After Helen and Sarah left on Sunday we all needed a bit of a distraction so we went to the craft market for a bit. Not all of the stalls were open because it was a Sunday but quite a lot of them were, though a lot of the smallholders seemed to be taking the piss a little bit with their prices, and not willing to come down at all. We bought some stuff, after some hard negotiating, and then we went to open house, an Indian restaurant for lunch. When we arrived it was deserted and we weren't sure if it was open because all the staff were in the bar watching the tv. It transpired that it was open, so we went in and got a table. Once we were inside we realised why they were all watching the tv, the Olympic marathon was on and a Ugandan was winning! Most of you will know by now if you follow the Olympics that the marathon was won by a Ugandan man and it was the first gold medal for the country for something like 45 years! When he crossed the finish line everyone was clapping and cheering, all a bit surreal but all good fun!
In the evening we were planning to go to mish mash to watch the closing ceremony but in the end we decided we were too tired, and just stayed at the hostel. The next morning we just hung out at backpackers because Astra was leaving, until she decided that she wanted a last dash into town so that she could go on a boda boda again! We left with about an hour an a half to spare before her taxi to the airport was due to arrive, mad dash into town where Astra bought herself some more stuff from the craft market, (prices were much lower on a weekday, as there were far more customers) and then a mad dash back. The text wasn't due til 2, but when we got back at 1.20 it was there already and has been waiting since 1! This was a bit annoying because she really wanted to stay as long as possible, but she ended up leaving at about 1.45.
After Astra left we had to go back into town to meet Sam, who was coming in from Ntungamo on the bus. We shopped for a bit (got some great new headphones!) and then he called to say he was at the post office, so we went there to meet him. We couldn't find him when we got there, so after much ringing and effort we eventually got through to him and it turned out he hadn't come on the post but, but another bus, and didn't know where he was. We told him to get a taxi to backpackers, dump his stuff, and then meet us at the craft market on Buganda road. About half an hour later we get a phone all saying he is in the craft market, so we make our way there. He is nowhere to be seen. We call him again and tell him to meet us outside the gate. Still no sign. We call him again and it transpires that he's in another craft market on the other side of town! We did catch up with him eventually.
That night we decided to go out, as Sam had to leave for the airport at 5am, so we thought it would be a good idea to just stay up! We started out in bubbles (after dinner at a nice chinese) which was completely dead, but we had a few drinks there anyway. Then I had a tip off that a club in town called hi-table was good on Mondays, so we made our way there. It was a bit of a dive but not too bad, we were pretty much the only mzungus in the place! We got some shisha and sat in the VIP area (a cool 5,000 shillings- £1.25 - each.)smoking it and just hanging out really. At about one in the morning we decided it was finally time to get up and dance for a bit. It was fun, though I thought the men were quite grabby, even by Ugandan standards. At about 3.30 we decided to call it a night and go back to the hostel, sot hat Sam could get his stuff together and then go to the airport. We got bodas back and when we arrived at the hostel I opened my bag to pay the driver and.... Yep, my purse was gone, I had a bit of a drunken panic, decided there was nothing I could do at that precise moment, texted my dad and paul, and fell asleep. I slept really badly, and by seven I was dressed and sitting in the bar of the hostel, talking to the staff there about what had happened. I noticed in the morning when I had a more thorough check that my camera was also gone, which is pretty gutting.
My purse had contained the key to my safe at the hostel, cash, my diving licence and my debit card. I obviously didn't expect to get the cash back but the staf at backpackers said that I might well get the wallet and cards back, as stolen wallets often just have the cash removed and then get thrown on the floor. I and to go to the police station to get a crime reference number for my insurance, I was warned that I might have to grease the palms of the policemen on the desk, but it was fine which was a good job because I was shit scared of having to try and do it! We then went to hi table to ask if it had been found on the floor. Predictably, it hadn't. When we arrived back at the hostel the manager told me that it had been found, a man had rung up but was too scared to bring it in because it was empty of all my cash. I told her it was fine, tell him to bring it. She called him and told him to come, and then told me that I would have to pay for him to bring it. I asked where he was coming from, and she said town, the cost of which would only be about 5,000 shillings, which is about £1.25. When I said that, she told me that I needed to give him more than that, more like 10,000. I was a bit sceptical but I decided that £2.50 was a small price to pay for getting my driving licence and debit card back.
I was a bit suspicious though, as my purse had contained cash in the notes bit, interspersed with various receipts. This guy said that he knew I was staying at backpackers because he found the receipt in my purse, but surely if you were going to take the money and run you wouldn't bother to separate the random bits of paper from the cash and then put them BACK in the purse? Anyway, he arrived at backpackers looking seriously shifty and barely spoke a word to me. He handed over my purse which still contained my cards, and all of the bits of random paper, which had been neatly folded up and relocated to the coin department of my purse. Very odd. After the guy left and I discovered this the manager of the hostel told me she was certain he had taken it, and to be honest so was I. But what could I do? He's on to a bloody good scam, stealing your stuff, and then looking like a good Samaritan and getting more money to return it to you!
After all the drama we went to the cinema in the evening at garden city which is a big mall. We saw the new dark knight film which was actually not as bad as I thought it would be; it's really not my kind of movie. Both the boys fell asleep during it, which amused me as it was them who wanted to see it in the first place.
The next day the boys went home, so we just hung out at the hostel until it was time for them to go. After that I was a bit lost without them so I just hung about the hostel. I spotted a Ugandan guy I was sure I recognised from meeting with paul once, and I texted paul and it turned out it was the guy I was thinking of. He text me and told me to say hi to him, but he had already left! Paul could tell I was a bit miserable on my own and eliab was out with a British girl who is going to work with volunteer uganda, so he arranged for me to meet up and go out with them. We had dinner and then went to makerere university freshers week, which was hectic! After we went to bubbles for a drink, and then I went back to the hostel as I wasn't feeling all that wonderful.
My flight has been rescheduled so I'm actually coming home tomorrow, starting my journey later today. Can't wait to get home now!
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