Island Lyfe

I’ve spent one week on this island and already so much has changed. The island seems to have grown. What felt so small when we first landed and took a tour now feels much larger.

This place is filled with interesting people.

There’s Rachel. She’s my co-worker, travel buddy, support system and spider-killing extraordinaire. We finally had a chance to clean our house today. No-joke, we probably killed 70 spiders… and that’s after a week of killing spiders every single day. If you aren’t a spider-lover and ever need somebody to kill a spider for you, you can just give us a ring. There was also the cockroach I found on my toothbrush. That was a really fun moment… no, I did not brush my teeth that day.

There are our Uganda co-workers. They are excellent chefs and can whip up a large assortment of incredibly delicious crayfish (aka crawfish) dishes. After learning to love crawfish in Texas it’s pretty sweet to be in the one place in Uganda that has crawfish. Unfortunately I’ll be avoiding those for the next six months as they don’t seem to be quite as tame as the Texas variety. I would go into detail… but nobody wants that ;). The staff here are also incredible language teachers- even when I’m a terrible student. I think I’ve learned five phrases. I’ve got a long way to go till I’ll be fluent in Rukiga and a true Bakiga lady. Evas loves to tell us we’re already Bakiga ladies. I’ve got a long way to go till I’ll be able to claim that title for myself. They are also great tour guides- always willing to lend a helping hand and tell us about the history of this area, the island we’re on, and their own families and villages. Have you ever met somebody and very quickly known they were wise? Enos is the resident carpenter, maintenance man and bird expert. I can’t wait to hear more of his stories and take his bird tour. He has spotted over 80 types of birds just on this island.

There are the guests. It has only been one week and we’ve met diplomats, European tourists, and an American midwife and her family that are working only a couple hours away. We might visit them at some point as they also run a guest house and live near the mountain gorillas. It’s interesting to be in such a rural setting but to see so many people traveling through. I’m looking forward to meeting more people from all over the world!

I think all these interesting people are the reason the island seems to have grown. We aren’t as isolated here as we might have felt when we first arrived. There are so many stories to listen to and people to learn from. I should probably also mention that there’s plenty of work to do! This past week was fairly slow but we’ve already got a better idea of what we should be doing.

P.S. If you’re the letter writing type I would love to receive some love in the form of written words! You can send letters to Bushara Island Camp PO 794, Kabale, Uganda. They’ll only take about three months to reach me J

Photo Cred: Raquelle Dehaanee

Lake Victoria Venture (UB#10)

Yesterday I walked along the shores of Lake Victoria with a group of people from my practicum. We wound our way through the fish market and then sat on the shore and watched the sun set as we snacked on fresh fried tilapia. Lake Victoria- like most large bodies of water- is beautiful. The lapping of the waves brings a sense of peace even to the busy (and somewhat smelly) marketplace. I thought it was beautiful. Then I noticed the awe of one of the men I work with, he is about sixty-five years old but his excitement was similar to that of a five-year old boy who has spotted a sweet tractor. He watched in awe as boats came and went, pondered where the boats could be going, and ended with a short speech about how he could not understand the complexity of living near the water. At sixty-five he had only been to the lake once before and had never ridden in a boat.

I am privy to a hoard of experiences unimaginable to some people. Yet my life is not fuller or deeper than Mr. Senjuwa’s. Those experiences in themselves have not given me greater wisdom or understanding. Standing there on the lakeshore I experienced maybe one quarter the joy that Mr. Senjuwa was experiencing.

May my past experiences never dull my ability to rejoice in the little things because those little things probably aren’t as little as they might seem.

(Photo Credit: this photo was stolen... from google... sorry)