Unglaublich

This post is a random story that happened the other day. You know those moments when your blood is literally boiling and you feel like you are going to explode. Well that was me. Here is the background information. The last ten days we have had a men’s basketball tour here from Bethel University and so I spent pretty much all day, every day leading them around the city and bringing them on bike tours, etc. I got to know two of the guys pretty well. Their names are Quinn and Tyler. On Thursday they wanted me to go shopping near my place with them, so we planned on meeting at 11am by the train station. When I met them they were super flustered and Tyler proceeded to tell me that he got 50 Euros taken from him.

He went on to tell me that there is this man that sits in front of a huge tourist store and he has three balls on the ground and shuffles them around. The person playing the game is supposed to watch the balls and they can win money by betting and guessing under which ball lays the money (except you never win because it is a scam). The man was doing this and Tyler was just standing there waiting for Quinn and the man held out what Tyler thought was 5 Euros that he could win (really it was 50 Euros though), if he picked right. Tyler hadn’t been watching though and didn’t really know what was going on so he just pointed to one and obviously guessed wrong. The man told him that he owed him 50 Euros and at first Tyler didn’t give him the money, but then 6 other men started to corner him and yell at him in German. So Tyler panicked (which I don’t blame him) and opened his wallet and gave him the money. He then realized after he walked away that he given him 70 instead. When he met up with Quinn, he told him the story and they went back and demanded 20 Euros back, which the men gave them.

You see, these guys are con artists, similar to a gang that sit on the street with the most innocent tourists and play this game that is a scam. The men play each other all day and “win”, so all the tourists think they have a chance at winning and then the con artists take their money. All in all, Tyler told me this story after I met up with them and instantly my blood was boiling. I was so angry at these men that they would do this. First of all, Quinn and Tyler told me I was like their older sister they never had, and since I had practically babysat them every day, I felt like they were my little brothers and it was my job to look out for them. Regardless, I instantly said we were going to these men and getting his money back. It was one of those moments in life where you just follow your instincts. I march up to the man and in German tell him that I want my friend’s 50 Euros back that he stole. The conversation quickly turned into shouting and yes, we were on the main street. He yelled at me that Tyler wanted to play and lost. I told him that he is a foreigner and had no idea what was going on and that he stole his money. By this time all the other men were in my face and pointing at me shouting, while I am yelling in German that “You stole 50 Euros from my friend and if you don’t give it back I will call the police.” Did I mention my blood was boiling? My German was just flowing out and looking back I probably should have been more nervous than I was because I had seven gang- like men in my face, but I figured what are they really going to do? I had Tyler and Quinn there to fight. Also, the perks of being 6’1 in situations like these.

After shouting back and forth for a while, we drew quite the crowd and one of the con artists walked up and shoved 50 Euros in Tyler’s hand and continued to use the f-word at us a solid 10 times as we walked away. We created a huge scene and I think they were madder that we ruined their stupid game for all the innocent passerby’s that heard me yelling. We walked away and Tyler was happy that we got the money back, but my blood was still boiling. It makes me so mad that people get away with doing that to innocent people. After we told the rest of the team the story, they all talked about how they wanted to go back and fight them (typical guys). I guess a few days later they did go back (not too fight, just to put them in their place) and the guys got nervous and packed up their game. I mean I would be too if 6 guys over 6’5 approached me. So yes, that is the story. All day I kept thinking to myself, “Did that really happen?”

Boda Boda fahren in Uganda (Part 3)

Visiting the Village 

The kids outside the house

On one of the last days, we got the chance to go with the school children from the village to visit their homes. Each group visited 2-3 families and brought gift bags to each family which consisted of: candles, matches, soap, sugar, and salt. It was such a humbling experience and so heart breaking to see the conditions of how these families live. The first family we visited had about 8 people living in a hut and the grandmother and aunt took care of all the children living there. There were two month old twins that we held and it broke my heart to think that they weren’t going to get the nutrition they needed living in those conditions. We had a translator with us the entire time because most of the village families don’t speak English except the child that attends school at Noah’s Ark. They were so grateful for our gift and in Africa it is custom to always give your best to the visitors, so they tried to give us mangos, but we didn’t take them because we just wanted to bless them. The owners of the Noah’s Ark told us that they would try to insist, but to not take anything because often the family will not eat just so they can provide for a guest or give a gift in return.

Me with one of the twins

The second family we visited was a boy that lived with his grandpa and great grandpa. Peter had come to their house and invited the boy to attend Noah’s Ark for school and he was viewed as so lucky to be getting an education. All of the houses that you see are very small and have no clean water supply, so often the children are in charge of waking up before school and walking to get water. As heart breaking as it was to visit the village, it was such a humbling experience and it gave us a better understanding of where the children come from and what their situation at home is.

Wendy and I with the second family.

Coaching

Harry and I with the boys that I coached every day

I got the privilege of coaching the older boys every day. They made up the school soccer team that plays against other schools in the area. I loved coaching them because they were so eager to learn because the coaches there don’t know a lot about drills and doing speed work with the children because usually they just play. The boys were between ages 14-18 and were so excited to do technical work. We would always play at the end and on Saturday when they had more free time we would literally play for 4 hours. I loved it. Girls don’t play sports often in Africa so they weren’t that great, but it was neat how even when the coach made the girls play, the boys would still pass to them. I was more frustrated with the fact that they were playing than everyone else because they just stood in a big group in the middle and the soccer game actually took place on the flanks. One boy that I really connected with was Samuel. I thought his name was “Somewhere” for the first few days because I couldn’t understand him. He was pretty quiet and super humble, but really good at soccer. He also was so eager to learn and work hard; he asked me every day if I was coming back the next day. I found out he is 16 years old and lives in the village. He plays for the third Ugandan team, which is two under the national team and I guess has a chance at playing for the national team someday. He lives with his mother and often people pay his mother to let him play with them. I just loved watching him interact with people. He would treat the girls with so much respect and always include them.

Henry (in white) and Samuel (in yellow)

Each morning I would wake up and go running in the village. Let me tell you it was quite the run each day because we were running up the steepest hills and the heat didn’t make it easier. On the third to last day, I went running and I saw Samuel walking with water towards me at about 7:00am. So I asked him if he wanted to come running with me and figured we could go for 15 minutes or so and then head back to get to school on time and I could go to breakfast. He wanted to come with, so we went to his house and got his stuff. I told him I was tired and don’t want to run too much longer and not too fast. He agreed and said he could show me where he used to go to school. Samuel claimed it wasn’t that far, but we were running FOREVER and everyone was staring at us and saying things to him because he was running with a “Mzungu” (which is what they call white people) and I guess everyone knows Samuel around town. To say the least I was tired and had planned on going for a light run, but about 30 minutes later we were STILL going. I kept saying “Samuel, how much longer? I don’t see Noah’s Ark!” His response was always we are almost there and let’s be honest I had no idea where I was because everything looks the same. The worst was that I needed to go to the bathroom. After 45 minutes, I finally saw the finish line and I literally thought I was going to wet myself. One funny story was that I always ran with my IPod on my arm and listened to music. So when Samuel came out of his house to go running with headphones as well. They went into his shirt so I didn’t see what he was listening to, but he told me his MP3 player got stolen. I was curious the whole time as to what was on the end of his headphone cord or if he just brought them because I had mine. I didn’t want to make it an awkward situation though. I am still curious to this day though. I didn’t realize how fit he was. He says he wakes up and runs for 45 minutes every morning, then goes and borrows his friend’s soccer ball (because he doesn’t have one) to do footwork at the field. On the last day I gave him a ball, and some gear to equip him a little better so that he didn’t have to always borrow from his friend. This kid definitely has a future in soccer. He told me his dream is to go play outside the country or even at college in the USA. I am still brainstorming ideas of how I can make this happen. He would be baller at college soccer.  All in all, “Somewhere” has a special place in my heart.

Dawn and I at the waterfall

Out and About in Uganda

Two days before we left, the owners planned a day trip to bring us to the source of the Nile (Jinja), eat chicken on a stick and go to a famous waterfall. We loaded up in the van for the outing and our first stop was the waterfalls. It was cool, the tour guide told us all about the different tribes and how numerous rituals still exist today. For example, we saw a cave and supposedly a python still lives in there and people come and worship it. It was really interesting. The next stop was to eat chicken on a stick at this market. Not gonna lie, it wasn’t my favorite.  I felt like a dog eating it.  It was nuts though, when we pulled up in our van tons of people come running up and start shoving food in your windows to buy. It was crazy! I needed to go to the bathroom here, so I asked the owner and he gave me a key to it out back and a roll of toilet paper. I walked through the kitchen and took a trail to this little outhouse. I walked in and the first thing I see is tons of bugs and lizards. It was a pit latrine and I was like, “Ok Liz, you can’t hold it so just get in and go as FAST as possible. I was nervous a lizard would attack or a mosquito would bite my butt or something. It was quite the experience and I couldn’t see anything in there. EEK! 

This is how they attack your van with food

Next we went to Jinja, the source of the Nile, where we took a boat ride on the Nile where it starts from Lake Victoria. We saw a baby alligator, beavers, and some other cool animals. We stopped off at an island for a bit and there was another boat full of Ugandan students there at the same time. Our tour guide came and asked me the infamous question, “Do you play basketball question because you are really tall?” and we were chatting about what I do in Germany, etc. Then randomly this one student comes and asks if he can have a picture with me and I look dumbfounded and caught off guard. I say uh, sure and so we take a picture, while all the other children are yelling “Mzungu! Mzungu!” Sure enough one by one all these students are asking to take a picture with a Mzungu. It was literally like paparazzi and I felt like a celebrity. We probably took about 15 different pictures and it was just a really awkward situation, but ended with a big group photo. I am used to getting stared at because of my height, but when a tall, white girl in sports clothes walks around Uganda, the Stare-o-Meter increases rapidly.

Chicken on a stick

Our group 

The boy that asked to take a pic.

The group picture with the students

In the tea fields

Boda Boda fahren in Uganda (Part 2)

Now that you have a better idea of what Noah’s Ark is like from my last blog, it is easier to write about different experiences and opportunities we had there.

Accommodations

View from our porch

The place we stayed in was really nice and honestly I figured we would have to purchase bug nets, but we were fortunate to have screens on our windows to protect us from malaria carrying mosquitoes. Seeing that we were going to Uganda, most of us were taking Malaria pills and were warned to bring bug spray. I didn’t bring bug spray because I figured someone else would have some and I honestly am not a big fan of the smell. One brave group member didn’t take malaria pills. In all reality, I didn’t even see mosquitoes or ever get bit by one. They are more common in the rainy season.

Our living room

A cool lizard outside our place

Although we didn’t see mosquitoes, we saw our fair share of lizards and spiders. I am not a big spider fan and I have actually become a little better about it. Growing up anytime I saw a spider I just screamed, “DAD!!! SPIDER!!!” as loud as I could. Lizards on the other hand are cute to look at from far away, but the thought of one crawling in my mouth ever since the Parent Trap movie makes me a little nervous. Or I guess just crawling on my in general when I am sleeping. After I had seen one in our room, Wendy (the other American) and I started doing nightly checks, which come to think of it is kind of pointless because even if there is one I am not about to catch a lizard. Good thing, we usually only found some spiders. One night though, we were sleeping and I started hearing some kind of animal or bug. Usually the monkeys were loud at night and crickets, but this time it was from Wendy’s side of the room (thank goodness J). As I was rolling over to go back to sleep I accidently lightly kicked Wendy (because our beds were really close) and didn’t think much of it. About 30 seconds later, she sits up quickly and I say, “Wendy, did you hear that?” and immediately she is on her feet in her bed saying that something just attacked her leg. I instantly think, “EEK! LIZARD!” and jump up as well. Wendy springs to the light and we are looking around the room. No sign of any bugs, lizards, or monkeys. She starts to explain more distinctly what she felt and I then realize that she felt my kick. HAHA. We were laughing pretty hard and probably woke up the rest of our team, but at least we double checked our room.

In our cabin we had a running joke about the different phases of electricity. There were three phases because of the generator and what not. Phase 1= everything works, Phase 2=only lights, no plug ins Phase 3= plugins work, no lights, and Phase 4= nothing works. It made things a little interesting at times, but we managed. On the third to last day, somebody broke the handle on the faucet so we had to shut the water off, and that became Phase 5.

Meals with the Children

The dining hall, as you can see it is somewhat chaos

I once thought that our family Christmas’ were like a zoo, but dinner at NACMU brought a whole new definition to that. All 139 children in one room eating are pretty intense. Not to mention many of which are toddlers and babies. I would usually come a little late because I had been training the village children. I would eat and literally as soon as I said I was done the children would grab my plate and literally lick it clean. I had to fend their hands off my food. At the end of each meal, one of the kids would read a bible story and ask a trivia question and then the children would sing songs. When I say sing, I more say yell the lyrics at the top of their lungs. I loved it though. One of the other fun things that Noah’s Ark does is make each child feel special on their birthday. They get to sit in front of everyone at their own table and everyone sings to them. They make a cake for the child and give them gifts that they open in front of everyone. Each kid gets a piece of cake as well. Let me tell you with 139 kids, that means you are celebrating birthdays practically every day (actually 139 days minus a few for the doubles), but still it made me laugh.

The children and I at dinner.

School Visit

The kids reading "Animal Farm"

One afternoon, Kourtney (my college teammate that visited for a day) and I visited the secondary class. We ended up attending during their English lesson and just took our seats in the back. We tried to sneak in and not distract, but me and sneaking don’t go very well to say the least. Not to mention I was wearing sports clothes and they were all matching. The class was reading good ole’ George Orwell’s, “Animal Farm”. I was supposed to read that back in the day (think I ended up using Spark Notes), so it was somewhat familiar to me. As we were sitting there I looked over at a girl that was near me and saw that she was wearing the same sport bra as me from Target (they don’t have Target, so it must have been a gift). So I got her attention and pointed to mine and exclaimed, “We match!” She didn’t look as excited as I was about the matter and then Kourtney leaned over and whispered a valid point, that I probably just embarrassed her and called her out because it isn’t really acceptable to have your sport bra showing in Uganda. I thought, ”Way to go, Liz. Always thinking before you speak (NOT).” We stayed for awhile and then got a little bored, and “snuck” out.

Boda Boda

On about the fourth day there, Wendy and I were assigned the duty to go into town and get some groceries. This required riding a Boda Boda (motorcycle) there, which goes against everything my mom has ever taught me. Never ride without a helmet. Never get in a “car” with a stranger. Regardless, Boda Boda’s are everywhere and they just pretty much do what they want. It is unbelievable what people put on these things. One time I saw the driver plus a woman and two children. Or 5 mattresses folded in half. Or a washing machine strapped to the back of one. It is incredible what people fit on a motorcycle. So Wendy and I rode on one together with a driver and of course being the big person (like usual), I got demoted to the back seat. To say the least I held on for dear life. Once we arrived in town a storm was coming in, so we tried to shop fast. We went to the grocery store and got everything that we needed and strategically packed so we could ride a Boda Boda home. At this point we had to make a quick pit stop to get some phone credit at this little stand on the side of the main road. This truck, which is like a moving DJ and just drives around with huge speaks playing music and singing/yelling came in front of us and stopped. All of sudden this guy is saying, “Mzungu, Mzungu, can you dance?” to us and like I said in my previous blog, Mzungu means white person. He kept going on about us and by this point everyone is staring at us clearly because we were the only white people around. Not to mention is starts down pouring so we can’t go anywhere except awkwardly stare and look clueless. I thought about busting out the worm or something to give them a show, but vetoed that idea quickly because I can’t do the worm. Eventually they left and we waited the rain out because Boda Bodas’ don’t drive in the rain, partly because everything becomes mud. Once the rain slowed down we went on the hunt for a Boda Boda that might still be going and faced that we were going to get wet, but as long as the eggs got home in one piece that is what mattered. Needless to say, it was an embarrassing, wet afternoon adventure.

This is a Boda boda!