though….it would be suicide for a rafter. So, our guide was a Ugandan named Tutu. Yeah, like the little ballerina thing…Tutu. He was hilarious. He was the most serious person I’ve ever met in my life, but everything he said was so funny! We had a couple from the Netherlands, a brother and sister from England, a kid from New York, and then Me, Andrew, Ryan, and Amy on our raft. Everyone else didn’t laugh at Tutu cause they were scared of him, but I was peeing my pants and laughing out loud. Rafting was SO much fun. I loved my group and it was hard work, there were times where you don’t go down any white water for an hour or so and you just paddle…. It’s a lot of work. But the rapids were so fun! They were HUGE. Our raft had a bunch of crazies on it and we all requested the most dangerous route possible, yes, even me. And we purposefully would flip as much as possible. There was once where I really thought I was going to die. I was under water for the longest time I have ever been under water. It was TERRIFYING. I literally saw my life flash before my eyes and was sucking in water trying to breathe. Scary huh? Yeah it was awesome. But here I am, alive and well…a little sore…but happy. EVERYONE got super sunburnt, but I only got a tiny bit on my shoulders. I barely put on any sunscreen. I only did it to please my mom. But…yeah other people’s are blistering and they put on SPF 70…I only put on SPF 30…I guess I am just lucky! Thanks genetics for good skin! Yeah! Well…I think I am finally done talking for today, but…yeah the nile rocked. And I love Tutu. And I hope to go back in a few months to do kayaking lessons for a few days straight. I am also looking into horseback riding on the nile. I am overcoming all of my fears. 1…2…3…TEAM TUTU!!!!!!!!!!!

Love, Daniella