Week 42 (6 – 12 May 2007)
After a good nights sleep we prepared for a leisurely start to as the Sunday service at Zzana was at 11am. However, Lyn got a call to say that she was needed for the Sunday school after all so had to prepare at the last minute and leave earlier. An American was preaching but both he and the translator got so excited and loud that we couldn’t hear what they were saying! We later found an experienced AIM missionary spent this time preparing a sermon of his own!!!! Lyn had been given a gift of some money to use on our visit so treated us to lunch at “Le Chateau” which has a Belgian cuisine. We had steak in mushroom sauce – and the fact that I remembered what we had is an indication of how much we enjoyed it! Gregg, Lyn’s boss, was the AIM representative who visited Ushindi before we went. He has worked in schools in Congo and did our Uganda induction back in August so it was good to catch up with him.
Monday was definitely a day of rest. Lyn’s flat was quiet after the neighbour’s music stopped at 10am so we sat out on the balcony reading and reflecting on the last week and making tentative plans for the rest of the year. There was a gentle breeze and the temperature was very comfortable for us. Lyn’s helper came to clean the flat and do our washing but she worked so quietly we were not disturbed. Andrea slept for 3 hours in the afternoon! Just as we sat down to eat the electricity went off – but only for a few minutes. However, it came on again for only 30 minutes and so spent the rest of the evening chatting by candlelight and head torches. By 9pm we were so weary that we all retired for the night.
We had a quiet morning on Tuesday reading and catching up with e-mails, the blog and searching the internet for knitting patterns (Andrea). At about 2pm we were collected by Debbie Carpenter and taken to a potential venue for the AIM Central Region Conference (January 2008). We are on the committee and so went back to Matoke Inn for a committee meeting before returning to Lyn’s flat to recover!
Wednesday morning was a repeat of Tuesday morning until 11am. We then walked up to Matoke Inn and arrived at 12pm hot and sweaty. I was very hot and so sweaty that it was showing though my trouser legs. Fortunately on my legs and not anywhere embarrassing – or at least no one pointed out anything embarrassing! We sorted out some financial details as we have an AIM account in Kampala enabling us to pay for some things even when we are in Arua. We then had lunch with the Central Region Committee and while we were eating we each reported back about our reactions to the LeaderLink Conference in Nairobi last week.
We were then taken by car into town just as the heavens opened so were delayed for a bit. We visited a bookshop for about 2 minutes and managed to leave without buying a single book but crossed the road and bought a guitar in about 10 minutes! We were then taken to the bank and while I was pleased with the security arrangements I was surprised how little time it took me to withdraw 2,000,000 Ugandan shillings. Yes, the number was two million. What fun! But we weren’t millionaires for long. Our next stop was a supermarket and I mistakenly let Andrea loose on her own so that I could look after the rest of the money! But while waiting for her I bought an external aerial for our phone in Arua so when it is transported up we should have a better connection. We then went to a solar goods warehouse and parted with most of our newly withdrawn money in exchange for a battery and another solar panel. The battery weighs 67lbs. Not your average torch battery. The solar panel only just fitted into the back of the car. We decided we needed them both as we are trying to run two laptops. I’m still recovering from the shock of spending so much money in such a short time! It’s just as well we were driven back to Lyn’s flat – we weren’t in any fit state to negotiate the public transport. We now have to arrange for them to be taken from Kampala to Arua by road. After recovering, we had tea and Lyn had arranged for a special birthday cake – with green (i.e. Irish) icing. It was a very nice cake too. It’s a treat just to have a cake! But it’s possibly the only cake that’s been transported on a boda in a rucksack! I spent a further hour or so checking e-mails and updating the blog. Good therapy after spending money!
On Thursday we just recovered from Wednesday! It was very pleasant to be able to relax in the comfort of Lyn’s flat, reading, writing e-mails and the blog and surfing the web. We also had the luxury of packing slowly.
There was no power when we go up at 5am on Friday but we’re used to that! We were collected by Lawrence, the “AIM” taxi – he does most of the airport trips and keeps track of all the comings and goings. There were no problems with the trip and with no international flights, the airport was quiet. However, we saw a little more of Uganda than expected as the plane went further north to Moyo (on the boarder with Sudan) before returning to Arua. We were only 30 mins later than expected and Thomas from Diguna had spotted that the plane had landed from his home and workshop. He managed to repair the back door and check and service the car. We did our shopping and called at the vanderMeers who are leaving soon for a year back in Canada. We will be looking after many of their books and no doubt reading many of them too. So we collected the first to TRUNKS. We’ve no idea how many more there are but with six children it could be a lot! By the time we returned to the school we were hot and tired (no change there then) and everything was fine. I did walk into a staff meeting, not realising that it was on, but was too hot and tired to stay.
On Saturday we started our exam marking – it’s going to be a long job and needs to be completed with the report cards written up by Monday 21st May – when the new term starts. One of the Chemistry exam questions I set was to “Explain why substances with covalent bonds do not conduct electricity.” I was expecting an answer along the lines that there are no electrons or ions free to move so the current cannot be carried. One student wrote “They are weak and unstable just like having two wives sharing a husband. They won’t be on good terms.” In nearly 30 years setting and marking questions on this topic it must be the most unique answer!
Monday was definitely a day of rest. Lyn’s flat was quiet after the neighbour’s music stopped at 10am so we sat out on the balcony reading and reflecting on the last week and making tentative plans for the rest of the year. There was a gentle breeze and the temperature was very comfortable for us. Lyn’s helper came to clean the flat and do our washing but she worked so quietly we were not disturbed. Andrea slept for 3 hours in the afternoon! Just as we sat down to eat the electricity went off – but only for a few minutes. However, it came on again for only 30 minutes and so spent the rest of the evening chatting by candlelight and head torches. By 9pm we were so weary that we all retired for the night.
We had a quiet morning on Tuesday reading and catching up with e-mails, the blog and searching the internet for knitting patterns (Andrea). At about 2pm we were collected by Debbie Carpenter and taken to a potential venue for the AIM Central Region Conference (January 2008). We are on the committee and so went back to Matoke Inn for a committee meeting before returning to Lyn’s flat to recover!
Wednesday morning was a repeat of Tuesday morning until 11am. We then walked up to Matoke Inn and arrived at 12pm hot and sweaty. I was very hot and so sweaty that it was showing though my trouser legs. Fortunately on my legs and not anywhere embarrassing – or at least no one pointed out anything embarrassing! We sorted out some financial details as we have an AIM account in Kampala enabling us to pay for some things even when we are in Arua. We then had lunch with the Central Region Committee and while we were eating we each reported back about our reactions to the LeaderLink Conference in Nairobi last week.
We were then taken by car into town just as the heavens opened so were delayed for a bit. We visited a bookshop for about 2 minutes and managed to leave without buying a single book but crossed the road and bought a guitar in about 10 minutes! We were then taken to the bank and while I was pleased with the security arrangements I was surprised how little time it took me to withdraw 2,000,000 Ugandan shillings. Yes, the number was two million. What fun! But we weren’t millionaires for long. Our next stop was a supermarket and I mistakenly let Andrea loose on her own so that I could look after the rest of the money! But while waiting for her I bought an external aerial for our phone in Arua so when it is transported up we should have a better connection. We then went to a solar goods warehouse and parted with most of our newly withdrawn money in exchange for a battery and another solar panel. The battery weighs 67lbs. Not your average torch battery. The solar panel only just fitted into the back of the car. We decided we needed them both as we are trying to run two laptops. I’m still recovering from the shock of spending so much money in such a short time! It’s just as well we were driven back to Lyn’s flat – we weren’t in any fit state to negotiate the public transport. We now have to arrange for them to be taken from Kampala to Arua by road. After recovering, we had tea and Lyn had arranged for a special birthday cake – with green (i.e. Irish) icing. It was a very nice cake too. It’s a treat just to have a cake! But it’s possibly the only cake that’s been transported on a boda in a rucksack! I spent a further hour or so checking e-mails and updating the blog. Good therapy after spending money!
On Thursday we just recovered from Wednesday! It was very pleasant to be able to relax in the comfort of Lyn’s flat, reading, writing e-mails and the blog and surfing the web. We also had the luxury of packing slowly.
There was no power when we go up at 5am on Friday but we’re used to that! We were collected by Lawrence, the “AIM” taxi – he does most of the airport trips and keeps track of all the comings and goings. There were no problems with the trip and with no international flights, the airport was quiet. However, we saw a little more of Uganda than expected as the plane went further north to Moyo (on the boarder with Sudan) before returning to Arua. We were only 30 mins later than expected and Thomas from Diguna had spotted that the plane had landed from his home and workshop. He managed to repair the back door and check and service the car. We did our shopping and called at the vanderMeers who are leaving soon for a year back in Canada. We will be looking after many of their books and no doubt reading many of them too. So we collected the first to TRUNKS. We’ve no idea how many more there are but with six children it could be a lot! By the time we returned to the school we were hot and tired (no change there then) and everything was fine. I did walk into a staff meeting, not realising that it was on, but was too hot and tired to stay.
On Saturday we started our exam marking – it’s going to be a long job and needs to be completed with the report cards written up by Monday 21st May – when the new term starts. One of the Chemistry exam questions I set was to “Explain why substances with covalent bonds do not conduct electricity.” I was expecting an answer along the lines that there are no electrons or ions free to move so the current cannot be carried. One student wrote “They are weak and unstable just like having two wives sharing a husband. They won’t be on good terms.” In nearly 30 years setting and marking questions on this topic it must be the most unique answer!
posted by J & A McAdam at 4:00 PM
2 Comments:
Well done - a very interesting series of blogs. That was an amazing answer to your test question about why the current does not flow.Is this typical African humour? Is the student a bit of a wag or was this a serious response?
Good to see you here last Sunday but so sorry about the loss of James' Dad.
Thanks again for giving us such a vivid picture of your life.
Yours, John Acton 9.6.07
Well done - a very interesting series of blogs. That was an amazing answer to your test question about why the current doesn't flow. Is this typical African humour? Is the student a bit of a wag or was this a serious response?
Good to see you last Sunday but so sorry about the loss of James' Dad.
Thanks again for giving us such a vivid picture of your life.
Yours sincerely,
John Acton 9.6.07
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