Rafting the Nile and BBQ ribs

One of the things that was offered to us as a "must do" when in Uganda was to raft the Nile. Jinja is known as the one of the best spots in the world for white water rafting. Even if every travel magazine you read recommends that you do not swim in the Nile on account of possible diseases. With the speed of the water, I hoped that wasn't a real worry.

The worst things I could have done prior to going was to watch some You Tube videos on rafting in Jinja. I've been rafting a few times before and had a ton of fun but watching the videos only encouraged my overactive imagination to run at high speed. I figured with my luck rafting the Nile was going to do me in.

The day starts with meeting at 0900 at the rafting place. Grab our gear, breakfast and ride up to the drop off location. Quick safety lecture, divide into two boats and in the water we go to practice. The boats divided themselves into "crazy" and "mild". I opted for the mild. The crazy boat had six people, all the guys and my boat ended up with four girls. One of the girls in my boat, from London and a resident in medical school we told the guy flipping a few times would be fun. The other two girls, both nurses from Australia didn't want to flip at all. Our guide Josh, laughed at them. Josh is from Uganda. London and I sat in front. Australia was in the back.

The majority of the rapids we went down were class five. The first set no one is allowed to flip because there are two many rocks. The rest of the rapids are as safe as white water rapids can be. The water is pretty deep and minimal rocks. At one point we had to get out of the boats and walk around a set of class six.

In between each set we had time to catch our breath. The water was pretty calm and we were able to get out and swim in certain spots. We ate lunch during one particularly long stretch of calm waters - pineapple and biscuits.

The whole trip took all day and was worth every penny. It was a blast, even in the mild boat. We flipped once. I ended up letting go of the boat and was carried a little ways down the boat. Under water remember the safety lecture - its going to seem like you are under for a long time, you are not its only seconds. Trust the floatation device, it will bring you to the top. It did feel like a long time. The worst was when you come up and the waves are still crashing around you and you feel like you are going to be sucked back in. That was when I drank what seemed like a gallon of Nile river water.

The rescue kayak came by, I grabbed on. Next the rescue boat came along and the guide pulled me up and into the boat. Literally pulled me -he grabs the vest and lifts you into the boat. I thought my shorts were going to fall off it all happened so quickly.

Finished the rafting, light dinner and time to show you the pictures the camera boat takes. The ride home is two hours. My friends picked us up and we headed out to dinner with them. We went to a BBQ rib place called the Black Lantern. Sitting outside there is a great view of the Nile. It was hard to believe its the same river we just rafted. The ribs, best I've ever had. Another "must do" if you are ever in Jinja.
Keep Smiling.

Our days

Four days a week my friends invite some of the children from the orphanage for lunch.  Its a great opportunity to spend time with the kids and get to know them. They arrive around 1pm and lunch is served buffet style. This week between my friends, their own children, us and the kids we total twelve. That's only four adults, which results in lunch being energy filled, loud and unpredictable. Also totally fun.

The conversation is non-stop and ranges in topics to selecting nicknames that rhyme with our names to questions about America. The questions, jokes and random comments come rapid fire in between spoonfuls. About thirty minutes later that table looks like a tornado hit. Rotating chores are assigned; someone sweeps, someone clears the table and someone else puts the leftovers away; probably the easiest job since there were never a lot of leftovers.  Rob reads a story and then its off to play.

In between doing nursing activities, the majority of our days at the orphanage involved playing sports and hanging out with the kids. It was school vacation and the kids were anxious to have stuff to do. We played basketball, volleyball and jumped rope. I have not jumped rope in a long time. The first few attempts I was rusty but it comes back. The kids are sweet and encouraging which helped. I had better luck with basketball. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend time with the kids.

Keep Smiling!

Matooke and chicken on a stick

One of the things that were really special to observe at GSF was how the kids helped one another. The atmosphere is like being part of one large family. The photo above is of one of the boys helping another boy drink his soda. The boy drinking the soda has special needs and his hands are contracted so it’s difficult for him to hold the soda bottle himself. Soda is not a regular part of the children's diet. This was a treat. There was a picnic after church on Sunday as a way to thank the Florida team for their work.  We ate like champs - rice, beans, matooke and beef. 

Matooke is a common dish in Uganda. It’s made from green bananas and is similar in consistency to mashed potatoes. When the bananas are boiled and mashed, it wasn't one of my favorite things to eat. It is however, extremely filling - almost sits in your stomach like a lead weight. Another way to cook the green bananas is to make matooke chips. Slice the bananas into thin round chips and fry them in oil on the stove. For some reason, maybe because I'm American and we tend to love fried food, when cooked this way they were delicious.

Another favorite meal was chicken on a stick. It literally is a piece of chicken, usually a leg and breast roasted on a stick. It tastes amazing. You pull up in your car to a roadside stand; a man comes to the window to barter and for about 1200 Ugandan shillings or 0.50cents dinner is served. You can't talk about food in Uganda and not mention the pineapples or coffee - ALL YUMMY!!  

Rumor has it the avocado was equally yummy but I'm quoting my friends on that, they loved it.  

Hi Mzungu

We hadn't been in Uganda long before we learned that the term "Mzungu" in Swahili means white person. When driving through the villages, little kids will wave and shout "hi mzungu." It's not intended to be offensive, at least none of the mzungu's took it that way. Everyone we met seemed friendly and welcoming. Almost makes you wish that people would wave hi to one another in this country when they drove through their neighborhoods.

Annually the "graduates" of GSF and the current teenagers have a weekend retreat in Jinja. A couple in Jinja turns over their house to about twenty or so teenagers and a team from Florida facilitates the weekend. The teens headed out on Friday afternoon and returned to GSF Sunday morning for church. The retreat consisted of small group discussion, large group praise and worship, skits and free time to play. The purpose of the weekend is to encourage those kids that have graduated from the orphanage and are in college or working. We were able to help participate in one of the small group discussions.

During the discussion time, the teens were pretty candid about the challenges they face. One question a girl asked stuck with me and I can't seem to shake it. She wanted to know how the church views spousal abuse and if it was ok to divorce a man who beats you. She's not currently married but the fear of being abused by your spouse is a very real threat in Uganda. Sadly, it's a common threat in so many parts of the world. It was a good opportunity to discuss God's view of marriage; that its not appropriate to beat your wife under any circumstance and that you shouldn't stay with a man who beats you.

After the discussion time and before dinner we played basketball. Each team was handicapped with a "mzungu." Hahaha.