Monday began with business of usual here, far away from any American Independence Day celebrations. However, after arriving home from school and making some dinner, we contrived a Fourth celebration by tossing cinnamon onto the flame of our gas burner, and singing a rousing addition of the The Star-Spangled Banner! I was beginning to lose my voice, however, after feeling a bit under the weather over the weekend. This culminated in my missing two days of school due to (of all things) a cold which rendered me completely incapable of speech! I have had laryngitis for the past week, although I am finally on the upswing and should hopefully be able to teach again this week.
It was difficult to miss out on two days of instruction with my class. The week began well with the wrapping up of fractions and a fabulous discussion about folk tales during Library. I absolutely loved the discussion which arose during Library, first in Lhukonzo, then in English as the students, in response to a short folk tale I read to them, recounted several folk tales familiar to them. I am hoping (given enough time between my assigned lessons and the work the Canadian team is doing with reading and writing) to have the students write and illustrate their own folk tales this week, as their response in sharing their tales showed genuine excitement and connection with the subject matter. I have rarely seen them so engaged in a lesson, and would love to capitalize on the connection they had with folk tales in order to push their creativity in writing.
Then followed two days of staying home alone, unable to speak…
On Friday, after taking a coach bus, matatu (van taxi made to seat 14 people but at one point ours had 24), private-hire taxi, and finally a motor boat, we arrived at lovely Bushara Island in Lake Bunyonyi. The second deepest lake in Africa, Bunyonyi is a haven for birds and humans willing to go a bit off the beaten path, and quite possibly the most peaceful place on I’ve been to on this planet. Accompanied by Richard, a volunteer from England whom we met last week, we spent Saturday seeing the sights of Bunyonyi by dugout canoe (built out of a Eucalyptus tree). We visited tiny Punishment Island, composed of one spindly tree and small patch of reeds, where unmarried pregnant girls were sent unless a poor man unable to afford to pay to get married went to the island and “rescued” them. This happened as up until the 1930’s, when a missionary named Dr. Leonard Sharp came to the lake and started a settlement for lepers on another island nearby. We hiked around on Bwama Island, (home of the former leper colony), through colorful fields of sorghum and past two small schools, learning a little bit about the people and history of Lake Bunyonyi before canoeing (in the case of Bri and Jessica) or swimming (Richard and myself) back to Bushara. We spent the evening playing cards and Bananagrams and talking with the many muzungus on the island, most of whom are volunteers or working for non-profit organizations in Uganda and Rwanda. It was a lovely relaxing weekend, more than making up for not making it to Rwanda, our original plan for the weekend and a trip we had been looking forward to for the past several weeks.
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| The bus |
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The matatu
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| Inside the matatu |
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| The taxi |
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| The boats |
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| The island was covered in gorgeous Eucalyptus trees... |
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| and had a raft for swimming! |
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| Our Safari Tent! |
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| The dugout canoe for our tour |
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| Punishment Island |
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| The lake is known for its variety of birdlife |
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| Sorghum fields |
Sunday was spent traveling back to Kasese (on the way we saw baboons, elephants, bushbucks and Impala) and getting resettled and ready for the week ahead. I am looking forward to getting back to teaching after being away for a few days which felt like a lifetime!
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| Yep, that is all tea! I LOVE Uganda! |
On Friday, after taking a coach bus, matatu (van taxi made to seat 14 people but at one point ours had 24), private-hire taxi, and finally a motor boat, we arrived at lovely Bushara Island in Lake Bunyonyi. The second deepest lake in Africa, Bunyonyi is a haven for birds and humans willing to go a bit off the beaten path, and quite possibly the most peaceful place on I’ve been to on this planet. Accompanied by Richard, a volunteer from England whom we met last week, we spent Saturday seeing the sights of Bunyonyi by dugout canoe (built out of a Eucalyptus tree). We visited tiny Punishment Island, composed of one spindly tree and small patch of reeds, where unmarried pregnant girls were sent unless a poor man unable to afford to pay to get married went to the island and “rescued” them. This happened as up until the 1930’s, when a missionary named Dr. Leonard Sharp came to the lake and started a settlement for lepers on another island nearby. We hiked around on Bwama Island, (home of the former leper colony), through colorful fields of sorghum and past two small schools, learning a little bit about the people and history of Lake Bunyonyi before canoeing (in the case of Bri and Jessica) or swimming (Richard and myself) back to Bushara. We spent the evening playing cards and Bananagrams and talking with the many muzungus on the island, most of whom are volunteers or working for non-profit organizations in Uganda and Rwanda. It was a lovely relaxing weekend, more than making up for not making it to Rwanda, our original plan for the weekend and a trip we had been looking forward to for the past several weeks. 
BJ, that looks amazing! I am so jealous- wish I was there!
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