The Beauty and the Bruises

Yesterday, a friend, Jill, and I decided to hike to the top of a mountain/hill and look down from there on our past two years. After four hours of bright morning hiking, we reached the top, and were able to sit on the edge of our world. It looked like a movie screen surrounding us as we looked down. We talked about this experience, about how we have had so many different seasons here-- about the lack of consistency in anything. Laying on our backs to the clouds, and looking at green, stony hills of cows, we thought we would really miss this pace...... that is, until we ran out of water. Sun beaten and thinking about the Somali refugees, we had to go through two dry villages before someone was selling drinking water. As the people flocked to look at us, I tried to explain that we were not elephants in a park....When we finally reached Jill's home, in the evening, there was also no water. Dizzy, I dragged the jerry can to a community borehole and waited for the intravenous trickle to fill the 20 litre jug. Then I went to the latrine, stubbed my head on the short door frame, and reflected on the brown finger smears all over the walls (when people don't have toilet paper...). and started to cry. I finally got my bucket bath, in which I removed one layer of dirt-- but not all-- and we went to a local restaurant for dinner. Whoops-- they had no food. Thighs still throbbing, we went to a different restaurant, where a young man was very intent on talking with us. Over fried goat meat (bones and ligaments) and fries in the dark, I told him how we were Zimbabwean crocodile farmers and how lucky he is to be in Uganda where the government doesn't steal your land or kill your family.... and a bit about the basics of croc farming. This morning I rode in a 14-seater minivan with 24 other people, where a half hour ride stretched into one and a half hours and a pervasive smell of smoke and bad milk was adding to my nausea. Finally I got out, flagged down a car and hitch- hiked the rest of the way. All so I could communicate with you all. There are things that I will and others that I will not miss.