Saturday morning started out nicely with real bacon, pancakes and some weird Brittish syrup in a can. We gathered around the breakfast table after talking on Skype to our friends the Millers and decided a trip to Lake Victoria would be our agenda for the day. We packed up our sweet go-anywhere-missionary-mobile and headed out on an adventure. It is so nice to figure out the city where we are living by just driving around. The further you get out of Kampala the cleaner it gets and more lush. We greatly enjoyed the 15 minute drive to the lake. After taking a few brief wrong turns we finally found the lake access. You must pass by this amazing resort before turning down a dirt road with shanties on either side. Once we got down to the lake I realized I may have an accident if I didn't find a toilet soon. Dan let me off in front of a promising looking building and I rushed in. It was hands down the most vile place I have ever been. The public toilets here really require that you can hold your breath for at least 2 minutes. After making a quick exit we joined up again at the lake front and watched numerous baptizms taking place.
From where we were standing you could see the luxurious beach of the resort we had just passed. It seemed so out of place amongst fishing boats and slums. We noticed a little open air restaurant just down the way and decided to have a soda. After an uncomfortable walk with the police following us we settled into a lovely table by the water with an umbrella. The kids meandered around chasing huge scary storks away and Dan and I began to discuss our upcoming wedding anniversary. We were deep in discussion reminiscing about our wedding and getting all lovey dovey when a man at a nearby table rushes over and rips Benjamin's chair out from under him spilling his Fanta everywhere. I was just about to scratch this man's eyes out when he lifts Benjamin up and says, "Move, move, there is a snake!". Being quick as a bunny I just freeze in fear and lift my feet up. He again tells me to "move, move" and I finally get the message to my feet to move. The snake ,which I haven't seen yet, apparently was trying to get into Hannah's backpack lying on the ground so Dan picks it up and sees a cute little green snake. But then it rears up like a cobra and starts hissing. A rather large and imposing woman rushes over, removes her sandal and starts beating the snake. It slithers away but she keeps at it and soon the snake is dead in the grass. The man puts Benjamin down and says, "Sorry, sorry" as I assure him a spilled soda is worth him saving our lives. After that the lazy Saturday afternoon at the lake was kind of ruined. I kept lifting my feet and thinking another snake would attack us. We opted to leave the lake at that point and headed out to explore the nearby town and market. (Just for the record, the snake was apparently a deadly one but super cute and harmless looking.)
The drama continued there as well. Dan went to park the car so I ventured on to the wharf with the kids. A boda boda driver (these are crazy motorcycle taxi drivers) came screaming up the hill causing us to leap out of the way as he pulled up mere inches from my feet. Then he proceeded to laugh and make mean gestures at the kids which in turn caused them to flinch and rear back into the busy street. Having just survived a vicious snake attack I was emboldened by emotions and I got right in his face and said, "STOP DOING THAT YOU ARE RUDE". He narrowed his eyes at me and said something I didn't understand (luckily) as I pulled my kids into safety and moved on. When Dan finally reached us I was determined to find the driver and have my big American husband teach him some manners. We decided to get in the car and move on instead of starting a street fight.
On the way home I spotted a purse shop and had Dan pull over so I could finally replace the nylon bag I've been carrying around. The purse I wanted was perfect...used but perfect. I asked "zino sante meka?" which is how much and he said what I though was 12,500 shillings. That is roughly $6.25. I was thrilled at the good deal and began looking around at his other wares. After deciding on a skirt and the purse I wanted to settle up with him. He told me some rediculous sum for the used skirt and I laughed and said no way. I told him I'd just take the purse. Dan pulled out 10,000 shillings and said, "I'll give you 10,000". The man then changed his story and said, "No the purse is 25,000 shillings." Once again running off of emotions of a snake attack and then a near hit and run I was angry at the thought losing this purse. We haggled with him some more and he refused anything other than his unfair price. I told him, "The purse is used and is faded in spots, you can't expect to sell it for that much." He said it just needed to be cleaned. I angrily handed him the purse and stomped to the car having my dreams of a second hand purse dashed.
So our Saturday was eventful and emotional. I ended the day by yelling at neighborhood kids who think it is great fun to throw rocks over our fence onto the metal roof of our latrine. Not my finest day for sure. Everyday is an adventure here and we are learning as we go. Hopefully we won't encounter anymore snakes, evil boda boda drivers or unfair second hand peddlers.
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