Malaria, Rest, Rain, and Learning

August 12, 2011
Jinja, Uganda

Courtney and I got to join in on the kind of day that the girls here take when they need a restful, staycation day in the midst of their busy lives. We made crepes again for breakfast, then grabbed some workout clothes, Mobied up the babies, and set out on a long, workout-ish walk. Trust me, carrying a baby and walking quickly on the Ugandan roads in the hot sun wears you out! We power-walked for about 45 minutes (minus the vigorous arm-swinging; we left that to the 1980’s workout pros) before stopping at a small hotel overlooking the Nile from across the road to buy some water. We sat in their little patio and rested for a while, played with the babies, chugged our water, and generally cooled down from our walk. We traversed back, Courtney and I Mobied to E. and A.R. respectively, and Christina, Mandie and Kate taking turns with M. since she’s heavier than the babies. The girls live near a tourist hotel and once we got home, we grabbed some protein bars for lunch, put the little babies down for their naps, got M. into her bathing suit, and headed to the hotel’s pool for some sun and splashing. We got to stay there for a few hours; watching M. (complete with floaties and water toys) play with Courtney in the pool was so fun. It seemed to make her so joyful. It was such a blessing to me to be able to just sit there and rest, let alone the other girls who have been here for so much longer than I have.
In the late afternoon, the three little girls and us five big girls and headed via boda to the Bujagali Falls on the Nile. I had my first less-than-fabulous boda experience then; our driver was snippy, a little too excited to have Mandie and I as passengers on his boda, and characteristically inattentive to Mandie’s repeatedly-shouted instructions to wait for the other two bodas. We weren’t in any kind of danger, but it was very annoying with a healthy dose of humorous thrown as well.
The falls (once we finally got there and re-argued the price of the transportation with said annoying boda driver) were stunning. They are not tall like you’d normally think of “falls,” more like very big, very intense rapids. When we walked down the big hill to the falls themselves, we were able to walk right to the edge of the river. It was unbelievable. So vast. So unbelievably powerful. To stand on its edge, see it stretching out before you, and feel the rush of the water three feet away through vibrating through the ground is awesome and overwhelming. That amount of power is frightening in its very majesty.
We took pictures, especially of the babies, for quite a while there on the bank of the river and then I went and sat for a few moments alone on one of the rocks that dotted the waterline. I tried to take in whole scene: the intense green of the grass and red of the earth, the clarity and deep rush of the water, the thundering sound of the rapids, the immensity of the vast bowl of the blue sky stretched above me, but I couldn’t. I think I would have had to stay there for a long time to let it soak in. I wish I could go back, toting my notebook with me. There were so many things I wanted to write even as I sat there for a few minutes.
We stopped at one of the nice/American-y/place-where-tourists-go restaurants, called “2 Friends” for dinner on the way home; we had planned specifically to have a nice meal tonight as part of our stayation-y day. After passing the security guard at the entrance and being scanned (for bombs or knives, I suppose?), we were ushered into a beautiful enclosure of pavilioned tables surrounded by illuminated palm trees and connected by little winding paths. It was a strange sensation to step into this place when outside I had just passed the mounds of smoldering garbage and seen the huge trash-eating cranes stalking along the roof line of an abandoned house. I can only imagine that having this little oasis here is a blessing to Mandie and the other girls who live here. The food was a little more expensive and took a little longer than other places we’ve eaten, but that was because it was made fresh for us, from scratch, the service was attentive, and the surroundings were beautiful. It was a rest to my soul to be in that beautiful place, let alone the girls who have been here for so much longer.
Our evening was quite, a good ending to our relaxing day.

August 13, 2011
Jinja, Uganda

Today began early and with a bang with news of Rachel’s engagement back home in America. We all sat in the living room, reading things from her, skyping with her and Justin, looking at pictures of her ring and generally rejoicing from afar. A lovely way to start the morning.
After breakfast, we saddled everyone up and headed to town to get M.’s hair done. All the walking has meant that I am getting to know my way around Jinja relatively well, enough to know how to give a boda driver directions back to Mandie’s house if I get stranded somewhere. M. was not at all inclined to agree to her new hair-do, so that ended in disaster, mostly for Christina, M. and the guy trying to do the twisting of the hair. After Christina decided it wasn’t worth the pain (physically for M, and emotionally for her), we all trooped down the street to a little coffee shop where we fed the babies, got some snacks and talked over the hair debacle, our plans for the day and people (usually tourists) who, with rather abrupt rudeness, prod the girls with questions, assuming they have stolen the babies.
After our little lunch, we boda-ed home and put the babies down for much-needed naps. We took the chance of having the little ones asleep to go back to town to get a little bit of shopping done. Our boda ride there was one of the most humorous so far. Since Courtney had E. and Kate had a big backpack, Mandie, Christina and I all rode one boda. I sat on the back, not the middle, for the first time and it is QUITE different. Much more “keep-your-balance-by-engaging-your-abs-and-leaning-forward-as-hard-as-you-can-and-keep-your-tailbone-in-one-piece-when-going-over-bumps” than is the middle. However, as four people on one boda is a little squishy, Christina had the real winner when our driver literally sat on her. As in, ON her. We laughed the entire way into town. After some shopping and picking up some food at the supermarket (which to American eyes would seem more like a gas station shop in the Middle of Nowhere, USA) we caught bodas home. This time, I was on the back again, balancing a dozen eggs and some other groceries in my bag and trying not to pull on Courtney who was holding a sick and sleeping E. in the middle. I was glad I’d had the practice of the ride into town before this experience.
Later in the afternoon, Kate ran out and got rolex for us for dinner, which is something similar to a breakfast burrito: a patty of fried egg wrapped in a thick tortilla-like wrap called a chapatti. Hit that up with some freshly-chopped avocado and some salt, and it was delicious! I did not expect to have such good food on this trip. I mean, I wasn’t expecting nasty food, but I was definitely not prepared to love as many things as I’ve had.
We had a quiet evening, more or less. Little E is sick so the girls tested her for malaria with a kit we had purchased in town. I was not able to help as I haven’t had the Hep-B vaccine and needed to stay away from blood. I was disappointed to simply have to sit and watch. Malaria, HIV, hepatitis, etc. are so common here (even in children), but I am not yet used to it. E is just so tiny. It hurts my heart to see this pain in her, and everywhere else, so prevalent.
I have been writing a lot in the last few days. As an introvert, I recharge by being alone, and in a house with five girls and three babies, it’s hard to find that, so I’m feeling a little stretched. I can, of course, deal with it (for lack of a better term) as long as I need to, but it has been interesting for me to see how this aspect of my personality is activated here. The writing has been my way of recharging, for now. Concentrating my mind on recording the events of the day and the things that I am thinking or simply letting words flow onto the page helps me settle, process, and renew. I am beginning to understand, just a little bit, the strain of living here. It wears on you, little by little, and although I’m sure there is an adjustment curve, I know it does not ever get easy. My admiration for Mandie, Rachel, Christina and everyone else that lives here grows every day. Whether or not I feel God leading me to act out my faith and convictions in this particular way, I am so grateful to have had even a taste of this way of living out love. It is definitely something that takes a strength that is beyond human-creation. If n these 10 days, God is this good to me, I can only imagine the deep reservoirs of love, strength and care he has for those he has living here.