Your Miracle Is On the Way
Find someone you like on their good days and their bad days.
—Elliot's wise words on the occasion of their 10th anniversary
Oh boy, do I have a treat for you today. (Elliot might have said good days, bad days, and wacky days.) When we visited the mosque in Kampala we ladies were compelled to wear skirts and headscarves (which were provided for us), and we, being Western feminists, were NOT happy.
On the upside, my sister gave me the most amusing video out of everything we've recorded on our travels. Watch it after noting these facts:
1. We were confused by the signposts in a Rwandan town on Lake Kivu, which seemed to have two names: Karongi and Kibuye. (But now that I'm googling them, it looks like Kibuye is the town and Karongi is the district.)
2. Bilharzia is a disease caused by parasitic worms that live in freshwater.
(I hope this video doesn't offend any Muslims who may randomly happen upon my blog. She mocks all religions equally, if that makes any difference. Just imagine all the fun she'd have doing a song-and-dance number in this getup!)
The minaret has 272 steps. (Jill counted.)
One of Kate's shots from inside the mosque:
We also visited the Tombs of the Buganda Kings at Kasubi (ceiling detail above) and the Baha'i Temple (below).
A few last notes from my journal:
Kampala was originally built on seven hills [somebody had Rome in mind!] We did not see much of the city's opulence—my most vivid memories are of the usual dusty red roads packed with one-room stores or houses of simple brick and mortar, truck cabs stacked on corrugated tin roofs. "Beauty Parlor" or "Dry Cleaner" looks like a hovel. All the buildings very very crowded together. One of the guidebooks talks about tourists coming to see the wildlife but the people are just as interesting, and that is true. Friendliest children ever. ("A mzungu!", with delight.) Gorgeous women in vibrant wax-printed fabrics, perfect posture, carrying plastic water jugs or baskets of bananas or avocados on their heads.
We had a couple of lovely last meals in Kampala—Colin promised us wholesome traditional fare, and it was delish. We even had banana juice. (Banana juice!!)
At our last lunch we all dared each other to eat these INSANELY HOT PEPPERS. WHOOOOOOOOOOOO.
This concludes my Uganda-Rwanda-2013 recap (about time, right?!) Next week (or maybe the week after), back to Israel/Jordan!