July 30 2007 

One month till I'm home!

Today the world was against me. This happens from time to time - I'd say about once every couple months. It is a day where nothing and I mean absolutely nothing, despite all your efforts, goes right. In my experience it is best to recognize it for what it is and then ride out the rest of the day and try not to let it get to you. I should have known it was coming because I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and was in a grumpy mood. I had planned to go to Mokono and get some things done because it was a designated errand day and everyone else was scattered doing their own business. I walked to Ntenjeru hoping a taxi would pick me up and one never came.

There was an empty taxi waiting when I got there so I climbed in. After about 45 minutes of waiting it had filled and we set out. We had almost gotten to Chisoga (literally about another 5 minutes and we would have made it) which is about 1/2 way to Mokono and usually the place we wait forever to fill up with more people. But before we got there a boda driver came yelling and stopped the driver. They talked for a bit and then we started to turn around. We had been driving for over 1/2 hour and lots of passengers started yelling at the driver. I had no idea what was going on because it was all in Luganda, but almost everyone got out and looked really pissed. I asked the driver if we were still going to Mokono and he said yes but we had to go get other passengers first. Had I known that not only we were going all the way back to Ntenjeru, but almost to Nsumba I would have gotten out too (except there were no other taxis around at all and I probably would have had to catch the same taxi when it came back around).

We pulled up a road near the hospital and came up to a building where there were 14 men sitting outside. I quickly noticed that these men were all handcuffed in pairs to each other (each having one arm free). I frantically asked who these men were to the driver and he replied "Prisoners. They go to be tried." Completely nonchalant - like I'd asked if he wanted tea or coffee. So I now switched from being really agitated and annoyed, to being really freaked out and scared. They were all eyeing me like a fresh hunk of meat and I knew that they were talking about me because I repeatedly heard Muzungu in their conversations (this is one of the rare occasions I'm glad I don't know Luganda, so I didn't have to know what they were saying). They were all crammed in the 3 rows behind me and then I squished in the front row between a guard and an attorney. The only good things about riding in a taxi-turned-prisoner-transport is that we didn't have to stop at all or wait anywhere.

After a long and scary prisoner-filled ride, they dropped me off in Mokono. I then went to the bank because I had all these Kenyan shillings I needed to exchange. The bank said they didn't convert Kshs and to try the other bank in town. I trekked over to the other bank and they said the same thing.

At this point I finally realized that it was just one of those days and I should just stop trying. Defeated, I went to the internet cafe and spent 3 hours painstakingly uploading photos. What would have been a slow process anyways was to the point of ludicrous because of the slow connection.

After I finished I emerged and went to buy some cheese, beer (Not that it is needed but: *DISCLAIMER* The legal drinking age in Uganda is 18. I will be 20 in three months), and chips. Erin, Libby, and I had planned a Muzungu night involving grilled cheese sandwiches, pringles, and cheap beer.  

I got the cheese, chips, and found the beer but when I got to the counter they told me I couldn't buy the beer (which was in bottles) because I didn't have "empties" to replace the bottles. Don't even get me started on the reasoning system here, but you can't purchase and take away any bottled products without replacing them (but if you've never bought any bottled drinks before then apparently you're screwed. I have no idea where people find these "empties" or why they would carry them around with them). I tried to explain this to the checker but she would have none of it. She said I should just buy cans, but they were literally over double the price compared to bottles, and I didn't have enough cash (besides even if I did I wouldn't have bought them out of pure stubbornness). So I settled for some juice (in a plastic container), and bought the other things and then hiked back to the taxi park.

I was waiting in the taxi for it to fill up and a somosa vendor came up to the window next to me. I was so excited, somosas are my all time favorite snack here and you can't get them in Ntenjeru (they are fried triangle pockets filled with peas) and plus I hadn't eaten lunch. I had got his attention and he was putting some in a bag for me and then the driver started the engine and drove off. I almost cried. It was the low point of my day. After everything that had happened this was the final straw. Life can be cruel sometimes.

Luckily Ein and Libby were full of sympathy as I recounted my day and they had plenty of stories about chasing around and (unsuccessfully) trying to kill a rat that had been terrorizing Erin's house. So we made grilled cheese sandwiches (with avocado in them) and pineapple on the side. That pretty much made up for the day. Although I'm still pretty bitter about the samosas.