A Day in the Village,

and what a day it was....

Ok so I actually go to a village almost everyday. However, usually I go for work but today was just for fun, besides it wasn't even in my district.

I got word earlier this week that Jane (owner of the Tea Room) was heading to the village where Charles has been staying. I told Jane that was coming and we would make it a road trip, she laughed thinking I was not serious. Last night when taking tea I asked what time we should leave at in the morning? How many people were coming? And just how far was this place? I think they were shocked to find that I was actually going to go to the village and so excited that I would drive. They then told me Jane had left already but that Charity and Jane Junior (JJ)would go with.

So at 9am I show up at the Tea Room ready to take Charity and JJ to Nyantore. Of course we don't actually get going until about 11 am and I make a stop at the bank. I park my truck, run across the street, see the ATM is being serviced, and run back to find my truck locked up! Not like keys locked in the car again but with one of those things on your tire so you can't drive. This man is writing a ticket and I am trying to be all fun and games like "Oh no need to put that there...we are leaving right now." now Mr. Parking Guy....not so fun and games...he tells me I need to pay 20,000 UGS (not a lot to us...$12, but relatively a lot of money). I argue with him, gentle at first but get really into it. I state that I was seriously parked for 1 minute and besides how is one to know if I cna park there or not. He points out a really distant sign that requires my magnifying glass and sticks to his 20,000 UGS deal. I am actually yelling now (I don't normally get angry but I am tired of people trying to take Muzungos for all their money). Then this other parking guy from a different company comes to me and tells me just to offer Mr. Parking Guy a small amount and he will likely accept, keeping it for himself (so much corruption here). I hold up all the money I have in my pocket ...8,000 UGS and yell....I really did...here is 8,000 you want it or not? Then he tells me he can't take it as his boss is watching from above....sure enough I look up and ther he is...and that we could both be put in jail! So in a huff I take off to the other bank, walking of course, take out some cash and pay the guy his stupid 20,000. Then he says that he has other records of this car worth 60,000 and that I should pay those too....I refuse and tell him to take his lock off my car immediately.

Eventually we get to the village and we go to see Charles...except he isn't there. He is...IN SCHOOL!! Sweet! His Uncle got some extra cash and enrolled him in a really cheap boarding school. So we went to the school. When he saw me he got this huge smile, hugged me and started to get a little choked up. He just kept hugging me and wouldn't let go. He keeps telling me how much he misses me! Keep in mind...this is a 16 year old boy we are talking about here. So it turns out his Uncle can afford one term only (out of three this year). The good news is that this place is about $105/term...essentially he has about $530 to raise in order to finish high school. I know a few of you had emailed me about helping out Charles. If you are still interested then please email me or leave a comment and we can work out the details. Charles wasn't allowed to leave the school and we had to get to the wedding...oh yeah I never mentioned I was going to a wedding in the village!

We went to the Mukade's (grandmother's) place before the wedding to meet some others. Mukade lives in the bush....really the bush! I barely made it on the road getting there but it was well worth it. They live in a real live hut.

Inside it is sooo nice and cozy...I really wanted to just lay down and stay there for a while but there were cows to milk! Here all the cows are called into the "Milking Parlor". These young boys tend to the cattle during the day and then bring them close to the house twice a day for milking.

What better place to milk than.....in the bush! ha ha ha. He took this little rope and loosely tied her hindlegs together but she never flinched....just stood and took it. Now this man was FAST! I am trying to upload a video for the first time here. See if you can get it to work...

After checking out the cows it was off to the world's longest most boring wedding. So reception starts at 2 pm...of course things don't really get going until 3. Cue speaker #1....ok I am already bored. Cue speaker #2, 3.....500 I am sure. They had everyone from Mayors to My plan was to stick around for some of the dance because I thought it would be fun....10 pm. That's a one with a zero...speaches are still going on...please remember that we started at 3 pm! I can't wait any longer as I am not that comfortable driving at night here.

So we take off...we are trucking right along when all of a sudden at the top of a hill....putt, putt, bang! Car stops....definitely out of fuel....definitely in the middle of Nowhere, Uganda. You really start to appreciate Canadian services when you are like me. OK what now? Let's sit and wait...see if someone stops! Ha ha ha....has the cow jumped the moon yet? About 30 minutes has now gone by. Luckily I made some new friends at the wedding. I call and they say they will see what they can do. They call back in about 40 minutes to tell me they have a car and will be leaving town in 25 minutes (don't forget these are African minutes). We were all getting a little tired and cold....here is Charity waiting...

About 40 minutes later my new friends Moses and Mark show up in a borrowed car with a little under 5 L of gas. I have 35 km to go. So car all gassed up ready to go turn the key....battery...DEAD! Thank God for standards. They start pushing me up and down the highway in attempt to get a start....finally we decided to go backwards down the highway....well it worked. The darn thing started. I drive very reserved...using hills to my advantage and trying to do as little revving as possible. So we make it Mbarara, I get to the Tea Room drop the girls off and hop back into my car. Turn the key....ahhhhh battery. The girls give me several pushes and finally the things starts...I pull out onto the road and....OUT OF GAS!! This can't be happening. I coast back off the main road....and let out a little "Ahhhhh" out of frustration. I convince a boda driver to go and get me fuel. He brings me back maybe 1.5 L of fuel. We push and push and push (the battery is obviously dead)...after about 8 tries....the darn thing goes. I speed as fast as I can home park the car and get into bed...2 am! Wow! This really won't be a day I will ever forget....and one I hopefully will never repeat.

Praise God that I am perfectly safe, healthy and happy as so much more could have gone wrong.