dear friends

it is a hot, sunny day in jinja. the last week has been filled with intensity and adventure. i was finally able to go to gulu with daisy. after 2 hours of matatu (taxi-van) and 6 hours of giant bus on dusty red dirt road, we arrived in gulu town and met daisy's son, geoffrey. he had his own car and took us to a hotel. i thought we were eating, they thought this is where i wanted to stay. after much polite discussion and deliberation. i relented and agreed to not stay with daisy on the floor in the hut of her friend, but to stay in a hotel room with mosquito net and television. (although no water) we set out to explore the town and visited daisy's friend who is a nurse at the gulu prision. the town is full of pikis (motorcycle taxis) and construction. daisy had not been to town for a few years and was amazed at the progress. we drove with geoffrey for the next two days visiting idp (internally displaced persons) camps - they are being dismantled and the inhabitants told to go home; schools - primary, secondary, trade, craft - where geoffrey's sister teaches catering; and the customary (family) home of daisy's family - we met aunties and cousins and toured geoffrey's dream of moving his family back home, complete with wells, gardens, cows, and huts. it was a fabulous visit.

the day after the long bus ride back to jinja, i attended my suubi meeting. it is always a good time to sit under the trees at santa's house and chat with the ladies. i recieved many gifts, including a very funny african dress with headscarf. to make the goodbye longer, we will have all of the ladies back at santa's tomorrow for a final english class hurrah. i am trying not to be sad.

on that note. we were all saddened by the passing of our friend andrew's young sister, agnes, on sunday. she had been in the hospital for many weeks battling hiv and tuberculosis. yesterday we attended agnes' funeral. starting at andrew's home in walukuba, we attended a very moving catholic mass in the local church. then we started a convoy of our van with andrew and family, a pickup of aunties and young friends of agnes standing in the back, and i rode in a large coaster (minibus) of others friends and relations. we drove for many kilometers to mukono town and then many many more kilometers back to andrew's village and burial place of his family. we arrived to meet many many people and had another funeral mass. the family members brought the casket to the grave and at the end everyone threw flower petals and dirt. it was a powerful experience followed by confusion as to how we would return to jinja. our pleas for "same seats" were ignored, so jacob and i volunteered to ride in the back of the pickup with 25 others back to jinja. it was an adventure. the first hour on the dusty dusty dirt road was exhilirating, the second hour on the patchy pavement in the rain was refreshing, and the third hour on the highway breathing diesel was exhausting. i ended up with black lines around my face in the shape of my sunglasses, but we got good chicken on a stick. i always enjoy adding modes of transport to my list.

so i'm going to continue my going home preparation: gathering and burning photos, visiting friends, and getting ready for cold cold home.