As we left for the follow-up visits to Tea Estate and Swazi Primary Schools I wouldn’t have bet much that we would stay dry. It was cool, very cloudy and windy. And when Tea Estate postponed us until Thursday and Swazi to later in the afternoon we chanced a trip to Bushenyi almost assuring a soaking.
The weather held and we accomplished our missions. In addition we found our way to Kibazi P.S., the muddiest ride yet leaving only 3 or 4 more schools to find. The weather kept clearing and there was a nearly full moon. For dinner, I made a version of eggplant and spicy potatoes, substituting masala for the individual spices and garlic/chili sauce for the chill peppers. Some milk powder took the place of the tablespoon of yogurt, hardly worth adding.
While Connie did our laundry I washed 30 seat covers, their first cleaning in two years I am sure, and 20 pairs of gumboots, inside and out. As I emptied water from each of the 40 boots I kept thinking of the line, “He’s so dumb he couldn’t pour piss our of a boot with the directions written on the bottom”. True to African form Lawrence sat and watched and then fell asleep when I began cleaning at the center. Not real motivated here.
I talked to Stephanie yesterday. She and Emma will be here on Monday and wanted reservations at the Tea Estate guest house. We tried booking but they only want company VIPs so we have to check back tomorrow. Connie and I will leave on Tuesday morning and Steph and Emma will follow after their meeting in Bushenyi and stop in here to pick up our gear. She also told us that Dr. Jane has scheduled a June 23 visit to Kalinzu, but alas, we won’t be here.
The rains began about 4:00pm and continued until 6:00pm. During a lull at 6:00pm we loaded Robert and Lawrence on the back of the motorcycles and took them to dinner at the Tea Estate. Like a Weeble I may have wobbled but I didn’t fall down. We talked, like the walrus, of many things: tea, education, marriage, dowries, holidays, religion, and government before dinner was finally served at 8:45pm. It was the toughest chicken I have ever eaten. Should have gone with goat. We rode home under a full moon, without incident. 