Slowing the Pace

Welcome back to Uganda. The last two weeks have been pretty low-key compared to the previous two, but there was still no shortage of fun. I traveled back to western Uganda to visit my friends and see my students again. Although I only got to spend five days there, it was still a great little reunion. The boys at the campground where I stay were eager to show me the improvements they had made in their swimming since I last saw them. I could immediately tell that they had been practicing what I'd taught them, and I feel pretty confident that the boys who were afraid of the water just four short weeks ago, can now safely venture out into the "deep end" without any supervision. You should have seen their faces beaming with pride!

It was also wonderful to see my students again. I was only present for two class days, but it was like we had never missed a beat. We resumed our math lessons, but I quickly found myself bored with teaching math, considering I only had a little time with them, so we ended up playing soccer instead. I also had the children teach me six of their traditional dances (if you're lucky, I might just show you when I get home:), while I taught them some American dance moves (crazy stuff, like disco, Michael Jackson, breakdancing, the robot, and some other personal favorites). I know I must have looked funny performing their dances, but there is no way that I looked as hilarious as they did doing the American moves! I will try to get a video next time. As you can tell, we had an incredibly fun time.

After entertaining a few invitations to have lunch at some of the homes of the community elders, I had to say goodbye to my friends and students. I hope to see them one more time before leaving Uganda.

Unfortunately, I also experienced something that I thought might come, but was hoping wouldn't. Since I made several donations to the school and started the livestock income-generation project for the school and community, people have looked up to me, almost like I have some sort of supernatural powers. This trip back to the community, I no longer felt like the people looked to me as a superhero, but rather now as a savior. It was a more uncomfortable feeling for me, as I know I am not that person. I was bombarded with inquiries about other possible projects and requests to donate more money to start up these projects. While the community would clearly benefit from some of these projects, the beneficiaries of the others were less obvious, and I believe people started believing that I would help them, personally. I also received letters from a few students, asking me to sponsor them and their education. I understand that the people are desperate and see me as a means to a better life, especially considering that I am the only person whom most of them have ever spoken to who makes more than ten or twenty dollars per month. However, it was difficult to help them realize that I am not made of money, and that twenty dollars in the U.S. is much different than twenty dollars in rural Uganda. It seemed to me that the community members wanted an immediate relief from their poverty without having any responsibility. They were somewhat impatient with wanting to wait to see the positive effect of the income-generation project I started. I respectfully had to tell them that I cannot donate more at the moment, and also had to tell some students whom I have grown very close to, that I cannot sponsor them. It hurt me to do so, but I also realize that I am not their savior and can't solve all their problems. This situation got me thinking though, if this is one of the main problems with Africa, and with developing countries in general--are they always expecting handouts to fix their own problems? It is a difficult and controversial question, and one that I cannot answer, but one that I think is worth thinking about.

You all know me--I never like life to be boring, and am always looking for my next new adventure. About 90 kilometers east of Kampala lies Jinja, the adventure capital of Uganda. I chose to get my adrenaline fix by going whitewater rafting on the Nile River (called the Victoria Nile here). The source of the Nile River is in Jinja, so basically I could have just continued rafting for the next few months, through the war zones of southern and western Sudan, and then through the deserts of Egypt, in order to reach Cairo, where I start my journey back home. I know I am adventurous, but that is just slightly a little too much for me to bite off at this point. Maybe someday though:)

This section of the Nile is rated a Class 5, which means it is pretty gnarly. Most professional raft guides rate this section of river as one of the top rafting destinations in the world, ahead of the world-famous Zambezi River near Victoria Falls. I happened to be placed with a group of four Chinese guys, whom I immediately started disliking. Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Chinese people, but these guys really pushed my buttons. For one, they very rarely listened to our guide, despite the fact that they had never been rafting before. They were constantly yelling in Chinese, never wanted to paddle, and had some very bad manners. One situation sums it up pretty well: we were just floating in a large, flatwater area, needing to paddle in order to reach the next rapid several hundred meters ahead. After the Chinese refused to paddle, they asked if they could jump in the water to cool off. Our guide said that they could get in the water, but that they had to hang onto the raft because we were floating over a crocodile pool. Not only did the Chinese guys jump in and swim about 20 meters away from the raft, but they also took off their lifejackets before doing so. They refused to come back to the raft before swimming and splashing around. Now I am generally a nice person, but I have to admit, a small part of me (actually, a pretty big part of me) wanted to see a crocodile attack at that point. What can I say? I must be honest, right? Well, no such luck this time.

The river was pretty low after about a week of little or no rain, so the rapids and waterfalls we traveled over weren't as large as usual, but they were still pretty crazy and we ended up flipping our raft twice (awesome!). We also had to bypass two or three sections because only kayaks could pass through safely. Overall, it was an awesome experience. There was only one bad part-I got incredibly sunburned. I am always very careful with my sunscreen use (most of you know this), and this time was no different. However, at the end of the day, I found myself suffering with the second-worst sunburn I can remember. Like the worst sunburn I've had, I can only attribute this one to some crappy sunscreen I bought here that is obviously not waterproof (I know, I bought a French-made sunscreen, not Ugandan, so I thought I was safe; this is just one more thing we can blame the French for:). Unfortunately, it was a painful end to a fun day.

With a little over two weeks left here in Uganda, time is running out. I only have one more "big" thing planned in my time left, and that is hiking to the top of another volcano. Besides some shopping and a few goodbyes, relaxing and enjoying every minute here will occupy my time. So adios, ciao, arrivederci, do zobaczenia, a bientot, weraba, and auf wiedersehen until my farewell to Uganda.