Catching Up: Part One

I've been sitting in front of this "new blog" page for a good ten minutes now. I write a sentence, I delete it. Another one, backspace. Where do I start? Since I am a bit behind on blogging, I think I will share a couple journal entries I've written in the past two weeks.

Feb 7, 2010

Our last three days have been packed with adventure--white water rafting, driving through Uganda, two days of safaris. Ruco drove us to central Uganda where we spent last night at the Red Chili safari camp ground. Driving in, we saw antelopes, heartabeasts, elephants, and giraffes. A family of baboons surrounded our vehicle. A turtle the size of Molli (my golden retriever back home) crossed our path slowly, like turtles do. We spotted a leopard lounging in a far-off tree. We ate dinner at the camp, while a friendly warthog strolled around our table, and eventually made his way into the garbage. Today we watched a family of hippos chillin' in the Nile.

Noteworthy moments in the last three days: riding on the roof of the Suburban with Gus through the game park; cruising through Kampala on bodas (motor scooter taxis); riding a bus through the country, surrounded by fruit trees...papaya, coconut, jackfruit, bananas, mangos; getting a manicure and pedicure with Kristi in Kampala (and getting to know my old friend again!); hanging out with the children Kristi and Ruco are supporting; meeting their grandmother and watching her snuggle up to Mike (she was the tiniest little woman, and just LOVED Mike. She kept saying, "Ohhhh! This is a tall one!" She was practically half his size. She gave him a big hug and put her head on his chest and laughed with so much joy. The more she laughed, the more Mike laughed, and the more Kristi and Ruco and I laughed, and pretty soon their little house was so full of laughter, you'd think we were all going to float away!!) We're headed next to Kristi and Ruco's home in Moroto in the Karamojo region (northwest Uganda). It will take us eight hours to get there, so we will stay halfway with some of their friends in Lira.

Feb 9, 2010

Mike and I are driving from Jo-Burg to Swaziland. The vast pastures make me feel like we're driving through France. The sun is setting, and the scene looks like it's been colored with classic crayons-green and yellow-green, brown, and blue. Hope we make it before dark.

Feb 12, 2010

We've been in Swaziland two full days. Another epic phase of this trip!! Yesterday, we made our way to Jay and Hillary's homestead, arriving just in time for a traditional Swazi lunch-maize meal, cabbage, beets, chicken stew...it was delicious! Best moment of the day: Walking up to meet the two "go-go's" or grandmothers. They sat on bamboo mats, legs stretched before them, whacking their chickens on the head if they got to close, every muscle in their faces smiling! We exchanged greetings in Swazi, just like Jay and Hillary taught us: "Sani-bo-nani!" "Yeh-bo!"

Highlights from our days in Swaziland: watching Hillary and Jay make pizza from scratch, talking about books, laughing at the papaya that looked like a squid, shelling and eating endless lichis, meeting Jay and Hillary's neighbors (on the other homesteads), watching the chickens scramble in the trees. This afternoon, Mike killed a chicken, and we cooked it for supper!

Feb 14, 2010

Valentine's Day. We're driving through Maputo, listening to DeVotchKa and other mixed music. The Indian Ocean is out my right window. We've spent two days in Maputo, Mozambique. Hillary and Jay are on vacation now, too, so this has been a vacation from our vacation...it's be great!

Highlights: watching the mini-crabs scampering across the sand and water, eating seafood and drinking caprihinis while talking about future purposes and dreams and ideas, walking through the fresh fish market and watching the mussels spit, buying a coconut from a roadside stand and drinking the milk through a straw, staring at that wrinkly Sharpe dog every time I walk in and out of the hostel...and Mike calling it Senor McWrinkles, playing cards with Jay and Hillary till midnight, singing School House Rocks with Hillary...in the middle of our card game (Hey, afterall, 3 IS a magic number, right?)

Alright, Friends, I know this is a whirlwind of an update, but it's been a whirlwind of a trip. It's almost noon in Cape Town and Mike and I are going to climb Table Mountain this afternoon. More to come as soon as I can!!

Thanks for reading! =) Big hugs for all!!!