My African Adventure 20-22nd Jan

20th Jan: Crap! Day out. What did we do? Sat in the sun? Unlikely- it hasn’t been out much these days. I do know that Stephen and Diana came round and we had dinner at The Guinness and Sister. I started reading ‘The Time Travelers Wife’. I honestly can’t remember anything else. Oh that was it! We went into town; visited Shop 2000 (or whatever it’s called) and got Toms for £3. Dad bought another hat. We walked down to the red market at Nyabogogo but it was fairly unimpressive and we all felt rather harassed. I got a picture with a lion. The women are trying their best to get a suntan but there’s only so much we can do. Also, mum and dad are to name Stephen and Diana’s baby- a Scottish boys name. Highlight: showing Stephen photos of Edinburgh and NI.

21st Jan: Fairly adventurous day: firstly, the loo was blocked so dad had to fix that. Mum and I went to Embrace Rwanda HQ to hand over all those knitted jumpers and hats. No bus stopped for us on the way home because they we all full so we had to walk to Remera bus station but on the way it started raining and I mean, raining! Anyway, after lunch dad and I walked along the valley to Nyamarambo- about 5 miles. Got a Fanta there and a bus home. Market on the way was slightly scary. Hopefully I got a good bit of sun.

Hilary (Embrace Rwanda) getting the ‘chip shop jumpers’

the ski slope hill on the way into Nyamirambo

22nd Jan: It’s been a real mix of days. In a way I was glad to get on the bus back to Romera today. We went to Romanagana to sort out schools some of the boys are going to. Having visited the wrong place- a Catholic school- we found the right one- EPR- chatted with the headmaster and got one of the kids in, providing he passes the entrance exam on Monday. Dad, granny and I took a walk around the market: he didn’t see any of the mamas he had helped set up a market stall. Visited a mama with cancer… 47 but looks way younger. Has a daughter, 21 and a 17 year old son. She went to Uganda for treatment 6 months ago but it did nothing. We were able to give her a bit of money to keep the family going. They were given a cow but have heard nothing of its existence/ whereabouts. That was our next task. So we were led to a cow- looked in fine enough shape. Being a ‘zoologist’ with a masters in behaviour and welfare I still had a few unanswered questions and knew communication could be far better. Back in Remera I bought that Jesus clock for Jess and Dave for £4! The guy in the other shop was looking for £12… A picky tea was had- crisps, peanuts, cheese bread, and banana/ ginger loaf. And beer/ wine. Dad is doing extremely well with us all, though did threaten to disappear to the pub. None of us think Stephen’s ‘ticket’ to Ireland will materialise into anything. Perhaps photos will have to do. And mum and dad have chosen the name Stuart. Lovely. Didn’t wash my hair this morning; just couldn’t face it. This means it must be done tomorrow.

Stephen and i at the EPR school

apparently the missing cow