Milking it...

hey guys!

what with all the drama of the other day i forgot to mention some things, so im back tracking a bit. on tuesday night me, danielle and Christy went with Frank the Cowboy to milk one of his cows. wierdest experience ever. i did actually manage to coax some milk out, though i dont think the cow was very happy about it! it had a little calf running around as well, who was dissapointed not be getting in on the action, and kept running past us and kicking out, i was scared it was going to kick me!

after all the drama i actually feel a bit better, i spoke to a few of the girls who were really reassuring, and ive just been keeping away from Amon and Oz as much as possible. ive been doing some serious work at schoolt he last few days too, which has been a good distraction. we are doing a huige survey of all 470 kids to find out their favourite things, about their parents and sibling etc, to send the info on to the people who sponsor them, so they can have a bit more personal information about their child. it took forever because the records the school has about the children are years out of date, and they have taken on 200 kids in the last year alone, so we had to go through and sort all of the enrolement forms and update them to show what class the child is now in, and then copy the information into a book, and only then could we start asking the kids what their favourite animal, colour, and lesson is, and who their best friend is and what chores they do at home. it was quite sad going through all the forms, lots of children dont have more than one parent, and a surprising amount dont have any at all. the notes on each child ranged from 'from a poor family' to 'has been defiled by her father'. the child who had that on her form is only 5.

yesterday we continued with the survey, and then we started organising sports day, which is today. the whole school is participating, which is great. im excited to see them have some fun after a week of exams. last night i walked one of the kids home, who doesnt live particularly far away, but very high up the steepest mountain. i was knackred by the time we got there but she hadnt even broken a sweat. it was worth it though, the view was amazing. no sooner had i got back to the lodge from this walk i was persuaded to go on a 'sweetie walk', which basically involves walking around the hills giving a sweet to any child you see. they love it and it helps to stop the parents and other villagers feeling that we are starangers, as we come by ther houses and chat to them too. after that we went to school and played baseball. ive never played it before but is basically rounders with a metal bat and a stupid glove on. a few people had been playing at the lodge earlier and had persuaded one of the staff to bat. unfortunately he smashed a window! everyone else said it was them and that james wasnt playing, as they didnt want him to be in trouble. thankfully anne thought it was funny. so anyway, we moved the game to school where the windows are just holes with metal accross them. i played barefoot and when i had finished running round my foot and big toe was killing me, whenever i moved it. the possibility of it being broken is pretty high i think, as its still really swollen and painful today.

thats all ive been up to really,. but ive got an excting few days ahead! its sports day tonighjt, and then clubbing at sals, then tomorrow im going to the refugee camp/settlement, and then on sunday im going to lake mburo for a day safari, and then on monday im going to kampala with my roommates for a night out and the craft market and nice food before they go home. im going back ot the lodge on wednesday and i dont know what im doing after that!