4/9/12

Today I arrived at the Nile River Camp- about a three hour drive from the airport in Entebee. Jinja looks a lot like rural Kenya except more farm land and little shops.  The compound I stay at has a row of dorms, showers, a bar/lounge, a pool, and a rope swing into the Nile. I am sharing a room with two other girls- a English girl, a Swede, and an Austrian.  The manager of the compound is a South African man named Damian who has a pet baby monkey named Darwin.  Darwin likes to pounce on the cat and ride on its back.  He also likes to steal earrings- he stole my earing and ran away with it in his mouth but I fetched it back quick. The monkey is also trained to come when it is called in a chewbacka like tone.  Normally when walking around the compound Damian has Darwin perched on his shoulder- its too cute.  The compound is very comfortable and well finished- there are multiple couches and tvs.  For the most part I eat my meals at the bar, which is mostly western food such as burgers, chicken, fries. Its going to get a bit old so I am working on finding alternative eating areas.

4/10/12

Today was my first day of work.  I rode on the back of a pickup truck to a school about 10 minutes away.  This was a nursery school specifically for disabled children.  We taught them what a disability was: we started off by asking if they knew what a disability was and then told them the causes and the myths of disabilities such as it is not caused from displeasure from ancestry or witchcraft.  We then played games to teach them about the different kinds of disabilities- we wheeled them around in a wheelchair, we blindfolded them and had them pass a ball to each other, we taught them sign language (how are you/ I am fine) and then we asked them to get into height order without speaking. All of these activities helped them understand disabilities better. The kids were very preoccupied with jumping on us and acting as if we were jungle gyms. When they’d cry, they’d come over and cling to us- they felt very comforted by us. The teacher were very appreciative that we were there- they hugged us multiple times and thanked us and told us to please come again. Later in the day we played sports at a school about a half hour away.

4/11/12

Today was basically the same as yesterday- we finished with groups of children that we didn’t get to yesterday. After school I took my first boda ride into town. It takes about 15 minutes to get into town and it’s a nice relaxing ride, unless you have a shitty boda driver. In town we walked around and found the Source Café which has internet, a gift shop, and good coffee. Its really quaint and homey and I think ill hit it up a few times a week whenever I need a break from the people here.  Later in the day we went on a speed boat on the Nile at the Nile River Explorer compound.  The boat could go about 50 mph and the boat driver, Jeff, was really funny and a great host.  We could do 360s, sudden stops, and Tokyo drifts.  It cost me 50 dollars but it was money well spent.  It was awesome to go speeding through the marshes and wiz by birds.

4/12/12

Today we took a tour of the education centre just about a 5-minute walk from the main junction.  After we traveled 45 minutes to a school that we spent the day painting at.  We first did a couple of base coats and then painted the next layer a beige color.  The walls are chipping and broken and really need a good paint job. However, I think it would be more efficient to focus on changing the curriculum with the money we have and not spend it on paint and supplies.  The material that they learn in class is very hard for a beginner English learner.  The science material that they are learning in primary school has words that I can’t even understand! The kids liked to watch us as we painted and were very eager to pick up the paintbrush if we offered it to them. The teachers made us a nice lunch of rice, beans, and noodles that we all at up because we worked up quite an appetite painting for so long.  Later, after work we were able to come back and go for a quick swim in the Nile and also go on the rope swing.  The rope swing is pretty high up and you get going pretty fast- it was so much fun! In the evening Tom invited me to go get curry at this Indian restaurant in town with Rhys and Holly’s family. We took a boda into town and met them at the restaurant where we had a delicious dinner. After dinner we went to a casino nearby and played blackjack for about 2 hours! We all put in 50,000 and with this money we got unlimited blackjack games and free service.

4/13/12

I woke up late today and missed work because I ended up going to bed at around 5 AM.  I woke up at 1 and basically bummed out all morning. I wanted national geographic and made a failed attempt at writing my bio paper.  Later Tomaseen, Josh, Tom, Norway, and I all went into town and had a nice lunch at a place called the Keep. This was a delicious restaurant in Jinja run by a Christian family.  After we went to the market and looked for funky clothes but unfortunately it was closing down when we arrived. 

4/14/12

This was a lazy day around the compound. I started my government paper, watched national geographic, and went on the rope swing again. The most exciting part of the day was when a English group came to the compound after their day of rafting. All of us hung out and went to some see some live music on another compound just a five minute walk up the road.  

4/15/12

Sundays are usually reserved for doing something fun during the day. Today we decided to go paddle boarding at an area about 5 mins from the compound.  We were able to borrow the owner's boards and go for free around the Nile.  Paddle boarding involves standing on a board while paddling on either side of the board- this is a great core workout! I paddled around for a while and just laid on my board and drifted off into the middle of the river.  At the specific part that the compound is located on there is no rapids or strong current because there is a dam up the road which allows us to swim, boat, paddle board, etc. This was a really fun day, I've never been paddle boarding before! After paddle boarding for about two hours we ordered pizza from a local restaurant- my first time having pizza in 3 months! As we ate we watched The Dark Night and then went to sleep after it finished. I tend to go to bed early over here so that I can wake up early and run before going to work at 8:45ish.  I run around the village area and constantly get chased by little kids who want to run with the mzungu and scream their heads off in delight when they see me. Its nice to run in the morning before it starts to get really hot and humid. I often have to delay my running until the evening due to massive downpours- East Africa is experiencing it's rainy season!