getting a name

our second trip last week began with a stop in jinja. along the way our driver had us over for a yummy lunch at his home in kampala where he proudly showed us photos of his family, his son's report cards, and other family treasures. once in jinja we stayed in a quite resort-like hotel located right across from the nile river. outside the hotel, groups of children of all ages howled with laughter as they played barefoot soccer (or football as they call it here) and welcomed us with smiles and hollers of "muzungu"!!! "muzungu" is a term used to identify foreigners or more commonly, caucasian people.

jinja marks the source of the nile river and is home to 10 mighty white water rapids. we spent the entire next day rafting the nile; taking on 5 grade 5, 3 grade 4, and 2 grade 3 ridiculously powerful rapids. thankfully the day was divided into two sections of rapid riding because between paddling and the smoking hot sun we needed a break. the rapids are spread out along 32kms of river with long stretches of calm (but still with strong current) river to enjoy swimming in. as you approach the rapids you first hear them roaring, then you see splashing, and as you paddle up you see the insane volume of water squeezing through narrow gorges and dropping in elevation, creating natures thrilling rollercoaster ride! the 6ft high waves, 2 meter elevation drop, 6m wide gorge, and 3 meter waterfall drop were among the grade 5 rapids we conquered that day. the rapids are named things like "big brother" and "the bad place"... but even these names cannot describe the thrill and adventure we had that day. at the end of the trip we paddled 1/2 mile upstream (as if we hadn't gotten enough exercise already) to our final landing place. we were greeted with complimentary sodas, 'nile special' beer and a skewer & chapati bbq.

one of the staff at the final landing point was wearing a "canada eh?" shirt which i complimented as we walked up from the river. as he handed me refreshing bottle of water he asked me my ugandan name. i told him i did not yet have one (which i had started to feel sad about since i'd been in uganda for almost 8 weeks already), and within minutes he'd chosen one for me :)! i'm officially part of the "caterpillar clan" and go by the name "nabweteme". i think this clan is very appropriate for me considering i frequently draw cartoon caterpillars, love their slow and fuzzy nature, and recently took care of a caterpillar-attacked child (the one's hear have spikes and shoot them at you when frightened).

final thought, jinja = an adventure to remember!

- rachel -