I have seen chickens tied upside down on bike handlebars. I have seen Ugandans get into a crowded mini-van with a chicken like it was nothing. My chicken rode in the back of the Toyota Land Cruiser on the way to Pajule. When Robert who sat in the middle between the driver and I on the four hour trip to Gulu, he had a chicken with him. He handed it to a passenger he did not know and I guess the chicken was placed on the floor somewhere. I have learned in the past that theywillride at your feet, only when you move and step on them, do they react. One of my weirdest self-reflections, "John, do not forget that you have 2 chickens at your feet. To be honest, I did not want to turn around and see where the chicken was. I thought the min-van was full and we stopped along the way and put 4 more people in the vehicle. Sorry, back to the chickens...walking back into town today, I saw three chickens tied to the top of the min-van. They were all lying on their bellies looking backward as the van pulled away. For a moment I thought they were teenage thrill seekers playing a new game, who could van surf the longest. Or maybe they were just playing a game of chicken?
I seemed to have picked up a case of the sniffles, and went to the Ot Yat (Drug store) to pick up some cold medicine. I settled on Contac, which isn't the tiny time pills and may have no connection. No prescriptions are needed at the drug store and you can buy anything you can afford. If. I ever took medication, this bonus might mean something to me. Although, even mentioning that I have a cold will cause my mother to worry that I am getting Ebola. Please do not tell her that Kristine saw a rat peering down at me from the bamboo rafters at Alululululu Pork Joint. I was again self-reflecting that if the rat jumped on to my pork plate would I give up on the whole thing or try to figure out which pieces he/she (edited to reflect that I believe that bothe genders of rats can achieve) did not touch. Kidding ....kidding..... But the pork is good. Xbox just scored a goal against AIA ...whatever that means.
Will be home in less than a month to try to put together my life. The biggest regret I have...okay second biggest. The biggest is not being able to continue great students at Nerinx, St. Joseph, Ursuline, and Incarnate Word. I hope if you are reading this, you know how great you are and what my expectations for you are. So second biggest regret, if I had been employed at better pay these years I could be putting students on scholarship and making a real difference for students who really want to be at schools, but are not there for lack of fees. I am right now trying to figure out how to come home broke, so I can leave more money behind here. Aaaarrrrgggghhhhh, I wish people knew the consequences of their actions.
The pity paragraph is over and the generosity of people I see with no real means and there ability to smile through the hardships is inspiring. More than once this trip, I have sat in a hut or room where people brought me a bottle of soda on a tray almost always covered with a lace linen. I cannot even think of a comparison in our world. Maybe if everytime you met a mild acquaintance you presented them with a $100 bottle of Single Malt would be the closest thing.
So often when confronted with all of this, the only thing we can do is to pray. So at Holy Rosary today I prayed for all the Ugandns that I know. I prayed that they would find some relief from their constant struggles. I prayed for all of you who with your dollars, thoughts and prayers allowed me to be here. I prayed for myself that hopefully I have learned something from the kindness and love of the people I have met. I pray I can bring that humility and kindness to all that I love in the future.
So will be home on August 14th or so. Stop by Murdoch, maybe just maybe I will bring out a tray with a lace cloth that has a 25 year old bottle of Macallan under it.
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