Road Trip!

After a week filled with hours upon hours of orientation, lectures, learning, and cultural baptism by fire, we escaped Kabale to travel to Mburo national park for a safari! We left early Friday morning and drove for hours until we reached the park. Most of the time when we take long drives I squeeze in a nice long nap. But this drive I decided to really pay attention to my surroundings and see what I could learn about the culture through the car window using only my eyes.

 I think my favorite part of this driving experience were the little children. Any time the little ones would make eye contact with us, a big smile spread across their faces and they would wave to us and yell “Hello!” or “How are you?”. It was the cutest thing, and their smiles would get even bigger when we would smile and wave back. I loved watching the kids dressed up in uniforms on their way to school, so excited to go and learn. They stick together in groups for the most part, with a few brave children walking alone.

Sometimes it is strange to be the only white face in a sea of black. Everyone stares; children, grandparents, mothers, women, and of course most of all, men. When the children stare and yell it’s cute: when the men do it, not so much. We have learned to either ignore or laugh off the ridiculous comments that we get every day.

There are so many bikes and motor bikes, which they call “boda-bodas”. I am honestly so impressed with the things that the people are able to carry on their bikes and on their heads. I see bikes laden with four of five giant bunches of bananas, men riding with 20 foot long wooden planks balanced on one shoulder, and women carrying 30 pound sacks of beans on their heads and small children on their backs. I am struck with what a blessing it is to have a car- a means of easy travel, a way to transport goods, protection from the elements. The majority of people here don’t have these blessings. They walk for miles and miles (or should I say, kilometers and kilometers), exerting a vast amount of physical strength and endurance to carry what they need to live and take it back to their homes. I am so impressed with their strength and resilience. I feel like there is an attitude here of “you take what life gives you and you go from there.” They don’t waste their breath complaining about their circumstances or the difficulties of their lives or tropical diseases or the things that they lack. They are happy with what they have, and know that they can make do with what they don’t. I honestly believe I enjoyed the drives to and from the safari more than I did the actual safari! The safari, or game drive as they call it, was so much fun. We sat on top of the van and got right up next to zebras, giraffes, warthogs, and so many more amazing animals! Honestly zebras just don’t seem real. How could an animal be so cool and crazy and stand out so much in the wild and have survived this long? Just some food for thought there. All in all, it was an amazing weekend away, and I am excited to get back to work!