wanted to give you guys a little taste of what an African bus ride is like (and
believe it or not, this is the shortest ride we’ve been on!). Prior to any of
these events occurring, we had already been through
complete chaos- fightingthrough crowds, trying to make sure none of our belongings were stolen, trying
to make sure we didn’t get hit by a bus, plus we had already missed 2 earlier
buses because, well, we’re running on African time these days.
10:50
am: finally make
it onto bus
11:04
am: lady gets on
bus holding a bag of underwear and socks that she’s trying to sell
11:06
am: man gets on
trying to sell beginner-reading books
11:08
am: lady on bus
trying to sell us ‘chips’ (french fries) on a plate with some veggies (no
thanks!)
11:09
am: man tries to
sell Charlotte some drinks through bus window
11:12
am: look out
window to my left to see a man handing another man a tire through another bus
window (all kinds of things travel on buses here!)
11:14
am: man gets on
bus trying to sell us electronic razors
11:17
am: lady on bus
trying to sell us water to drink
11:18
am: man on bus
trying to sell newspapers
11:19
am: sweating
profusely with Charlotte and Michelle touching both sides of me
11:20
am: lady trying to
sell us bread loaves through bus window
11:21
am: Charlotte
telling Michelle and I that she can’t wait to eat cheese again (we haven’t
gotten to eat cheese in months!)
11:21
am: man trying to
sell us fake hair, jewelry, and scrunchies through bus window
11:24
am: man gets on
bus trying to sell a super old-school radio along with some electric razor
equipment
11:25
am: man trying to
sell Charlotte shoes (most likely used) through bus window
11:26
am: man tries to
sell us toy police car through bus window
11:27
am: Charlotte
tries to buy hairspray through bus window
11:27
am: bus FINALLY
starts moving and we FINALLY get a little airflow
11:28
am: men are
hitting/banging on outside of bus
11:29
am: Charlotte
still trying to buy hairspray- he tries to sell her deodorant spray instead
11:30
am: man holding up
a live, full-grown turkey- trying to sell it to us thr
ough bus window
11:32
am: already
stopped- sitting in traffic…we’ve moved about 10 feet!
11:35
am: see 2 white
girls walking down street outside and think we’ve left teammates behind because
we’re the only whities around
11:36am: finally start moving again down a
bumpy, mud infested road
11:50am: man comes around to collect bus
tickets
12:04pm: look out bus window to see 2 goats
fighting on the side of the road
12:30pm: Charlotte opens cookies and man
behind us puts his hand forward…wanting a cookie- sooooo Michelle hands him one
12:36pm: bus stops on roadside on a huge
slant- trying to lean opposite direction so I don’t slide and smush Michelle in
my seat
12:43pm: “Home Alone” movie starts playing
on a small TV at front of the bus with English and Ugandan lines intermixed
throughout movie (one line in English- next line in Ugandan)
12:45pm: finall
y move off slant and start
driving again
12:47pm: woman somehow got on bus- she has
no seat, sooo she squeezes into back row
12:58pm: men running next to bus trying to
sell us cooked meat on sticks, water, bananas, and chapatti through bus window-
we do buy some water
1:02pm: everyone around us eating meat on
sticks- GROSS!
2:41pm: randomly pull over on roadside for
people to pee in grass/cornfield/wherever
2:50pm: start driving again
3:13pm: just went over bump and got
airborne in my seat
4:10pm: finally arrive in town of Mbale!
4:12pm: trying to find and gather all our
packs from underneath bus
4:16pm: meet our contact for the month-
Reverend Moses!
4:21pm: all 7 of us (plus Reverend Moses
and driver) cram inside small van with all 7 packs, which are pretty much human
size!
4:26pm: Reverend Moses prays for ride into
the village we’ll be staying in
4:27pm: andddddddddd we’re off!
4:39pm: make pit stop at gas station for
potty break in which something constantly dripped on you while using squatty
potty
4:47pm: on the road again- super bumpy!!
5:05pm: almost have head on collision
5:18pm: having thoughts that I’ll probably
be living in a mud hut for the month from looks of the passing scenery
5:24pm: Charlotte talking about how there
are actually lines on road we’re driving on, which hasn’t happened in most of
Africa- however, just because there are some lines doesn’t mean we’re using
them- been driving in the middle of road for majority of the time!
5:29pm: pulled over on roadside- women
flock to car carrying tomatoes for us to buy- Charlotte counts 17 chickens
sitting right next to car
5:31pm: on the road- driving again!
5:32pm: switch lanes because there is a
herd of cattle in the lane we were in
5:51pm: just fishtailed in the mud
and walk through tons of mud- I was right..MUD HUTS!
