Adam, Christmas, New Years, and Jinja

Sorry it's been a while since my last post...a lot has happened so I will try and explain it all without making this post too long.

First of all, In the beginning of December we continued to work on the farm. There were a few student workers around that would help us complete tasks during the day, but December is a very slow month for the farm. Most of the students are gone and many of the Agronomists on the farm take there 3 week vacation sometime during this month. So, Mitchell and I did what we could to feel productive. Then, on December 11th, Adam our program director came to visit. Adam is a spectacular guy; very down to earth. We gave him a tour of our site and just spent a few days giving him a look into the life of a missionary at the Centre Des Jeunes in Kigali, Rwanda. We did quite a lot of filming and picture taking to allow future SLM's who many want to volunteer here to see the site and what it has to offer. He also found room in his back to bring a few gifts for both Mitchell and I to open on Christmas morning. Overall, it was an awesome couple days seeing such a friendly face from back home.

Once Adam left Mitchell and I began getting ready for our trip to Uganda. We left Rwanda on the 20th on a Jaguar "Coach" bus. These buses are a lot better than the small vans that we usually ride in to get around the city. They look like a coach bus on the outside, but once you get in, things start to go downhill. At home, coach buses has 4 seats per row...in Africa they have 5. So, I was sitting between Mitchell and another person for about 13 hours or so on the bus from Kigali, Rwanda to Kampala, Uganda. To make things better, we had two babies sitting across the isle...both of which decided they didn't want there breakfast anymore, at which point they threw it up! It wasn't a horrible ride, but it sure was nice to meet up with our friends that volunteer with Holy Cross. From Kampala we took a smaller bus to Jinja where they live.
We ended up staying with them from about 9 days. A few of our activities included:
- Rafting the River Nile (Class 5 Rapids)
- Touring the Nile Breweries
- Waking up Christmas morning to a small tree and a few presents
- Reading quite a few books
It was a great chance to get away to see some friends and relax.

Finally, we returned back to Kigali in the same manner that we left. Upon arriving home in Gatenga, we went to a New Years feast for all the Salesians in Rwanda. It was nice to see and talk with the other Salesians that we are beginning to recognize and know. On New Years day itself we relaxed a bit, had a few cocktails, and kicked off the New Year with a toast of Champagne. I did miss the good old Dick Clark countdown, even if he did mess up the countdown.

I hope all back home enjoyed your holidays with all the snow!