Bodas, Chawch, and Football

Saturday - The weekend rolled up on us pretty fast. It was in the plan for the four of us to spend Saturday cruising around the Kibaale area on dirtbikes, take in some sights and put some miles down. In typical Uganda fashion our 11am self-made appointment was bumped out to 5pm before we actually got going. Why? Mugabi Robert (his real name, yes) had to use one of the bikes to head off to Bakijulura a few kilometers down the road and negotiate a land deal for one of our students. That took pretty much all day, but he did come back around noon to let us know that the other bike had a flat tire. So while waiting for Mugabi, I rode into town to the local “mechanic”. Who, I had forgotten, doesn’t exactly have proper tools and used screwdrivers to change the tube. The polka-dot pattern of patches already on the tube were a testament to his skills (read: he was a hack). Ahh well, had to get it done anyway, so I played the management role to try and avoid another puncture.

Anyway, eventually we got rolling. We put 10,000 shillings of fuel into each bike, then blasted off in a blue fog of two-stroke exhaust that left Cliff and Deanna coated from head to toe as they followed our lead around the local hills. We dodged cows on the road, climbed to the top of a few hills for the views, drove to within viewing distance of Tanzania, and had a pretty good time. No crashes, no goring by cow horns.

Sunday – Church time. We went to Cephas’s church about a 10min drive away. His church has a tradition to treat visitors like gold, so it was no surprise to walk in and discover armchairs (well…. lawnchairs) set up on the front stage for us to sit in. A good service spoilt a bit by rain, as most people were not there, then off to Cephas’ place for lunch, and a football match. Lunch was a traditional Ugandan meal of matooke (boiled and mashed bananas), rice, beans, chicken, fried cabbage, and “soup” which is basically an oil/borehole-water broth. No supper for anyone that night.

We left for church in the morning at 10:30, and got back home just after 7pm. ‘Twas a good day.