1) I experienced my first Ugandan burial last week. We drove out to a nearby village midday to attend the burial of a co-workers relative. It was an amazing sight. Approximately 1000 people spread out around the church and throughout the surrounding matoke plantation. There were many clergy present and there was a distant sound of drums. We had missed the ceremony accidently, but were still the eye of attention when we arrived, of course because we are muzungus. Sarah, Kent, and I managed to attract a harem of 20 kids who followed us around until the moment we left. I managed to catch a smile from a few of the girls and one girl quietly walked up behind me and touched my arm (but quickly ran away). The kids seem to be curious about what white skin feels like? so just before we left, I shook the hand of each eager child. It was really cute. Then, leaving in African style, we packed our car full of people who needed rides along the way that we were travelling. Sarah and I ended up in the very back/trunk portion of the car. It was a very hot, bumpy road!
2) I was going to talk next about experiencing my first Ugandan celebration. We had been preparing all week (I may have mentioned it in my last posting?) for an event to present the women paravets with their certificates and vet kits after completing a vet course put on by Kent. It was going to be a big event. The local LCs (politicians) were going to be in attendance, we had rented a tent, arranged for a free lunch and had planned a short course on dairy goat production for the women. Unfortunately, instead of experiencing my first Ugandan celebration, I experienced my first (and hopefully ONLY) case of hemorrhagic dysentery! I will say no more about this except that it knocked me off my feet for a good 2 days and that me having antibiotics on hand definately saved me a trip to the local hospital. That is one experience I never wish to repeat!
3) I also experienced my first Ugandan rain storm. Yesterday, while I was trapped in my bed, I was awoken to the loudest noise. At first I thought it was a plane crash or an earthquake (maybe because my fever disoriented me) but I soon realized that it was thunder and rain. The ground went from dusty and dry to flooding. A blanket of water was rushing off the roof in a matter of 1 minute. It was a very spectacular sight!
(I am still working on uploading pictures but I am having NO luck thus far. I will keep trying. Luckily there is power today, even though the rains are still here)
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