Shower from the Roof and a Monster Lizard

Last night, at 9 pm the rain came, and as Jamie, Carl, and I realized what that meant, we all sprang into action. I quickly put a bucket under where it drips heavy off the roof, and soon was able to flush the toilet for the first time in 20 hours. All of a sudden, I saw Carl, who was really bumming after playing basketball and sweating that there was still no water, sprinting in his underwear with a bar of soap and a towel to the edge of the house. Jamie soon followed. Not knowing how long the rain would last I also sprinted. My hair was wet enough that I was able to apply the Fructis shampoo that I had sprinted to get. Then when Carl was done, I got the prize spot of standing where a steady stream of water was running off the roof. Although, we were giddy about taking a “shower”, I was not ready for the coldness of the water or stepping into a 12 inch hole of equally cold water. BUT THAT SHOWER WAS ONE OF THE BEST I HAVE EVER TAKEN. IT FELT SO GOOD TO BE CLEAN. Btw, 12:30 Monday afternoon and still no water.

Later I was looking all over for my phone, see Uganda is just like America, I picked a pillow off the ground. I was startled to see a lizard lying where the pillow used to be. This was not the small gecko that Hadley had found a day earlier on my mosquito netting. This was a lizard. I am not saying it was big, but it was just a step below a Kimodo Dragon. I went to get help to capture it after it ran under the bed, but when we came back it was gone. I do believe it is just a coincidence that although I had planned on sleeping on the lower bunk, I slept on the third level. This had nothing to do with the lizard that may or may not still be sharing my room. I also talked to Sr. Mary Cara Ajio, the head teacher at Sacred Heart (a Catholic secondary school for girls) and I will be visiting there tomorrow.

Yesterday was our first day off of the trip. It was kind of nice just relaxing and not doing anything. Most of the teachers went for lunch at Bambu, but since I was at Da Pub, the night before I did not wake up early enough for 9 am Mass, so I again went to noon at Holy Rosary. Not quite as crowded or as hot as last week. The sermon was the three things that were needed for peace in this region. Point number 1 was division. I listened intently as the Italian priest mentioned all of the divisions that Gulu and Uganda has and it reminded me of the division in America.

But then I thought, here I am halfway across the world and althought almost everything is different, almost everything is the same. There food is different, and their mud brick huts are obviously different, but the pride they take in their home, and inviting people over for dinner reminds me a lot of Jane Magee and 7486 Woodlawn Colonial. As I picked up my lap top, and started writing this. Agnes is hand washing our clothes out back. Since we still do not have water, she had to go to the bore hole to fetch water to wash the clothes. She walked up the dirt path with two gerry cans full of 5 gallons of water each. She takes great pride in what she does, and I do not think I have ever seen anyone scrub clothes with the gusto she has. You have now seen pictures of Awere and realize the classroom is very different. Yet there are kids that pay attention when others do not, and there are kids taking copious notes. There was a boy today who stood up for the watchman who delivered a message that disquieted a teacher.

So as I walked home from Awere through the village that translates too, “The man that pees himself” (I am not joking about this, they said it either got its name, because a man did this after he had been drinking or maybe not). I shouted to the people after the children’s call of “Moo Nu!” and asked them how they are doing, and of course they replied, “I am fine.” I had to smile and laugh with them, because we are not so different after all.

Peace,

john