Off to Kampala

After a false start earlier in the week, everything seems set for me to head to Murchison Falls tomorrow. Of course, I'm half expecting to get to Kampala and hear that the trip has been cancelled... but, I'm heading off anyway. I'll jump in a minibus, called a Matatu, with lots of other hot and sweaty people also going to Kampala. The whole two-three hour trip costs about $2. Imagine!

Before I head out, I'm going with the head teacher of the school to buy some fabric and then to a tailor to have an African outfit made for myself. This was sort of random; I happened to comment on how lovely her outfit was the other day at school, and she said, "You like? We can have one made for you!" And again, the answer to that is not "no." So, off we go to the fabric store. It's a little weird of course, because it is a Friday and it's 9 am and all the kids are in school, and instead of being in school, the principal (which is what the head teacher is... she doesn't actually teach) is going to be galavanting around Jinja with me getting my outfit made. In fact, the way they drop everything for the volunteers is quite distressing. If it's a choice between helping a volunteer and teaching/fulfilling school duties, they absolutely prioritize the volunteer. It makes me feel really guilty, but I guess from their perspective, the incremental value of a happy volunteer who might become a lifelong supporter is greater than one math lesson, or one additional hour spent monitoring the school. Still, it's hard to swallow.

In other news, I had an unfortunate run in with flesh eating sand fleas. I'll spare you the details, but let's just say I don't intend to wear open toed shoes for the next three weeks. Or, ever.

Cheerio, off to the fabric store!