Almost Over :0(

I'm leaving Uganda next Tuesday. I am very very very sad about that. Although, I was rather excited to discover that the Canucks are playing the night after I get home and I'll also be home in time for Stanley Cup Playoffs. Where there's hockey, there's also Timmie's coffee. So I suppose life could be worse.

We've had some adventures in our compound lately. We came home one day and were talking to the Ugandan couple who own the main house when he mentioned that we should be sure to always have our flashlights with us at night, even in the compound which is protected by shards of broken glass and a huge gate. Naturally we asked why and he casually informed us that they had killed two snakes in the compound that week. Terra asked if they were poisonous and they just laughed and said,"Well they're snakes, aren't they?" Silly question. So I rephrased it and asked if you would die from being bitten by those ones, and they said," Yes, but as long as you get to the hospital to get treatment really quickly you should be okay. Just don't delay." So basically, it's no problem because it's not like you'd die right away or anything. After this wonderful exchange, he just reminded us to carry our flashlights again. I don't know about you, but I felt reassured.

See, the latrines are located at the side of the compound underneath a tree. There is also a pole in the latrine that would be an excellent place to curl up. To get to the latrines you need to walk by another tree and a huge pile of wood. All of these factors regarding the latrines led me to the conclusion that I am not peeing again until I get to Amsterdam.

I've been told by many of my friends that they will definitely see me before I leave next week, and Terra has been snatching her phone out of my hands when texts come in, and conversations abruptly stop when I enter the room. So somehow, I feel like Terra and Team Iganga are up to something. They should really not be trusted with any state secrets. Oh yeah, all of us mzungus (whities) in Iganga call ourselves Team Iganga...you know...'cause we're cool like that. Most of the other mzungus here are Peace Corps, so it's been an interesting time hanging out with them.

There are so few of us mzungus out here in the sticks of Iganga so we know who everybody is. When we see a new white person in town we stop and point just like the Ugandans do. We've talked about making all of the new mzungus sign a registration book when they come into town so we know what they're doing here on our turf. The majority of the white people who show up are 2-weekers who parade around town in short shorts and tiny tank tops while tossing out candy and money everywhere, which in turn makes life very hard for the rest of us long-termers. To show your thigh out here in the village automatically makes you a prostitute. And it just paints giant targets on the rest of our backs for the creepy men who really want to marry a white woman. I just want to shake those girls and make them understand that this is a different culture and they should adapt to it for crying out loud. They just parade through town and leave a mess in their wake. Seriously, you can't start a project and leave it after 2 weeks in the country with no contact after that. It's very damaging to the area. Sometimes it feels like 2 steps forwards, 9 steps backwards. But in the end it's worth it to push on here. I'm really not THAT bitter. Just sometimes :0)

Oh yeah, and we're officially registered with the district here now! Woo hoo! We're all like, legal and stuff. It's good. Anywho, I'm off to the orphanage for life skills class. See ya soon!