BYOB (Bring Your Own Bible)

Cat yoga

After months of traveling and working in Kampala to train the new Education volunteers, I'm finally back in Bukinda. It's nice to be home and settled. Last week, I finally did something I've been meaning to since I first arrived in Bukinda-- go to church. I thought it would be a nice way to support my school and the community, and make a good impression. It wasn't bad either, only going one hour over its allotted two-hour sermon. Most of the service was in Rukiga, so I didn't understand a word that was being said, but that was probably for the better. I did learn the local names for God, our Lord, pray, Jesus Christ, as I sat next to my supervisor and followed his lead. Sit, stand, sit, stand, dance, clap, dance, clap. That was pretty much it for 3 hours, plus being stared at by a hundred villagers since I was made to sit on the stage. The singing, dancing and raucous joy was the fun part since there was so much drumming and dancing. After hours of preaching and singing (and a random marching band), they all paid the church tithes while I politely declined. I was disappointed the following day when my supervisor joked around that I was a pagan since I would not be returning to church every Sunday… Paganism it is!

Rainy season has officially started here, bringing heavy rains sometimes lasting for hours on end. I sat in my house wearing my wool socks, scarf and fleece while my friends in the East sweltered in 100 degree heat. My host family also dropped off a little kitten to keep me company. I'm pretty sure it's the runt of the litter since it's so small and has some interesting characteristics (too small to climb into or use the litter box). Taking inspiration from my Finnish ancestors, I named the little guy Sisu. 

Sisu

The other highlight of the week is the return of the village madman. As I was doing a reading assessment with a student, a crazed looking man walked in and shook my hand. I thought he was a disheveled parent showing up to pay school fees for his children, as many parents do at the start of the term. Nope, wrong. Soon there was a big hullabaloo as he ran around the school yard scaring all the children and chasing them away. It was complete pandemonium and all I could do was laugh. TIA.