The task of writing out what has been going on in the past 3 weeks is overwhelming. Thus, I'm resorting to bullet points to quickly highlight a few cool things I've done in the past 3 weeks.
-Go on a hike of the Rwenzori Mountains, run down the mountain, and do abs and push-ups on river rocks next to an awesome bridge and waterfall. Runner's World Rave Run style.
-Visit a King of one of the Ugandan tribes. Look up and realize that the royal palace has about 50 bats living in its ceiling
-Go to a reconcilliation village in Rwanda-dance with the Rwandan girls, drink banana beer, listen to reconcilliation stories and be amazed at the Rwandans capability to forgive and move on after the genocide
-Visit the Milles Collines Hotel (the one that Hotel Rwanda is based on)
-Learn how to weave baskets at a woman's weaving co-op
-Go on a boat and land safari. See elephants, hippos, water buffalo, monkeys, warthogs, and a leopard
-Work-out at an actual gym at the Rwenzari International Hotel
-Stay up all night (literally, we did not sleep) playing truth or dare like seventh graders
-Stay at a nun's guest house in Rwanda
-Star gaze in the Rwandan country-side
-Find a resturaunt with actual American food and eat the world's best veggie burger
-Watch a football match (aka soccer game) on a sheet with a projector with around 100 Ugandans
-Go to a local primary school football match. There were about 5 times more people there to watch 10 year olds play soccer than there are at GW men's soccer games.
-High altitude training runs, often joined by Rwandan or Ugandan children who are wicked fast
-Stayed at the Queen Elizabeth National Park Hostel. We weren't allowed to leave our rooms after dark because the lions were roaming around. I'm serious.
-Go clubbing in both Uganda and Rwanda. Get way more attention than I have ever wanted
-Ride a boda-boda (motorcycle taxi) through the country-side
-Go to the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) border
-Eat raw cassava at a Rwandan farm sponsored by the Millenium Development Project
-Live 3 days in rural Uganda in a hut completley without electricity, running water, or any trace of technology.
Tomorrow we drive back to Kampala. I am very ready to go back. The past three weeks have been cool since I got to see areas in rural and urban Rwanda, Eastern, and Western Uganda. But, I am excited to return to my home-stay in Kampala and have some sort of permancy again--it got tiring being on the road and staying in hotels for three straight weeks.
Back in Kampala, we will start our elective class. I chose to focus on grass roots development, mostly because it's something I know nothing about and I think it would be neat to study something where I do not have a previously conceived Western interpretation of the subject. So, here's to a six hour drive tomorrow back to Kampala and then two weeks of grass roots studies!
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