Donkey!
Today I took one final trip to the Catechist Training Center (no, really, this time I mean it!) to enjoy some time in the countryside outside of Gulu-Town (which is kind of lonely now that my side-kick and younger-brother-stand-in Blake has gone home).
Blake's Last Trip to CTC
The boda ride was a little crazy because of the heavy rain last night (the muddy roads are scary on a dirt bike and there are moments that I wonder if it wouldn't have just been better to walk) but I made it safely to the gate of CTC and found my way inside. Today it is hot. Muggy hot. Like it's going to rain again hot. And that's wonderful (except that I need to plan my boda ride back appropriately so I don't get caught in it). It's a perfect way to end my last weekend in Gulu.
I met Denise at her hut, where we chatted about some of the things we're excited to get back home to. It's weird because both of us are silently dreading having to leave our respective Ugandan "Home"s, but we're both trying to make the most of it. For Denise, who has spent 12 of the last 24 months in Uganda, this is even more bitter than sweet. I like to joke that she was born backwards -- this is home and South Carolina is where she visits. For me the feeling is more one of being torn and having my heart be two places at once. We both decided that there were a few restaurants we're craving, and I'm looking forward to cuddling up on my couch with my cats. According to Delta-KLM, 5 days until we check in for our return flight home. Where has the time gone?
Lunch was a quiet affair, just Denise, myself, Mick, and Fr. Joseph and Fr. Felix. Chicken, chips, watermelon, beans, and posho. There was a smart little cat that kept wandering up through the door into the dining room and sitting at Denise's feet crying. She fed it and put it outside, but after she'd closed the door it hopped through the window. Fr. Joseph ended up chasing the cat back out of the room and out the window, laughing the entire time.
After lunch, we took a walk outside and Denise and Mick showed me the huge yellow and black spiders that were hanging from the trees there.
One of many spiders we antagonized today
"Are they dangerous?" Mick asked.
"No. I don't think so." Father Joe said with a smile. Then, after a second of contemplation he added, "But I wouldn't provoke them either!"
Well, never let it be said that we didn't get some good advice.
Of course, what would you do if you had a whole nest of giant spiders in giant webs and nothing else to do on a Sunday afternoon? Pretty soon we were poking the spiders and at one point a stick was thrown into one of the webs (that spider eventually made quick work of getting the stick out of his web. It was cool to watch!). We kept our distance (using long pieces of grass to touch the webs and spiders) and loudly hoped for the bees, wasps, and other flying bugs to land in the webs so we could watch the spiders make dinner of them. Unfortunately, no such luck.
We eventually got bored of the spiders and headed over to the farm area, where the goats, chickens, turkeys, geese, and pigs are kept. We named all of the piglets Wilbur, and all of the goats "Monday's Dinner, Tuesday's Dinner, Wednesday's Dinner."
Baby Piglets
It was funny because I don't have to watch them get slaughtered. However, having recently had the unfortunate honor of watching a goat be slaughtered I can tell you that eating an animal is one thing. Listening to it cry while it is made into dinner is a totally other thing. We've had a lot of conversations about whether or not we'd ever be willing to kill an animal to eat it. Have no fear, I've made up my mind that if it was my survival or the animal's survival, I'd thank God it had been put in front of me and I'd learn how to make it dinner.
Luckily for me, I haven't yet been faced with that task and most of my meat has managed its way to my plate without me meeting it first. Everyone knows what happens when you let me NAME an animal.
Monday's Dinner
Mostly, I was just kind of glad to be out of town today. Gulu is still recovering from its party last night (for those of you who aren't following the World Cup, Ghana thrashed the US last night 2-1). I had my Saturday phone call to Peter and afterwards decided to just stay in my room instead of going to the dining area to crowd around the little television set with the rest of the town. However, somewhere after midnight, as I was trying to doze off, a massive roar of cheering came from downstairs and from up the street. It seemed like the entire town was screaming and chanting all at once. I didn't need to go downstairs. I knew that Ghana had won. Africa United.
Indeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment