Busy

I'm feeling very guilty that it has been 15 days since my last post.... BUT me and the gang have been so so busy at the weekends and after-school that there has been no time. As usual time has flown by and so much has happened since my last post. Last weekend we went to the Hairy Lemon island in the Nile which is probably one of the most chilled out places in the entire world with no phone signal or internet access so I couldn't update. There was a volleyball net and a little waterfall but I've got to say swimming in the Nile is not my top choice for a relaxing swim- the current was incredibly strong, there were lots of fish and the riverbed had so many sharp rocks I left with bleeding legs and almost definitely Bilharzia (we all get medicine at the end of the trip to treat Bilharzia which is a disease involving a worm.. but don't worry parents!).It was a really nice trip which may or may not have involved skinny dipping.. which I may or may not have taken part in!!

I got a hilarious love letter from a girl at Budini this week addressed to 'Madame Porren' requesting to be my friend which I will keep forever. The girls and I also visited a girl called Stella who we made friends with at the beginning of the trip in her boarding school at Valley Hill. We brought her juice and some bread and she was so pleased to have some white friends visit her at school, we could clearly see all the pupils there staring at her with shock and jealousy it was weird but I felt like a celebrity which I enjoyed :) We also went to visit our favorite teacher Juliets house in a neighboring village. She made us the most incredible meal but unless you have 3 plates piled high with food you may as well slap her in the face it's considered that insulting if you don't finish your food! We don't find it at all awkward or weird socializing and visiting Ugandan adult friends out here it's strangely like there is no age barrier because our conversations are quite limited anyhow but also because they are so fun and love having guests.
Africa has stained my feet permanently brown with dirt despite constantly washing!Food wise we haven't invented anymore exciting concoctions but on Monday we had a Mexican night because our pal Katy lived in New Mexico and Mexico for years so is a pro at making salsa and guacamole (Mum can you believe I'm eating avocados??)

This weekend all 19 of us went to Kampala to explore the capital city. We stayed in the Red Chili backpackers lodge which was really nice and did great food. I made the error of putting all my drinks on a tab and therefore had a nasty surprise this morning when I went to pay.. As for Kampala it's not a great place which I fully expected, dirty streets, very smelly and the people were significantly unfriendlier then the people out in our rural villages! On the plus side the nightlife was really good with a lush bar and we met lots of interesting people. I am enjoying meeting people from all over the world like Germans, New Zealanders, lots of Americans and some Swedish people too and finding out what the hell they're doing in Uganda. ALSO Alice, Connor and I turned the corner to find a massive cinema in the middle of a smelly Ugandan city which was unexpected but amazing. So of course we went to watch the Hobbit for the second time! (Alice being a lord of the rings nut and having a tattoo in elvish cried all the way through of course). It was really bizarre to be sitting in a massive western cinema and then to leave and walk out to see a mongrel munching on some rubbish in the streets underneath a mango tree.

Other news is our mzungu neighbor Katy has just found a kitten on the streets in Iganga and has taken it home so she has a cat now which is great news. With her fab cooking, her DVD player and now her kitten we are so lucky to have her round the corner and miss her loads when she selfishly goes off on her little 3 days trips!!!
Alice and I have started looking into how we are spendign our donation money too we are thinking plastering and painting the walls of a classrooom and painting a mural but we are still unsure..

I am out of internet time and still have so much to write :(. I am looking forward to next weekend of white water rafting on the Nile rapids which apparently is absolutely terrifying- did you see the Comic Relief special because that is what I have signed myself up for.
I will try to post next week but it's hard because the internet is so crap. Lots of love and miss you all.
POlly x