Last night, we were given a royal and formal sendoff at Gulu SS. They cleared out the teachers' lounge and had it set up for a dinner. We processed into dinner with the five teachers as the Guests of Honor. The MC, Okoli John, was not quite sure the entire night, how we could have 5 guests of honor, but the dinner went on marvelously. Of course, being in Uganda we had a formal program complete with many speeches. They also refer to the program quite a bit, and tell you what is going to be next on the program. I told the Ugandan teachers that we are living in a smaller and smaller world, and the world will be a lot different in 2025. But after exchanges like this we can see that we have many more common interests than conflicts.
Some of the students came and did a spirited 15 minute native dance, with one young student shimmying on her knees for about 25 feet. It was amazing. The dinner consisted of fried chicken, casava chips, and slaw/salad. It was a definite attempt to have "american style" food. They had a cake that looked like a wedding cake, and of course like last year, they had lace everywhere. This place is running out of power, so I am racing to get in a few thoughts. Gulu has been without power for 2 days, and all of us Americans are trying to figure out how to charge our laptops and ipods before we leave. The dinner was so great, so I will have to talk later. The interesting thing is they were going to have a choral group sing a "sad, good-bye" song, but since one of the American teachers cried during her introduction. They thought it might be too sad for us, and cancelled the song from the program.
John
1 comment:
John-
Haven't left any comments, but I've been reading all summer. Can't wait to hear all your stories first hand. Have a safe trip home! The school year here is already shaping up to be an interesting one!
Godspeed!
Mary
p.s. I even went to the game and tried to force my will on the Cardinals, but no luck this week!
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