Trip to Jinja - June 7

Having fun in the pool
Maggie playing with the other teens
Andrew got us some sugar
Sugar Cane fields
The Lizard and the snake on the palm tree outside our window
Isaiah enjoying a picnic
Brenda and Scott

Shellie and Brian


Some birds perched out on lake Victoria
Allenni being silly
Lake Victoria

Maggie and Isaiah



Fishermen

June 7, 2009 Sunday
Trip to Jinja
We headed to Jinja with two missionary families today for a 4 day vacation.
Jinja is situated on the Nile River and Lake Victoria and is very beautiful.
Now every trip I have ever taken to Jinja has turned into an adventure on the way there or back.
I hope this one is "normal". hehe.

We are staying at the Kingfisher which is where Duane and I have stayed before. They have a pretty neat pool and Isaiah is like a little fish. He loves to dunk his head under water. All the kids loved it greatly. I tried to teach Allenni how to swim but it looks like she is going to have to get daddy to do that. I put a big bruise on my hip – IN THE BABY POOL- I know it is sad. I jumped in after helping Isaiah get in and thought is was deeper that it was and slipped and fell right on my left hip into a tiled pool. Well, the kids thought it was funny. Isaiah thought it was hilarious!
The grounds here are awesome with tropical flowers everywhere and all kinds of species of animals, including snakes. I got a great picture of one right outside of our room. It was green. I wonder if it was a green mamba!? Those are pretty poisonous. It’s head looked too thin but I really didn’t get a great close look before it dropped into the bushes by our door. Andrew thought we should search it out and “Beat it” as he put it. I informed him that I WAS NOT going to rummage through the bushes to beat a snake, especially since he was the same color as the vines and leaves.
What was I going to “beat it” with? My shoe? Oh no, that wouldn’t work. I was barefoot!
The kids swam almost all day and I think tomorrow, I will have to put on sunscreen. We all then gathered for a picnic in a beautiful flower garden under a little grass roofed hut and had sub sandwiches and chips. Lay’s sells very unusual chips here such as Carriabean Spice with Balsamic Vinegar. They are very good. Anyways, during our picnic, the ants joined us like they are supposed to and we all watched them act all excited that the Muzugus (white folk) were dropping so many crumbs. They are very interesting little creatures. We then took a walk to the Lake down a beautiful path lined with all kids of bright colored flowers.
Of course, fishermen were on the lake, egrets were perched atop canoes and the whole scene was just so picturesque. (I really thought of you Duane and how you would love it.) I went to take a picture of a beautiful purple flower growing among the water lilys and these two boys in a canoe, just mouthed off at Allenni and I. She gave them a dirty look and said something back. I asked her what they were saying and all she would tell me was, “They are abusing you and me.” I said, “Did they think I was taking their photo?”
“Yes.” “Well, I didn’t. I took it of the flower there.”
We moved on as it seemed she wanted to get away from them and found a bench and sat down on it for awhile.
Later in our room Andrew and I got into an argument about how old he was. He insists he is twelve and I insists that he is about to turn 9. This really bothered him that he was not twelve. When I asked him how he knew he was twelve, he replied, “My friend told me.” “ Well, there we go now, Why didn’t he just say so in the first place?” I pretty much won with, “Well, you wear a size 8 clothes so you must be 8.” That was after the argument that I had his birth certificates stating he was born in 2000 didn’t convince him.
Later, I found him rummaging through his underwear looking at the sizes. (hehehe)

I guess I could make a lot of you jealous by saying my little hut overlooks Lake Victoria. Tonight was awesome as the sun set. A full moon came out and the light on the water with the palm trees blowing in the gentle breeze was breathtaking. My little fuji camera definitely didn’t do it justice, but Brian, one of the missionaries, has a nice camera and got some awesome shots. He will email them to me.
We decided to make tea but realized we had no sugar. So Andrew, our little man went out to the pool area and asked for some sugar. He was successful and we enjoyed our cups of hot tea. While Andrew took a shower and Isaiah was trying to go to sleep, Allenni and I took our tea and our Lavender candle (Thanks Kathy – it’s the one I got for Christmas) outside to one of the tables with a view of the Lake and had girl tea and talk. Allenni talked about her friends she was leaving behind and I told her about America and how different it was from Africa.
It was great. It was a bonding moment. I think we are going to be just fine.
She needs a mama and I realized I need a little girl with beautiful brown skin.