I woke up and was so excited to take a shower after the long day of travel the day before. I turned on the shower, and the water coming out had a brownish tint. I just let it run until it turned clear, which was less that a minute 😂. I took a very cold and, therefore, very quick shower. I noticed a heating unit in the shower and was wondering why neither of the two knobs on the shower yielded warm water. I then realized that the switch right outside the bathroom was for the water heater and not the light.
I walked over to the kitchen to see Dorcus, and she had bananas, American pancakes, and African tea waiting for me. One thing that I did not know about Africa was the fact that they have so many snails 😂. BIG snails.
I asked her if I could have soap to do my laundry in the sink, and she told me that she would take care of the washing. I assured her that she would get sick of it because I would be at Musana probably until Christmas, and she said, "No, you belong here. You must stay longer". I laughed. She made me give my laundry to Rachel, who is 24 and part of the hospitality staff. Usually, at hotels or guest houses they will do your normal laundry but leave undergarments for you to do yourself. So, I told Rachel that I would love to have some soap to wash my undergarments. Dorcus butted in and said, "No! No! No! You are our baby. We will cook and wash and clean for you. You will not do any of that." And that was the end of the conversation 😂.
I met another member of the hospitality staff, Moses, who is 22, and he showed me around the primary school. We peeked into probably around eight classrooms, and every time the kids waved and the teacher introduced themself. I met a handful of teachers named Sarah 😂. They were all so welcoming! One teacher even handed me a pink plastic mug with tea that she had just made for herself. As kind as that was, guess who did not want tea with spoonfuls of sugar mixed in. Abby 😁. But, I took it, thanked her, sipped it, and told her it was absolutely delicious. As I was walking from room to room, so many kids were waving, trying to hold my hand, and giving high-fives. They had the cutest orange uniforms!
We checked out the dormitories as well for the students that board.
Then, Moses and I walked to Musana Empowerment Center (MEC). MEC is beyond incredible, and I think I'll make an entirely separate blog post specifically about it. It deserves its own post haha. As we were leaving MEC, we saw Dorcus walking towards the trading center, which is a place where people sell goods. I asked if I could tag along, and she said that it was okay. She was looking to buy an avocado for guacamole. She checked out a few different stands to get the best quality one for the best price. The avocado she purchased was 700 shillings, which is about 19 cents!
Moses took me to one of the surrounding neighborhoods, and we started talking about my bandaid and scar. He told me that I didn't need to wear a bandaid because African germs are weak. "They might be weak, but you guys have Ebola, Yellow Fever, and Malaria, so not all of them can be weak", I responded 😂. As we were walking, so many kids we passed were yelling, "Muzungu! Hi, Muzungu! Muzungu, bye!". I think I explained earlier, but I'll clarify that Muzungu means white person. Everywhere I go, I hear it haha. I told Moses about my favorite foods that I've tried in Uganda, which have been chapati, samosas, Rolex, matoke, sweet potato, mandazi, and fresh fruit like pineapple. He told me that Dorcus must have read my mind because she was making Rolex for lunch. We walked back for lunch and had Rolex with guacamole and passion juice (below). I met Joseph, who is the go-to guy when teams come to Musana. Usually, he drives to and from the airport and helps coordinate the guests' schedules. He had lunch with me and told me that he would figure out a way for me to have wifi!
I took a massive nap with my fan that is louder than a train (my roomie from college, Jenna, would appreciate it) because I was still tired from the night before, and we had walked a LOT in the morning. I woke up and transferred pictures from my camera to my laptop, and then Dorcus insisted that I eat, even though I was not very hungry. I kind of thought that I would lose weight over here, if anything, but I think it will be the opposite 😂.
I was sitting in the pavilion in the guest house compound, when Dezi, Raeesa, and Shafik came over and said hello. Dezi (7) is one of the directors' biological kiddos and is a pretty mature second grader. Raeesa and Shafik are her cousins, and I think they are about the same age but a little older.
That night, I walked over to the house in the compound to meet the directors. I finally got to meet Andrea and Haril. I knew that what they were doing at Musana was awesome, but at this point, I did not know just how awesome it was. I talked with Andrea about Musana for awhile, and she told me that someone at the school was already telling her that I would be helping in the biology labs. That was news to me 😂. She also said that she would connect me with Cory, who is the marketing director in the States, so that I could help with social media and photography/videography content. I was super excited. I also volunteered myself to help Joziah learn his letters. I did not know what I was getting myself into haha. Joziah (4) is Andrea and Haril's other biological kiddo. I met Damalie (18), who is adopted and moves around with the family. She studies through an online school in Colorado because the family moves back and forth from the US and Uganda so often. She is applying to colleges in California, Texas, and Colorado and likes math and physics. We decided that we would do her chemistry labs together 😊. Damalie told me that she was going to intern at the Musana Health Center until they go back to the US in December. She was super fun and easy to get along with, and we became friends quickly. I sat by her and Rachel at dinner, and they taught me some Lusoga. Lusoga is just one of the languages/tongues in Uganda. It varies by region. At RG, many of them spoke Luganda or Acholi. They all sound similar but have slight differences in some words or emphases of words. I learned webale nyo (thank you so much), omugeni (visitor), oliotya (hi, how are you or what's up), and bulungi (I'm good/fine/okay).
I was going to go back to my room, but they insisted that I stay because some of Haril's extended family were on their way. So, I met Haril's sister Fatuma, niece Zoya, brother Hashim, and grandma Jaja. We had cake because we were celebrating Fatuma's birthday. There were so many kiddos running around and so much food and cake on the floor 😂. Everyone was so welcoming, and just like that, I was part of the family!
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