The Discovered Country

I found him. He sits atop a hillock on the western bank of the Nile. He has a pink obelisk and a tatty looking sign confirming that on the 28^th July 1862 he discovered the source of the Nile. The search for Speke is over.

In the past two weeks I have been enjoying cups of tea made using a kettle and cold milk, having showers in a beautifully tiled bathroom and reading by an electric light hanging proudly from the ceiling - In short, I sold out. I abandoned the warm, friendly life of Moses' compound for a two-bedroom house and a shorter ride into Jinja.

In truth I made the decision mainly due to fiscal reasons as I have found myself a little worse-for-wear on this front. It turns out that sitting around drinking beer in your underwear for seven weeks in England and then going to Africa for two months leaves you short in the pocket. Who’d have thought?

I’m now working at another primary school called St Moses (see website). The compound I live on is an orphanage/care centre for children in the area and it’s reet nice. I’ve gone back to my roots and have been teaching English to a couple of classes, which has been more than enjoyable. Somehow I only have a single, solitary day of teaching remaining though – Easter and a trip away are to blame.

Outside of teaching I have been keeping myself busy playing and watching football, hanging around in Jinja for extended periods of time and getting my face roasted off in the midday sun on the Nile.

Let me start from the beginning (as is logical)…I recently played football just outside Jinja with a fellow Mzungu (who befriended me without asking) called Michael. He’s “in” with the local football team Mpumadde F.C. and we were invited along for training last Thursday. I was looking forward to playing a real game of football for the first time in many years, but a little worried that I’d be shown up by these giant, healthy Ugandan men. It turned out that I was in better shape than I expected and I held my own reasonably well, even managing a conciliatory goal for our team. The next few days, however, brought pain in so many new and varied points on my body that I struggled to get on and off a motorbike or even stand up from a chair. I think it will be another four years before I play footy again.

On Saturday we went to see the mighty Uganda Cranes (how many national teams do you know with a name like this?) at the Mandela stadium near Kampala. To summarize: The first half was a bit crap; half time saw a conversation with the police resulting in a bribe; and the second half was better. I don’t know how many of you already know about my brush with the law, but it’s worth a swift retelling….We had gone for a wander at half time in search of the necessaries (beer and food) and as Debi and I sat down to consume our rolex (lovely food: chapatti, egg and, if you’re lucky, avocado) we realized that our other companion (Mike) was currently engaged in a conversation with the law. I was quite content to leave him to it and finish my greasy snack, but he waved me over and I would have felt reticent in my duties as the eldest, and most responsible of course, if I didn’t immediately jump to the lads aid. Upon reaching the vehicle the two officers in the front announced that they were going to arrest young Michael for taking a picture of a turnstile; I voiced my displeasure at this particular train of thought and asked what could be done to change the situation. After some debate and what, to the casual observer, could be considered friendly “banter” between myself, Michael and the policemen we came to an agreement as to how best bring the matter to a conclusion. I agreed to give the driver and his colleagues some 20,000 shillings, which works out to be about 7 pounds. I gave him the money, he shook my hand and wished me a good day and drove away. T.I.A.

Yesterday we went fishing, or at least attempted a close approximation of it. We walked to the river, found a guy, requested the use of his expertise and his boat and set off on our way. What we hadn’t considered was the time of day. It was about 11.45 at the time of boarding that little blue boat and by 12.30 we were all ready to return to dry land and find some shade (N.B. Charlie fell apart first – these public school boys and their lack of stamina). I caught three snails, Mike caught a lot of worms, Debi caught less than us and Charlie gave up after 5 minutes and just dangled his rod in the water. It was an enjoyable time, but today I am redder than the red part of the Swiss flag (hope you enjoy that reference Debi) and I can’t be out in the sun longer than two minutes; ah the joys.

I’m going to go and have a cold shower and then rub after-sun all over myself. Kampala on the morrow all being well =)

Thanks to all for continued readership and commentings.

PLBH