This was my last weekend in Uganda, so I tried to make the most of these last two “free days.” On Saturday, I went to the Entebbe Botanical Gardens and walked around a little bit. Rumor has it that some Tarzan scenes were filmed there, so naturally, I had to go and see for myself. It was absolutely beautiful. I only spent about an hour and a half there because of the rain, but I am very glad that I had some time to take in the plant life here. It is easy to forget that there are so many forests around me when I spend most of my time in an urban area. As I was walking down the road to catch a taxi home, we had to stop for a “monkey crossing.” I had not seen any monkeys since arriving and was excited to see them up close.
After the garden, I got home and had a nice visit from Joel, one of the boys in my neighborhood. He brought a friend with him and they stayed for a while. It is almost the end of term II for schools in Uganda, so many of the village children are about to sit for their final exams. Joel told me that he has 15 exams! I wished him luck and he promised that he would return to the compound before I leave on Friday so that I could say goodbye.
Sunday morning, I took a taxi to Entebbe and went to church with my roommate, Daniella. It was a new church for us because the other one we like is so far, but it was a cool experience and everyone was so friendly. They ended up having a guest pastor from the United States deliver the sermon, so I was able to understand it better than I have these past few Sundays.
After church, we decided to walk to a restaurant for lunch and after about half an hour of walking along the road, we realized that we were walking in the wrong direction. As a result, Daniella and I hopped in a taxi and ended up stopping at a new juice café near our village. I am disappointed to have found this little café at the end of my trip and think I would have been their best customer if I had found it earlier.
Today at PCAU, I had a surprise meeting with Steven, one of the RTH program’s successful children. I had the opportunity to ask him all about his experience with RTH and how he thinks it has shaped his future. He is now a student in medical school and gives back to our RTH program on a regular basis. Following that, I had a meeting with Mark to debrief our Jinja and Hoima trips. Now, I am spending some time wrapping up work for my final presentation. Overall, it has been a busy day!
I cannot believe that these are my last few days in Uganda. I was talking to my sister last night and she said that for how long I talked about and prepared for this trip, it seemed to go by awfully fast, and I agree.