Getting the Ball Rolling

Bungee Jumping over the Nile River

We met up with Patrick in Jinja

The week after rafting and bungee jumping was probably not the best time for me to neglect my blog... sorry Mom. I am, in fact, not dead, but instead quite addicted to adrenaline. Skydiving anyone?

I traveled to Jinja for the second weekend in a row, this time with all the other FSD interns. On Saturday, we rafted 30 kilometers of the mighty Nile River. If you Google Bujagali Falls, you will see our second rapid of the day (and our first class 5). We only flipped once the whole day... on Silverback rapid. As our Canadian raft guide so eloquently put it, "the river bitchslapped us." I'm not being dramatic when I say I’ve never been so close to death. Flipping was terrifying; when I was under water, I couldn't figure out which way was up and which was down. When I finally discerned that, I couldn't get there; the river kept pushing me under. Just when I thought I was going to die, I made it to the surface, but not without a lung or two full of Nile. The next thing I knew, someone was pulling me into a raft.

Sunday was bungee jumping day. 44 meters from the top of the tower to the surface of the Nile. If it wasn't so expensive, I'd have done it all day. For some reason I wasn't nervous until I shuffled my toes to the very edge of the platform, looked out, and processed what I was about to do. By that time, the kiwis were saying "3-2-1-bungee," so fortunately I didn't have TOO much time to dwell on the task at hand. The fall, though short, was incredible... "a quick drop and a sudden stop." I got another lovely lungful of Nile because I forgot to hold my breath... too many other things to concentrate on.

Chelsea and I were both sick on Monday- some type of sinus infection- so we skipped work, slept, and watched movies with Benna. The day off was most definitely needed.

Today we traveled to Nzizi (the community where we are planting our kitchen gardens) to conduct our preliminary workshop. The day was slow, but, well, that's Ugandan time for you. I've learned that you can't judge the day's success until it is over. Sometimes the smallest things can make the day worth it. Today, there were two such moments: the first was when the women clapped when we talked about how the garden was meant as a WOMEN'S project and the second was when the families told us (through a translator) how excited they were to have us helping them build these gardens.