I think one of the reasons I liked this particular trip so much was that we were able to learn more about the local culture–beyond the work that my organization does in communities. “Communities,” or “the field,” is where the poorest of the poor live. Beyond the capital city, beyond the smaller cities, where there are few NGO signs. I’ll talk more about that when I write about Days 6-8.
One such example was our trip to Lake Bunyonyi with the pastors and leadership of PAG Kabale church. It is a beautiful lake! The youth leader said that he has taken the youth group here on occasion. Also, some of their choir’s DVD was shot on location with Lake Bunyonyi in the background.
It was a great way to get to know more about our hosts. We took a boat ride to one of the islands.
I could easily imagine taking my husband here someday. There are lots of tourists, but it doesn’t seem overly built up. The emphasis is still on nature. There are a lot of campers. (Something which the locals do not do much of, it’s mostly foreigners staying in those vinyl domes!)
After the day of getting to know one another, we had dinner at the Bishop’s house. In case you’re wondering what we ate, for lunch at Lake Bunyonyi we had pizza. 🙂 Dinners at the pastor’s homes were great feasts of rice, chapatis, beans, chicken, beef, sauces, potatoes (sweet and Irish), banana (cooked into a mashed potato sort of pile), mushroom soup, Fanta, pineapple, and more.
I was worried that I’d gain weight by eating all those carbs, but perhaps because it wasn’t processed foods I actually lost weight on this trip. Yay!
What's on your mind?