Random Interesting Occurrences

Time out from the top ten to share some randomness:

WHITE ANTS: Bugs, that look like giant ants with big, white wings. They only come out after the rain, and – raw or cooked – they’re a delicacy. Some of the braver group members tried some with mixed responses. I pulled the vegetarian card on this one.

HELP, THERE’S A SNAKE IN THE BATHROOM: Screamed by Morgan a few nights ago in the parish. We, idiots that we are, grabbed cameras and ran into the bathroom to take pictures. Paul, our Acholi friend who works at the parish, came in after hearing the screams, picked the snake up by the tail, carried it outside, and stepped on its head. After careful analysis by Paul and the fathers, it was determined that our visitor was a baby cobra. Do mosquito nets double as snake nets?

SPORTS BRAS NOT JUST FOR SPORTS: We’ve taken to wearing them on the hour long drive to and from Anaka. Seriously.

HITCHIKERS GUIDE TO AFRICA: On the way back from the rhino trip, with our already-full mutatu, we stopped to pick up a friend of the driver’s halfway into the drive. Only no one told us what was going on; the mutatu just stopped and a random guy smooshed himself into a row already bursting with passengers. Cozy.

WISHING I HAD AN AUTOGRAPH BOOK: Because so far, we’ve met Nelson Mandela, Tony Blair, Richard Nixon, and Black Jesus. (And, we are their teachers.)

SOLITARE: Not just a time-waster in offices across America. We have four computers at Anaka Secondary School. And at any given time, a secretary or teacher is playing solitaire. Why not? We have typewriters for actual typing...

WELCOME TO ANAKA. COME SEE OUR… HOSPITAL?: This was a weird one. Nelson Mandela, one of our awesome students, offered to take us on a tour on the afternoon of our first day in Anaka. The highlight: the hospital. He took us inside the gates, which we thought was weird enough (especially as it smelled of cow dung), and then proceeded to take us inside, to the reception area, and then into EACH OF THE WARDS. Without going into too much detail (I’ll tell you later if you really want to know) it was one of the most awkward and uncomfortable experiences thus far. And I really, really hope I don’t get sick here…

HOW MANY ARMY GUYS: Can you fit in the back of a pickup truck? Answer: a whole heck of a lot. And with their AK-47s, bags of gear, etc… it’s impressive, and a little freaky.