my krazy week in africa

so it's been an interesting week here in good ol' uganda, to say the least. here's just a little crash course to my week. buckle up, cause here we go . . . monday i was on a boat in lake edward, surrounded by hippo's and water buffalo, when we found ourselves at the border with the dem republic of the congo. we had to turn around, because if we were to go any further it would be breaking international law and we figured we might be shot. (not really) (me standing on the equator) tuesday as we were driving our car out of the lodge we were staying at, we had to stop to let elephants cross the road. on our way home (9 hr drive) we decided to stop for lunch in masaka, uganda. did i mention that masaka is ground zero for the aids pandemic. yes, they have traced the start of aids back to the very place in which we had lunch (we ate packaged crackers and bottled coke's). wednesday was not so interesting as we only sat in a van at a gas station to have lunch, which consisted of crackers and coke. thursday was fun, we went to a church to have a women's conference. we were singing some songs and this woman falls down to the ground -- the pastor comes up with a concerned, yet calm look on his face and declaces "demons, yes i believe it is demons"! so they took her to the back of this 10x10 room of sticks, mud and boards they call a church and exorsise her demons -- all while serving us lunch in the front. after she was exorcised, and all of her hair had stood straight up, she came to shake our hands, tell us thank you and good bye. what a week you say, well it doesn't end there. friday after we got back from teaching, we had an earthquake -- the epicenter was in the congo, but could be felt as far away as narobi, kenya, which is to the east of us. so if you are looking for a nice, relaxing getaway vacation -- uganda is definately not for you. i thought it was a brilliant week, and have had a great time. i am at a market right now getting souveniers for you all. we are going to the source of the river nile tomorrow, which should be fun. i didn't realize that the nile starts here in uganda at lake victoria, there is a big dam, which they use to control the waters -- they say it should only be a 2 hour trip tomorrow, so hooray, more fun stuff is still to come. this pic is of me and my new kenyan friends who were in town for the east african union meeting. we are standing in front of the source of the nile. we fly out of here on thursday morning, and land in london about 3:45pm. we stay there for 4 nights and then it's back home, move to dc, and find a job. my time is running short, so i've gotta run. more love from africa, linz