Mzungu!

I found a computer! With the internet! It may slower than a slow thing that's not in a great hurry to get anywhere, but at least it's internet.
The last few days have been a ginormous blur of names and faces, and desperately trying to get used to pooing in a hole in the ground (apologies to the older, more refined reader). I am enjoying every minute of it so far.
Because this is the first chance I've had to get to a computer and my days here so far have been so hectic I'm just going to give some initial impressions I've had, followed by some pictures...

1. I am living in the most rural place I have ever known in all my days. There are cows, chickens and pigs just wandering around our "compound" as they call it. I have been woken up at 6 o'clock sharp every morning by a cockerel, followed by some mooing and then the kids shouting (I know kids aren't technically farm animals, but they add to the general din in the morning).
2. Ugandans, and Moses the project leader in particular, are stupendously friendly. Walking along through the fields (yeah, told you it was rural) and past the houses will bring cries of "Helloo! How ar'you?" or the local word for hello, "Jambo!". On top of that, the kids at the compound (there are a good number of them) will always (and I mean always) say "Mr. Daniel...welcome back" when you arrive back from an outing. They'll do this even if you've only been away for ten minutes.
3. Moses' family is awesome. His son, my namesake, is as big a legend as ever I knew. Five years old and you can have nigh on full blown conversations with him. Plus his wife, Florence, is an amazing cook, especially when you look at the picture of her "kitchen".
4. Class sizes are enormous. At the start of term one class had 120 students in it before they realized that this was just ridiculous and split it. Still, I've been in classes pushing 90 students. It gets a bit warm, I can tell you.
5. "Okay, please" and "Thank you, please" should be used more in the England.
6. As should a standard handshake consisting of three separate parts. Shake, then the thumb thing, then back around for that bit and...finish! I messed it up again didn't I?
7.A "shower" is, in fact, standing in an open-air cubicle with a bowl of cold water and a jug. And, you know what? It ain't half bad. Quite refreshing.
8. It can rain. A lot. Yesterday morning was spent by everyone in bed, because going outside would have meant never being dry again. Ever. I swear that at one stage a drop of rain so large and travelling at such velocity actually managed to pierce the corrugated iron roof in my room. Scary stuff.
9. I could now point out to you a tobacco plant, the difference between a sweet potato crop and a cassava crop, and tell you why bananas and oranges are both green here.
10. I can't really think of a final one, but it's always better to have ten isn't it...Erm....Oh, yeah, I have one: there are too many Arsenal fans here!! Man UTD or Chelsea, fine. But, to be surrounded by little Gooners is not good. I told Moses that when I get back (and recover from bankruptcy) I'm going to send a few Spurs shirts to try to turn the tide.

Oh, and, by the way, the name of this post means "whitey" in the local tongue. I've heard a quite a bit surprisingly.



One of the other volunteers, Martin, talking to a couple of kids about farms n' stuff.



Some cows on a football pitch. I'm going back to watch a game today and apparently they have to be continuously shooed off the pitch.



The kitchen.



I started doing my laundry and the kidlings took over. Poor things, having to wash my grundies.



My main man Dan.



The School.

Fetching water.



Carrying it home.



David. He's a nice boy, for an Arsenal fan.



Daniel and Florence having lunch.



Erm...what?



I love me sunsets.



Scary, scary bird. Any ideas what it is?





A boat on the Nile.




The source of the Nile looking towards lake Victoria.

Me on the Nile!