Field Trip with a Cup of Joe on the Side...

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Today was FIELD TRIP DAY!!! Woohoo…brings me back to elementary school days. We were to leave at 8:00 but our bus got stuck in a traffic jam, so we got off to a late start. Finally, we arrived maybe around 9 something and our professor, Peter was waiting in our car. He’s so cute…mmmhmmm (he always does that). Anyway, our field trip today was to the Kasubi Tombs…where the King’s of Buganda, one of the regions in Uganda, are buried. It was so cool. Our tour guide was very intelligent and knew a lot of information about the history behind each king. First, he showed us the huts-but they really look like houses-that the kings’ wives live in. These wives may not actually be the king’s wife but are representations of them. When a king’s wife dies, she is replaced by another woman who is a descendent of the king or who is of the same clan. We saw some of the women working today. Then, we entered the largest hut in the WORLD!!! I never went inside a hut before but it was awesome. 4 kings are buried there. We sat on matted floor which the wives weaved, and learned about the traditions in regards of the kings. When a king died, people believed him to have disappeared into the forest…he left his spirit behind, but never technically died according to the people. Therefore, half of the hut, which was blocked off, was designated to the kings…they were buried in the forest. The tour guide did a great job explaining the information…I thoroughly enjoyed it. After we went to the gift shop, we had to run back to the bus because it was pouring rain.

After lunch-carrot soup, bread, and fruit J- a Joy, Jess, Jenny, Mindy, and I went to Café Pap…kind of like a Starbucks, so good and so cool! It was kind of like a taste from home…mmm, iced mocha was so good. They had cool designs on all of our coffees. Anyway, on our way over there…we got lost. The mutates can be very confusing because there are so many people everywhere as well as dozens of cars, etc. going every which way, you really have to be aware of your surroundings. Anyway, this was the first time we were finding the coffee shop on our own without any boys…I think we managed well. I was grossed out though…stepped in a puddle of rain/dirty water/urine on the way, ew! I got over it…once we got to the shop and ordered our food I went into the bathroom, stuck my foot up on the sink, and washed my foot and sandal with soap, water, and antibacterial hand gel…hopefully that got the job done. For the next hour and a half us group of girls had an awesome talk…I am really getting to know people a lot better and I am thankful for these opportunities. We headed home. After a while of walking we, once again, got lost. Thankfully, we talked to this old man who showed us the way and told us that he is thankful we are here with them and will be praying for us. Such a cute old man…Ugandans are so kind! We got home with some extra free time to work on the homework I didn’t do, had dinner, and then headed back into town for the inauguration of Obama, our new president! Basically, the whole group went together although we had to part ways in between. We had no idea how to get to the place we wanted to go, Magic Square or something like that? We followed the crowd and realized we were going the wrong way so we had to turn around and go against traffic…boy, were we booking it! Finally we got there in time and watched the inauguration. So cool! Ugandans are so happy for us and are proud for an African to be our president…they always said to us as we walked by, “Obama, Obama…yay!” After about an hour or more, we left the place and went into the city. Our group split up. I rode a mutatu with Peter and Sophie.. We went to Kabalagala, this would be my first night in town. We walked around for a bit and stopped in at this ice cream/burger place, pretty nice. Our other friends, Roanna, Jess, Jess, Joy, and Eli joined us as they saw us driving by in their mutatu. We had fun eating and talking.. Since home was not that far, we walked all the way home and our day was complete.

The city-close to Parliament is where we were- it is very different from Muyenga, especially at night…alongside the sidewalk homeless people sat with few blankets to keep them warm, selling something, sleeping, and looked so frail that they couldn’t move. Little children, boys and girls, would come up to me with hope and sadness in their eyes that said, “Give me money or something to eat…” It hurts my heart to see such brokenness. I think about these children, skin and bone, dirt on their hands and feet, bad hygiene all over their body and in their clothes, they have no home…no place to go. What am I to do? I want to give them money, but know that I shouldn’t…I wish I had food to give to them, but I have none. I fear for these little girls who wander the streets alone and who are surrounded by men who are cruel and abusive…I could not imagine living such a life. So many people are suffering from poverty and continue to pursue on. They struggle to make ends meet but work hard in efforts to provide for themselves and family. I knew that we lived in a broken world, but seeing it is heart wrenching and makes me ask the question, why…