Trapped in the Toilet

So we had absolutely wonderful time in Cape Town, except for the small excursion to the African dance theater. Angie had it in her mind that the family needed a little African culture. She happened to see at the hotel a brochure for the African dance theater – it was a lovely brochure with beautiful pictures of Africans in traditional African garb dancing in what appeared to be authentic and ancient types of African dance. None of us were really all that excited about going to the African dance theater, but in the interest of keeping the romance alive in my marriage I decided to attend with a good attitude.

An important part of the story is that… Before we went to the dance theater we decided to rent a car because it was becoming an incredibly expensive endeavor to hire a driver everywhere. What we thought was costing us R20 (R is for Rand) a trip was actually costing us R200 a trip… That’s equivalent to about $50. What was interesting about renting a car in Cape Town was that the steering wheel was on the other side of the car and everybody drove on the other side of the road… Or as I would say the wrong side of the road… But the South Africans took offense to that. Needless to say, I was extremely stressed about having to drive on the other side of the road in a strange place. Since I am accustomed to instinctively aligning everything off of my left shoulder I tended to drift over to the left quite a bit.… And it seemed that every few seconds Angie would give a subtle yet obvious sigh of fear and clutch at her heart thinking I was going to hit something on the left side of the car. Before we left for the dance theater we stopped and asked the concierge if it was okay if we walk since the theater was only about three or four blocks from the hotel. And the concierge advised us not to walk, because the return trip would be in the dark and it is extremely dangerous to walk the streets of Cape Town in the dark especially for white tourists. So… We had to drive the car.

I was trying to avoid driving the car because it’s scarier driving on the other side of the road than it is getting in the ocean with great white sharks.  In fact, I would much rather get in the ocean with great white sharks that the drive on the other side of the road. But… It was necessary to maintain the harmonious nature of my marriage. So… we arrive at the African dance company theater and to our surprise it was… Less than what the brochures had indicated! Fortunately I didn’t have to point it out to Angie or say that I told you so because she immediately recognized the error of her ways. It was a pit! But, at $30 a ticket, which we paid for in advance we were obliged to endure the performance.

However, before the performance was to begin the anxiousness of me having to drive on the other side of the road – I told you that part of the story was important – caused my intestines a little irritation… Needless to say I was in need of a bathroom break or as the Africans would say I needed a toilet! So… I made my way to the restroom proceeded to lock the door to my private little stall… Did what I was there to do… And upon trying to exit my private little stall realized that the door was completely broken and stuck in the locked position! Yes, the door was locked shut and I could not – no matter how hard I rammed my shoulder into the door or how violently in vigorously I shook the door I could not jar it or even break it open. I was trapped in the toilet stall. Now when I went into the restroom Nathan and Jay came in as well, but they were already gone. So my screaming their names was to no avail. So there I am standing in the toilet stall screaming for Nathan and screaming for Jay, but no one would answer. Now you would think that there would be a lot of traffic in and out of the restroom immediately before the show was about to begin… Nope! My only guess is that the rest of Africa new this theater was such a pit – I think it was us and about five other people (who by the way we found out were white people from Australia) made up the entire audience. So the three other males who are in the audience had already gone the restroom so no one was coming in and out. I was trapped in the toilet stall and nobody can hear me scream. I had resolved that I would crawl under the door of the stall to free myself from my imprisonment. Unfortunately, it was only about half of inch space between the floor and the bottom of the door. Even though I’ve lost a few pounds while here in Africa that was not going to work, So I resorted to my next option of screaming and yelling. But with all the excitement of the African drums rhythmically pounding in the preshow entertainment no one could hear my screams. So I resolved myself to just sit and wait thinking at some point in time Angie would wonder what was wrong with me and what happened to me and send the boys to come find me. Well, she obviously didn’t care… Because she never sent anybody to come find me.

You see the lock had broken once I close the lock the mechanism inside broke free and it could not be on opened it was like a doorknob that just was freely spinning without catching any mechanism… Eventually I made enough noise that one of the women walking through the hallway on her way to the restroom heard me screaming opened the door and said, “ excuse me is there problem in here?” To which I replied yes I’m trapped in the bathroom toilet stall – she said, “oh my goodness I will get security.” So a few minutes’ later security walks in. He says in his South African accent, “what seems is be the problem sir?” To which I reply – “I’m trapped in the bathroom the door lock will not unlock – the internal mechanism in the lock has broken free and the latch is just spinning freely.” To which he replies and I don’t know why was surprised – “sorry, we’ve been having problems with that lock.” Of course they were! Then he said what do you need me to do to get out of there – and I said, I was hoping you could tell me. Since I had been examining the door latch for the last 20 minutes and observed that with a Phillips head screwdriver I could remove the entire lock from the door, I asked for a Phillips head screwdriver. He said okay I’ll go get a screwdriver – now at this point it’s important for me to mention that when he said that I reiterated to him that it needed to be a Phillips head screwdriver. A few minutes later he shows up with a screwdriver. Great I have been saved! He standing on the other side of the door and we both realized there is no way for him to get the screwdriver to me. There is not enough space between the bottom of the door and the floor for the screwdriver to fit under. Mind you this is not just a toilet stall it’s Fort Knox there are no gaps over the top where he can pass me to screwdriver. So we decide he has to remove one of the ceiling tiles over the bathroom door and he can pass it to me through the ceiling space. But to do that he needs a ladder… So I wait for him to get a ladder he comes back with the ladder removes the ceiling tile and passes me to screwdriver over. Wait for it… It was a flathead screwdriver! I asked the security person about it and he said that it was the only screwdriver in the entire building – so it would have to do. So here I am on the other side of the bathroom trying to unscrew the four Phillips head screws with a flathead screwdriver. Eventually – after my blood pressure and heart rate have been elevated beyond normal limits – I was able to get the entire lock off the door. The door opened and I was free from my imprisonment. The guard glibly commented that he had better fix the lock before he puts it back on. Apparently this happen before and not knowing what to do with the broken lock – is a don’t throw anything away – just put it back on the door.

So I walked into the theater to find my family and close in conversation with a very nice Australian couple sitting behind them. And she looks at me and says oh there you are – where were you!? I just growled and sat down. She asked again what happened to which I replied weren’t you worried about me at all for the last 30 minutes – what did you think happened to me? Of course she said, we just thought you were pooping. I told her that I been trapped in the bathroom for the past 30 minutes and have been screaming and vigorously and violently shaking the door hoping to break it off of its hinges or for someone to hear all the commotion and calm let me out… But no one did, no one cared, no one even missed me… Trapped in African toilet stall in a less than savory part of downtown Cape Town in the old dilapidated theater building… And my lovely wife just laughed.

Let’s see… Other things that happened on our Cape Town trip? We went to Table Mountain, which was recently named one of the seven natural wonders of the world! And I must agree it is absolutely one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places I have seen. We rode the cable car up to the top of the Table Mountain and it looked as if we could see the entire world. We went to Camp Bay and me at a lovely seafood restaurant on the famous Camp Bay Beach. We had a wonderful excursion to the Cape of Good Hope (previously known as Cape fear)… Which was also an absolutely beautiful place, but very treacherous place for ships. We found out that at the Cape is where they catch about 90% of Africa’s seafood. So we ate at a restaurant called Two Oceans Restaurant. By the way, it is at the Cape of Good Hope where the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean converge. Being at one of the places in the world where you can get awesome seafood Angie and I ordered some sushi as an appetizer… Of course we insisted that the boys try sushi. And being the troopers that they were they were willing to at least try it. After Jonathan took his bite of sushi he made the statement that he had a new least favorite food in the whole world, to which we asked what used to be your least favorite food in the whole world, to which he replied without even a moment’s hesitation “salad!” We all had a good laugh. At least salad is moving up the food chain for Jonathan. But I don’t think he will be trying sushi again anytime soon. Also while in Cape Town we got to witness some authentic African dance – to which I referenced above, we also got in the water and did some cage diving with great white sharks! That was a truly awesome experience – at least for me and Nate. Angie and Jonathan who get motion sickness if they walk down the stairs too fast were helping the skipper chum sharks the whole trip. The only disappointment of the trip, was that Jonathan and Angie didn’t get to enjoy the sharks very much, because they were sick the entire time – and I must admit the water was extremely choppy and the swells were extremely high, so much so, in fact, that even some of the crew were vomiting over the side of the ship. After the sharks, we were able to take Jonathan to a bird rehabilitation sanctuary – which was awesome. Jonathan got to hold an eagle and a falcon and owls – he is a huge bird fan. We also went to a cheetah sanctuary and actually got to pet a cheetah – that was a pretty awesome experience as well. But perhaps the greatest joy of our entire excursion to South Africa was the fact that we stayed in a hotel with sports channels and free shuttle service to the mall – a mall which had a food court that included such fine delicacies as McDonald’s and Subway… or as my kids said “real food.”

Cape Town Mall... how nice!!!

The boys trying their new Least favorite food in the world sushi.

What else…? This past week I had another wonderful week in Kibuye (or as I referred to it in previous posts Dante’s 3rd ring of hell) teaching exercise physiology, in Marathon lecture format, to freshman, in a language that barely understand, without the access to any necessary lab equipment… What a thrill that was. Next week I get to try to teach them CPR and first aid without the use of any manikins or first aid equipment… I guess we will just practice on imaginary manikins. Side note: I swear if my students at BG ever complain again about anything pertaining to the quality of their education or the resources they have access to I am going to go nuts! They have no idea was a stressful and unwelcoming learning environment even is. Our students in America have unlimited access to books, unlimited access to Internet, unlimited access to libraries, not to mention desks and chairs in their classrooms, and instructors who (mostly) speak in their native language… Furthermore, faculty members who complain about their work environment in the United States should be drawn and quartered. I don’t mean to make any political statements about unions or collective bargaining – but I just want to say we are extremely spoiled! I have had to purchase my own PowerPoint projector, had my office moved without me knowing – twice, had my entire department moved without me knowing, have office mates who change without me knowing, have to buy my own extension cord and all of my own classroom technology – or schedule my classes around their availability, teach in a classroom equipped with a single power outlet – of course I always need to one for my computer and one for my projector, have no office space, don’t know when or what time I will be teaching on Monday until Sunday evening about eight or 9 PM, a shower that doubles as a child’s toy bucket for the beach, and get food only if the campus director remembers and I need a ride into town to get some dinner. Did I mention that the students have to find and bring their own chairs to class… And I am expected to teach while construction is going on around me (jackhammers and everything) and the constant interruption of other students walking into my classroom looking for unused chairs so that they can take it to the class that they are supposed to be in. And if the cleaning crew decides that it’s time to clean your classroom – well then – the teaching stops. They have schedule to keep therefore your class must wait and if you’ve already started your class has to stop while they clean your room. Because they will not come back later…

Interestingly, the day before I was to leave for my teaching extravaganza to Kibuye I stopped by the University office to collect a few things and check in with my colleagues – since the previous two weeks we were closed for the genocide Memorial. To my surprise I found the entire office suite area completely empty. I don’t just mean empty of people – I mean completely empty. Where all the computers had been, where all of the desks had been, where the bookshelves had been – gone! It was an empty warehouse space. It was like some kind of strange surreal dream. Everything was gone and nobody was around. The only thing that was where it was supposed to be was my desk just how I had left it. But everything else was gone. Made a few phone calls and found out that the entire department had been moved to a new location 3 miles away – not even on campus. No one thought it was necessary to tell me. Apparently over the break an executive decision was made by administration to put all of the department heads for all of the different programs on campus in the office suite area that physical therapy had been in. Fortunately, As a Fulbright scholar, they didn’t think it was right just to throw me in with all the other faculty who had been moved – against their will – into a giant warehouse in downtown Kigali. So they let me stay with all the department heads. So I have new office mate… And do not see any of my colleagues anymore. I am the only remnant of the old physiotherapy department left in the wing. And every time I ask about how or why this could happen I am always given the same excuse – and I’m not exaggerating when I say I hear at least once a day, as an excuse for why something has happened or has not happened is because “this is Africa.”

Petting cheetah's pretty cool!

On top of the world at Table Mt.

Camp Bay, South Africa. SA place for the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

Oh yeah.. forgot to mention South Africa wasnt all play. here I am giving a thrilling lecture at the University of the Western Cape.

Petting porcupines...

A few wild ostriches at the cape of good hope

We also got to see the penguins on Boulder beach in South Africa

Cape Town and Great Whites

We had a great time in Cape Town... What a great city!!  Here are pics from our trip. I will blog on the details later. Enjoy the pics - I will post more soon...

OK... here we go. A bit nervous... but brave!

You cant tell, but I a, peeing my pants right now...

and... she ramming and biting the cage... I didnt pee, it was the other option :-)

After she realized I coudnt be eaten - or that I wasnt an oversized walrus she backed away... whew... clase call!

These next few are views from the boat deck

 

 

Scene in the mirror leaving the shark dive
 



Our Jay-bird and his new eagle friend!

Billy Joel, Cuban Cigars, and Dante’s 3rd Ring of Hell

On April 2 -5 I taught in a remote campus of KHI. I was teaching exercise physiology to the first year physical therapy students [As an aside teaching exercise physiology – which is already difficult because it has always been upper division course– to students who’s English is their third (not second) language proved to be quite a challenge]. However, I was impressed with their effort and level of understanding. But what made this more of a challenge than necessary were the other distractions...

The scene from the front of my classroom

This remote campus was in a small lake town called Kibuye on the western border of Rwanda – very near the Democratic Republic of Congo. As one of my previous blogs indicated I was extremely nervous about the transportation to Kibuye. I was nervous because of recent grenade attacks as bus stations as well as the bus ride and the accommodations. Let me just say – I was right to be nervous! No grenade attacks, but the bus sucked royally!



But… before I describe that experience let me start by saying… So that nobody thinks I am complaining too much that Kibuye is certainly one of the most beautiful places on the planet! No one lied to me when they told me this place would be beautiful. When God made beautiful places – this was certainly one of His highlights. And about everywhere you look was a perfect postcard picture.

Having said that… Let me be as clear as I know how to be, in spite of its beauty I think I was in Dante second ring maybe even third ring of hell! Technology and the rest of the world forgot that this place existed!

Tight ride... this was the ride home - so i was able to get my
bag under my feet... but notice how my neighbors hand slipped
right under my arm and between my legs to hold on for dear
life during those hairpin turns.

Before I get ahead of myself… Let me describe the bus ride. I arrived at the bus station 20 minutes before departure to find an empty bus. I was thrilled because that meant I had the pick of the seats. I picked a nice aisle window seat. Within 10 minutes the bus was full. And by full I mean 26 people in a bus of 19 seats. Yup – that is correct they put 26 people on a three hour bus ride that only had seats for 19 people. This was not one of your greyhound type buses either this was a VW van from the 1960s with a slightly extended cab. It was absolutely horrible. I had two bags both of which were on my lap. My roller bag suitcase and my laptop backpack were piled on my laptop to my chin. At one point I saw a cockroach crawling on the wall next to my seat, but couldn’t even swat at it cuz my arms where trapped under my bags. So I sat there in my seat knees forward, upright posture, bags in my lap, piled up to my chin with the Rwandan man tightly and intimately pressed up against my left side. I am so glad that on my right side was a window – if not I might have gone legitimately crazy. So for the next three hours traveling at about 40 or 50 mph on roads that every quarter-mile had 180° hairpin turn I sat there and stared out my window trying not to smell the smells or think about how cramped my legs were. I did however have my MP3 player and I was able to listen to contemporary American music. Mind you they have a lot of American music here but it’s all hits from the 1970s – a lot of Rod Stewart, James Taylor, and Barry Manilow…  

One of the scenes from the side of the road... chicke truck
accident. dead and alive...

Once I arrived in Kibuye I was scared to death… It was literally a Western-style ghost town. What I was expecting in my mind was totally different from what I got. Fortunately, someone was there to pick me up and take me campus. Once I arrived on campus – as I’ve already described – I recognized how truly beautiful it was.

The accommodation was a tiny little guesthouse cabin-type place where visiting faculty stay while they teach. There are no permanent faculty on this campus everyone travels from Kigali to teach the first-year students in all the different programs. One of the things that KHI does is keeps all the freshman for all the programs in one location and then once they pass their freshman year they matriculate on to the Kigali campus. So there were about 800 freshman in all the different programs on this campus living in the dorms.

The thriving metropolis of Kibuye, rwanda... Thats the
Best Western Hotel to the far right of the pic.

The first room they gave me was probably 10 x 12 with a large foam sponge as a bed, mosquito net, and a folding chair. I laughed to myself and said this would be fun and asked to see the restroom, which was a community bathroom at the other end of the hallway. I was escorted to the bathroom and was shocked and horrified at what I saw fortunately I noticed that there was no shower. When I asked about it they said they didn’t realize that this bathroom did not have shower. So they moved me to another dorm – however the other room they wanted to give me was already occupied so I would just have to wait until that person left. Several hours later the person is gone they changed the sheets and moved me in. Still attend by 12 room with a foam sponge in a folding chair… But at least this facility had hot water and shower.

I was introduced to several people and they were very pleasant and very friendly. I asked where the cafeteria was and if there were food and they can just looked at me and chuckled and said there wasn’t any. If I needed any food I would have to go into town to get it. Of course the campus driver was in Kigali getting the car repaired so there was no way to get into town. So I went the first day without any food. Fortunately I had a half a can of Pringles and a packet of Keebler cheese peanut butter crackers that my wife made me take. If I not had those I very well may have starved. I ate the cheese crackers for lunch and the Pringles for dinner.

The team bathhouse... I "showered" out of that red bucket
in the tub.

The next morning at 7 AM I went to the restroom and try to take a shower and found out that the shower doesn’t actually work. Yes – the room has a shower, but the shower doesn’t work! When asking about this later apparently I wasn’t specific enough that I wanted a working shower. They just understood that I wanted a room with access to a shower nevermind that it didn’t work. So I was instructed on the finer techniques of how to shower yourself with a bucket of hot water from the sink. And yes that’s exactly what I did. Imagine this… me in all of my splendor and glory standing in a filthy dirty the restroom afraid to touch anything splashing water out of a bucket onto my body to get myself wet, once wet lathered up with my soap and then splashing myself out of a bucket of water literally hands gripping each splash to get all of the soap rinsed off. I was pissed! And it is now that I realize I have entered Dante’s third ring of hell!

My classroom - no chairs.

But having a great attitude and armed with positive thoughts I laughed it off, shook my head, counted it as a wonderful learning experience and proceeded to the class. Of course no one was there and none of the desks had any chairs. I was told that the students would start arriving about 8 o’clock in that they would be responsible to find their own chairs from other classrooms that were not being used. Apparently there are only a finite number of chairs on campus and there are not enough chairs to accommodate every classroom so the chairs rotate from classroom to classroom depending on what classroom is being use and when the students need them. Very interesting.

Flipped a coin on what to eat for dinner and which
one for breakfast

Mind you I still have not had any real food yet and I’m about to lecture for four straight hours. I resigned myself to have to wait till lunch break when somebody could take me into town to get some food. This was day one. I had two more days of this… And by the way after the genocide commemoration I have to go back for another week and a half.

By the second day… Oh, I did end up getting someone to take me into town to get me some food. I won’t even bother to describe that adventure suffice to say for lunch I was able to secure two pieces of flatbread – called chipatti – and two mini bananas. Hardly enough calories to sustain my basal metabolic rate!

Anyway… By the second day I had become very skilled at taking sink showers by splashing myself – something I’m quite proud of! Class went fine and the students were very engaged and appreciated the fact that I could speak clearly in spite of my American accent. But it was certainly a new challenge to try to teach a very complex and difficult subject to first-year students in the language and with an accent that they do not know very well. Keep in mind that exercise physiology uses a lot of words like a “Adenisone triphosphate,”  “acetylcholine,” and complex chemical interactions… trying to describe the creatine kinase reaction to students who don’t even understand you when you say “hello” was challenging – but I learned a lot!

My office and prep space for the week... a TV tray and folding
chair :-) My back is against the bed... very tight working space.
The bus trip preped me for it...

I had arranged to be picked up by the campus coordinator at 6 PM for dinner that night… I was excited because I was going to ask of you will go to town and eat at what he called “an American-style restaurant” for dinner… Well when 8:45 came around and he still hadn’t come I decided to call him… Long story, but He had forgotten me! He went to dinner with another colleague from the University and forgot to pick me up… So I went without dinner that night as well!

By the third day showers were no problem, in fact they were becoming easy. But most of all I remember that I had packed one of the Cuban cigars that I had bought for Dr. John Fischer in my bag – in case of an emergency – and this was an emergency – sorry John, but I smoked a cigar that was meant for you! And I’m glad I did. I found a very nice spot on the lake took my folding chair from my bedroom. Set next to the lake, smoked a Cuban cigar (Montecristo Open Master from Habana) – which was excellent by the way, and listen to Billy Joel’s greatest hits. It was surreal. I truly, truly, truly enjoyed that time in one of the most beautiful places on earth. At least for a few moments I forgot about the bus trip, forgot about the classroom fiasco, forgot about the showers, forgot about the no food, forgot about my foam sponge mattress… Enjoyed the beautiful scenery and time alone with my thoughts!

In a few weeks I go back, but I will be prepared mentally and physically for what I will encounter and will have a much, much, much better experience!

Uganda Safari Pics

YES!!  We did get this close and I took these lovely pics with my pocket sized Sam's club digital camera!!

Africa life near the savanna

The ever elusive and rare black hooded gonlek

Nothing like a nice bath after a big meal... yes, we were actually that close.

I dared nate to go slap him on the butt, but he chickened out... He would of been fine the guide said the lion just finished eating.

Remember the Lion King... Can you say "Ooooooh Mufasa, gives me the chills"

Mama and baby

Monitor Lizard... apparently the nemesis of the African River Croc.

Pied King Fisher... very cool to see them dive for fish!!

One look at me and wanted a bite!  Glad they are vegetarians.  Also, that is why I dont eat only veggies... I might get too fat!

African Fishing Eagle

Elephant crossing!

View from the lodge Buffalo at the river edge

No Lie, no zoom, that close. I offered Jay $5 to pat him on the head out the window door... she walked right up to the car - protecting her baby in the bush behind her... but Jay was too afraid!

Mama's baby leopard giving us the eye

View of the African plane.

That's a juvenile elephant...

Half of us in the Northern hemisphere and other half in the southern hemisphere...

Just too awesome!!!!

Long crested Eagle

Mama and baby in the African prairie

There are more pics, but just too many to post! It was truly awesome!!  Diving with the Great Whites in 6 days!!!!

Grenades, Guesthouses, and Internet

Well… Today am absolutely terrified! About 10 days ago there was a grenade attack at one of the taxi/bus stations about 5 miles from our house. One person was killed and eight people were hospitalized. Today – I have to go to one of these bus stations – the exact places we were told by the embassy to avoid. But I have no choice KHI will only pay for a bus - day taxi cost way too much money. so... I am going on a bus for 3 ½ hour trip into the countryside because I have to teach exercise physiology to the first year physiotherapy students at KHI’s extension campus. It’s interesting, but all the freshman, or first-year students, have to take all their courses at an extension campus before they can matriculate to the main campus in Kigali… So, I will be there this week, come home for the two-week genocide memorial and commemoration, and then return to the extension campus for the last week in April.

Apparently it is very common for the weeks preceding the annual genocide commemoration and mourning for there to be grenade attacks in very public and high traffic areas. Well, there are no more public and no more high-traffic areas around here than the bus stations. Mind you these buses are not greyhounds and my living accommodations - when at the extension campus - will be no hotel. The buses here are more like 1960-70’s Volkswagen vans built for eight people, which they cram 15 into… I’m not looking forward to it. I do have a small glimmer of hope that my particular bus I will be a little larger. So wish me luck!

Another thing of interest is that when I am there I will be staying in a guesthouse. The guest houses here are nothing at all like hotels! They do have hotels, which our like our hotels… But guest houses are not. Guest houses are more like the summer camp bunk houses you experienced as a junior high student. There’s a cot in the middle of the room, you bring your own sheets and pillows and if they do provide them – you still want to bring your own because they are dirty. I understand that if you’re lucky there’s a folding chair in your room so you can sit on something other than the bed. It will be nothing more than a place to sleep and put your head at night! On the other hand, the location of this campus is very near Lake Kivu, which is one of the most beautiful lakes and all of Africa. So I am looking forward to the beautiful scenery around campus.

As I understand it by day I will be teaching exercise physiology… [sidebar: which to me is an upper-level course, to freshman who will be getting all of the content in an accelerated, high-intensity dose, without the advantage of technological classroom aids. Yep lecture! 80 contact hours of lecture over what amounts to a 10 day period with only one– comprehensive – exam at the very end of those 10 days to assess them. To me – who doesn’t even know anything about pedagogy – that’s crazy! But I’ve come to find out that a lot of things that happen here in Rwanda are crazy! End sidebar] And by night hoping I have a clean place to sleep under a mosquito net :-) did I mention that I love Africa and I’m having a great time – because I truly am in spite of how much it sounds like I’m complaining!

Okay, back to what sounds like complaining – but really isn’t :-)

I’m told that while I’m on campus itself – at this remote site – I will have Internet, but not when I’m at the guesthouse. Internet remains to be the most frustrating and infuriating thing about life and Rwanda… You don’t get it every day, and when you do get it you have no idea how slow it’s going to be. Mind you it’s never fast, but some days it is slower than others. On the bright side – if the speed of the Internet is really the only thing I have to complain about – other than trying to avoid grenade explosions – I guess I’m doing pretty well. Especially since next week begins the genocide commemoration. The genocide commemoration is a two-week long grieving process that the country goes through. It is very much a “sackcloth and ashes” type of two weeks. In fact they are not even allowed to play music, hold public gatherings, parties, or basically smile and laugh at all. In fact, it is strongly encourage that all muzungus (i.e., white people) leave the country during those two weeks.

So… When I return from the Kibuye campus – that is exactly what we are going to do – leave the country! On Saturday we are headed towards Uganda to what we are told is the very beautiful and picturesque Queen Elizabeth national Park, which will require a 10 and a half hour drive, in a Jeep, and on very much less than pristine roads. Once there however, we will be taking another Safari into the savanna as well as a river safari to see African crocodiles, hippos, birds, etc. We are all pretty excited about it. The bad news is we can’t afford to stay in a hotel – because hiring the Jeep is costing me $850 plus purchasing Ugandan visas and the price of the Safari itself adds up pretty quick – so we will be staying in a Ugandan guesthouse. Ugandan guesthouses as I am told are an entire level lower type of a guesthouse compared to what you would experience here in Rwanda. So we are looking forward to being able to describe to you all the experiences of Uganda. When we return from Uganda were jumping on an airplane and taking a few days in South Africa, Capetown to be exact. In Capetown we are staying in an “American” style hotel! Yippee! We are looking forward to that. Also scheduled for this trip Nathan and I have booked a shark diving expedition. Yes – we are getting into the Indian Ocean – in cages of course – with great white sharks! We are both extremely nervous and extremely excited. I don’t know if I have any right to complain about the grenade attacks and feeling a sense of danger when I am willfully and voluntarily getting into the ocean with great white sharks… Anyway, I will be out of touch for a while since all the traveling will limit my access to Internet. But when we come back online in May I’m sure we’ll have tons and tons of great experiences and adventures to share with you. In the meantime wish me luck and say a prayer for me I am actually pretty nervous about going on this bus and staying at the bus station, but I know that all will be okay. See you soon- Heading for the bus station in two hours!

Here are few pics for your amusement...

Dont know how he is going to carry those jugs back once they are all full of water, but I guess thats a problem for a later time. 

Not sure what to say here... biggest load I've ever seen on someones head... actually, I wonder if with the circumfrence of Brian Campbell's head this is what he feels like all the time...

I am giving a keynote lecture to Airtel Executives at the countries annual meeting. Airtel is the 3rd largest telecommunications company in the world. They are in 20 countries and the largest in India...

Amazing...