second week update

Long Drop also known as LD: Small hole size of brick in a small confined space in Uganda they call this a toilet.

We left on monday to a school called Buzoona (or something like that) for our first 'location' trip. A locatipon trip is where one goes to one of the schools which needs refurbishment and stays on site. On site in Uganda is an empty classroom, a few mattrasses on the ground and pretty much nothing else.

We heard that the group before us encountered a black mamba on location in their sleeping bag, an occurrence which obviously put us all at incredible ease. I mean, black mambas, thats only paralysis and pretty certain death. As you all know we're die hard adventurers this didn't bother us at all...*ahum*

But yeah, no encounters with black mambas, no encounters with man-sized spiders, only shitloads of bats which swirled around our room all night. That's where u hope that their 'radar-function' is still operative.

The school itself; about 800 children in what one could call dire poverty. The strange thing is; as everyone lives in the same conditions it doesn't affect us too much. When we arrived all the children surrounded us and shouted the same ol' 'MZUNGU MZUNGU' and then we started painting. During breaks we played football with the children with two balls that we brought along. This put the kids in a form of ecstacy as their previous ball was a rag plastic and newspaper. They kept asking us for money but a few words in local language (DJA! - go away \ KOMALELO - stop today!) kept them at bay. Not to mention a few well placed smashes on the ground with a long stick by Benjamin.

During painting one of the children came to Shawn and asked him to come with to one of the classrooms. Benjamin and Lio joined and there we taught the children to count to 10 in various languages...whilst the children revelled at hearing us screw up their local language. Coming to think of it, these children are sadistic little bastards. Every time one of us fell on the football field (which is weed infested and as even as the mont blanc with three cows grazing it) our fall was greeted with lkoud cheers of just about 200-300 children watching....little bastards. We'll teach em when we get back...*ahum*

Furthermore, theyre not too used to seeing whities. Local children brought a 1-2 year old girl whom had never seen a white person to Shawn...imagine the look of a pig in a slaughterhouse when a man walks up with a huge axe.

We got back to basecamp today where we are hugging the western toilets and staring blankly at fridges filled up with cold drinks - read- beer.

Monday we're going back on site where we are sure that we'll be greeted again by children dressed in rags, living in dire conditions, having absolutely nothing - yet strangely enough; very happy to see and hang with mzungus.

Pictures are still on its way, once we find a solution to Benjamin's stupidity in forgetting the transfer cable.

We'll blog again this weekend!

ps; gert-jan has sun problems- his head was heavily burnt after a few days. His forehead resembles a mix between an 104 year old man and frankenstein. pictures to follow.