The Continuing Adventure Part 2...Read the One Below This First!!

Wednesday night I walked back from the zoo on the red soil (it is red here in Africa just like P.E.I.). That night I went out with some people from JGI to the local bar. I expected it to be very different from a bar in Hamilton but it really wasn't! I tried Ugandan beer called Bell for the first time, it tastes exactly like Molson Canadian!
That night as I was going to bed I swear I heard chanting in the distance amongst the African dogs howling. Thursday I got up and went down to start work but felt really sick so I ended up sleeping it off and worked only the afternoon. I woke up and finally had matooke! It is a staple of the african diet made of plantain bananas. Surprizingly I really liked it (I usually can't stand bananas!) We have another volunteer from Sweeden named Anna. She is really nice and we talked all through lunch. She has been to Uganda many times and decided that she loves it so much that she moved here and is volunteering with us while she looks for work.
In the afternoon Jacque and I started working on a game plan for our "No Plastic Bags" campaign and it is coming along good. After work I went back to the zoo (they let me just walk in because of JGI) and watched the chimps. They were all down on the island that time, a group of 8 individuals. I watched them for a long time, the baby's playing, the adults grooming. I made friends with one of the staff members and got a free tour of the zoo! The dogs and cats here are so great I love having them around since I miss Brodie and Hailey so much. Tinker, never stops wanting to play fetch and has lightning reflexes. Scrappy and Levi are also very friendly and they all absoultely love to be loved!! I am attempting to learn some basic Lugandan and Swahili here but when I go to say it to someone I always forget what to say. I am sure I will get it in time... I am getting excited for my visit with Ronald, my family's forster child who lives further north of Kampala. Peluth, the World Vision staff member who is going with me, called today to finalise things. Everyone on the team here thinks it is so good that I am doing this and are really supportive. I feel so lucky that I will get to see him, talk to him and witness the difference World Vision is making with the help of foster parents around the world like my wonderful parents.

Today (Friday) has been a great day! We had the other volunteer come and she is so nice, we have hit it off right away! She is an American from New York who will be staying for 6 months helping develop the Roots & Shoots school curriculum and is staying at the office. She has never been to Africa either so we are going to lean the ropes together... After she came we went into Kampala with Kevin and Mary Lou to get some groceries and look around. It is a crazy city!! There are no rules on the road and the traffic is insane. The roads are lined with slums and I saw my first real look at poverty. It is truly hard to see, but I am told on the other side of the city it is worse. It is good to see the reality however because it wakes you up inspires you to help change things. We ended up going to a mall and very modern grocery store and I tried to stock up on things I know. Now we are all just relaxing out on the veranda, looking at the stars, watching the bats fly and listen to Kevin play the guitar....It's strange but I feel as if everything I have seen I have known my whole life and Africa already feels apart of me....anyways I hope everyone is good at home, I will write more real soon and try to post some videos/pictures!
Shanni