June 30, 2007

As usual, today is not what I thought it would be. I thought it would be a quiet Saturday. I would sleep in, and then mosey on down to town for the burial, then come back and read peacefully for the rest of the day. That was too much to hope for.

I woke up at 6am today to pouring rain, and then I really had to go to the latrine. Of course everyone already had to be up and be busy getting ready for church (I forgot that everyone at the White House are 7^th day Adventists). So everyone was demanding that I come along. Still clinging to the hope that I would have a relaxing Saturday, I politely refused all requests. Unfortunately, Ugandans are much more persistent than you would think. So kissing my PJ’s and cozy bed goodbye I headed off to church with the girls that live in the dorms.

We got there at 9am and didn’t get out until 1pm. There were sermons, then singing, prayers, and repeat-for 4 hours! And of course, all in Luganda.

It was not one of my best Uganda experiences. They pack their churches like they pack their taxis; I couldn’t believe how many people were squeezed into the one room church. Fortunately, there was a woman who sat next to me about 2 hours into it who spoke fairly good English, who translated for me, and then insisted that I sing along from their hymnal book. But not only were there no notes, just words-but it was also all in Luganda. So I stumbled over wrong notes and pronunciations the whole way through, but the people around me seemed to really appreciate it.

After church we headed to part one of the burial (which was the memorial part) at a different church (but it was too full, so we ended up sitting outside and listening). Part 2 was at the man’s house, so we trekked up there with the entire mass of people who went to the memorial. Then there was a lot of singing, more talking, LOTS of standing in the hot sun, and then finally we got to walk home (which at this point might as well have been on the other side of the world).

Once I got home I visited with some of the dorm girls, and they showed me photo albums that they had. Ritah (one of the girls) asked me if I would like a tour of the rest of Nsumba (which is the actual village we live in-Ntenjeru where we work, is next to it). It was a beautiful (but super long and hot) walk. I hadn’t been down the little windy trail that continues past our house, although it continues for quite some time.

Ritah showed me where different people lived, where there is a field to play football is (which was hilarious because there were cows tied to the goal posts grazing while the kids were playing).

We went by a woman’s house that grew vanilla plants, and she gave me a handful of dried vanilla (which smells so good, and kind of looks like fruit leather).

We picked wildflowers on the way home and gathered a large procession of children as we walked. It was by far the best part of my day although it was completely unplanned. It was better than being holed up in my room and having my quiet day. Lesson learned for the day: Planned events aren’t always as rewarding as spontaneous ones.