Wednesday, November 02, 2005
A couple of funnies...
Well, this past weekend I got to travel to Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, for a team retreat/quarterly meeting. Our team stayed at the American Recreation Association, a very nice Embassy-run hotel/club. I had some of the best food since arriving here....I had a banana split! They also had really good salads and things like potato skins!
Our first night there (Thursday), we had a buffet with roast beef, chicken, potatoes, etc. There was this bowl of white stuff with the sauces and dressings. I was told it was sour cream. Since the sour cream we get in Mbarara is really runny and kind of icky, I was pretty excited. So I decided to put some on my baked potato. It did taste a little funny, but meh...what are you going to do? Came to find out (later in the evening, thanks to Carole!) that is was MAYONAISE! YIKES! Can't believe I couldn't tell! Guess I was just so excited....
Later that night, Lori asked me to go with her to take our Ugandan women to a hotel nearby. (They came with us to help watch the kids during meetings and such.) She said we were looking for a place called something like "Carenda Guest House." So we drove up and down the street looking for this hotel---several times, reading all the signs we could see (it was, of course 10:30 and dark). . . "The Calendar Hotel" seemed to be a nice looking place. I tried convincing Lori to let us just take the girls there or to stop and ask for directions... finally, we did. We were told that the "carenda" hotel was right where we had been driving. In fact, it sounded like we had passed it four or five times. Julie, one of the girls in the back seat finally spoke up and said, "Lori, we think that the way we say the word "calendar" is different than the way you say it." We about DIED laughing! See, they dont really have L's in their language here....they roll them to sound like Rs. And I guess the accent was placed on another syllable. Anyhow, it was HILARIOUS! But, I guess you'd have to have been there!
Overall, the weekend was great. I took a piki-piki from our hotel to the Garden City Mall one afternoon. It was a little scary, but fun and exciting too. The drivers are CRAZY! The 10-15 minute ride turned into a 30 minute ride because my driver didn't know where he was going. OOPS! I was only genuinely scared for my life 2x--once when we were trying to make a right-hand turn (They drive on the opposite side of the road here, so it's like making a left-hand turn!) and the other time was when we picked up so much speed --maybe 40 mph-- going down this big hill and then had to brake suddenly and weave in between a couple of cars. There really are NO laws for driving here....well, I take that back. There are laws, I just think they aren't enforced. My trip to the mall was fun, though! I found Dr. Pepper and Snickers! Plus the Aristok store is the closest you can get to an American bookstore. It's no Barnes and Noble, but I still love it!
I very much enjoyed meeting the missionaries from other areas in Uganda at our quarterly meeting on Sunday (after our retreat was over). I feel like I've made some new friends and even some "contacts." Already, there is a plan to go to Kenya to visit some of the girls who are moving there next week to work with Christian Relief Fund next week. It was just good to meet other people and learn about them and what they are doing here...
This weekend, I'm heading to Rwanda. I'm SOOOOO excited. I'll get to meet Ros Carr and help at the orphanage in Mugongo. I'm sure I'll take lots of pictures, which, by the way I already have tons of more to download, but I probably won't get around to it until next week or later...
Think that's all for now...
Our first night there (Thursday), we had a buffet with roast beef, chicken, potatoes, etc. There was this bowl of white stuff with the sauces and dressings. I was told it was sour cream. Since the sour cream we get in Mbarara is really runny and kind of icky, I was pretty excited. So I decided to put some on my baked potato. It did taste a little funny, but meh...what are you going to do? Came to find out (later in the evening, thanks to Carole!) that is was MAYONAISE! YIKES! Can't believe I couldn't tell! Guess I was just so excited....
Later that night, Lori asked me to go with her to take our Ugandan women to a hotel nearby. (They came with us to help watch the kids during meetings and such.) She said we were looking for a place called something like "Carenda Guest House." So we drove up and down the street looking for this hotel---several times, reading all the signs we could see (it was, of course 10:30 and dark). . . "The Calendar Hotel" seemed to be a nice looking place. I tried convincing Lori to let us just take the girls there or to stop and ask for directions... finally, we did. We were told that the "carenda" hotel was right where we had been driving. In fact, it sounded like we had passed it four or five times. Julie, one of the girls in the back seat finally spoke up and said, "Lori, we think that the way we say the word "calendar" is different than the way you say it." We about DIED laughing! See, they dont really have L's in their language here....they roll them to sound like Rs. And I guess the accent was placed on another syllable. Anyhow, it was HILARIOUS! But, I guess you'd have to have been there!
Overall, the weekend was great. I took a piki-piki from our hotel to the Garden City Mall one afternoon. It was a little scary, but fun and exciting too. The drivers are CRAZY! The 10-15 minute ride turned into a 30 minute ride because my driver didn't know where he was going. OOPS! I was only genuinely scared for my life 2x--once when we were trying to make a right-hand turn (They drive on the opposite side of the road here, so it's like making a left-hand turn!) and the other time was when we picked up so much speed --maybe 40 mph-- going down this big hill and then had to brake suddenly and weave in between a couple of cars. There really are NO laws for driving here....well, I take that back. There are laws, I just think they aren't enforced. My trip to the mall was fun, though! I found Dr. Pepper and Snickers! Plus the Aristok store is the closest you can get to an American bookstore. It's no Barnes and Noble, but I still love it!
I very much enjoyed meeting the missionaries from other areas in Uganda at our quarterly meeting on Sunday (after our retreat was over). I feel like I've made some new friends and even some "contacts." Already, there is a plan to go to Kenya to visit some of the girls who are moving there next week to work with Christian Relief Fund next week. It was just good to meet other people and learn about them and what they are doing here...
This weekend, I'm heading to Rwanda. I'm SOOOOO excited. I'll get to meet Ros Carr and help at the orphanage in Mugongo. I'm sure I'll take lots of pictures, which, by the way I already have tons of more to download, but I probably won't get around to it until next week or later...
Think that's all for now...
# posted by beth @ 4:32 AM 
