Sunday we were invited to join the secondary girls’ school end-of-year outing to Uganda. It all came about on Saturday morning when we were told that we could go on the trip to the source of the Nile in nearby Uganda and that we would have goat for lunch. Surely, that was all the information I needed! Which is good because that is literally all the information we were given.
The bus was to leave at 6:15 am, African Standard Time. And so, right on time at 8 am, we were off with 40 school girls to explore the Nile. We made it to the entrance of the national park in just about 4 hours. We were all excited by the sight of monkeys in the tree at the entrance, it seemed a sure sign that there would be more animals to follow inside the park. Lions, hippos, elephants and more!! Oh the excitement was ripe. Then we turned around and left the park. It turns out there is a complicated set of rules that one must follow if one is going to be allowed into this particular national park in Uganda. And we had not properly followed one or more of these stringent regulations. Rumors flew left and right speculating the exact reason behind this trip’s quick demise, but since most were flying around in French, I can’t really say what the reason might have been.
The day was not, however, a total disappointment. The bus took us back to the nearby town where we had a lovely picnic of goat and potatoes overlooking the Nile river. Actually, the goat was quite tasty. It may have even been delicous had there not been several goats bleating for thier lost breathern 10 yards away. But no matter, because there is simply no more pleasant way to spend a Sunday than feasting on goat and potatoes on the edge of one of the grandest rivers in the world.
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Karen,
ReplyDeleteGreg and I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2010 with an abundance of goats and potatoes, and fewer locusts! We chortled when we read about locusts tasting like potato chips....I thought everything was supposed to taste like chicken!
As for teaching, I can tell you that most educators I know can recall their first days of teaching (attempting to teach?) and the terror they felt too. Thankfully, time and preparation led to improvement, but I will share with you that each year (and it has been over 30 years) when I stand before a new class for the first time, I still get nervous.
We wish you all good things in 2010 and look forward to your next posting. Joyeux Noël
marcia