SATURDAY 1st December 2012
We are back in Masindi after a load of adventures in Kampala and beyond!
Travelled down safely to Kamapala on a LINK bus and Godfrey-Taxi-Kampala met us at Bwaise on the outskirts and drove us straightaway to The Adonai Guest house in Muyenga.. Godfrey looked at me strangely when I asked where was the cathedral but it wasn't until I went to bed that the penny clicked - there are TWO guesthouses named Adonai and we had booked ourselves into the wrong one! Annoying because the wedding on Friday was in the cathedral and we would have to encounter the famous "jams" or traffic jams for which Kampala is famous!At least we nowknow where to go for The Archbishop's enthronement!
And this one is lovely and peaceful and clean and not too expensive.

We got up at the crack of dawn on Thursday, in order to reach the village of Kabale Bugonzi  just off the main road to Masaka - a drive of  two and a half hours from Kampala once you are out of the "jams"! I had arranged with the Deputy Head John Sentamu, that we would be at his school by 11am in order to present the prizes at The End of Term. We made it by 11:15am(the road was being resurfaced) but not all the parents were in place yet anyway.This Is Africa!!!!!! John and a pupil were waiting for us in front of a row of shops and led us down a narrow road which we found was lined by pupils singing and clapping  a welcome right up to the school gates! We felt like royalty. Once inside the compound  we were seated as Guests of Honour and after the usual welcome speech and introductions, each class sang. a songAll the time more and more parents were joining us and more chairs were hurriedly being put out  and we had loud music being piped through a sound system. Eventually Baz was asked to give out prizes - a dinner plate - to the pupils who had come top of the class or who were the best at punctuality, attendance or smartness.

I was then asked to make a speech and to present the little ones who have come to the end of 2 years of Nursery class, with a certificate stating that they are now graduating to Year One of Primary School It is really sweet to see these little ones all dressed up on gowns - but very hard work for me to fit the tiny mortar boards on each small head. A thunderstorm was imminent but we had finished all the business before taking shelter in the Heads office. I had a lot of my questions about the school answered by John Sentamu but I do have a bone to pick with Monica Kitchlew- Wilson who sent me out to the school .....we were not even given a plate of matooke and stew!!!!!!! We think that maybe  they were too poor to provide  anything that they thought a muzungu would eat, hahaha!
All in all a wonderfully uplifting day.

TUESDAY  27th November.
Sorry I broke off rather suddenly yesterday  but I was running on  BATTERY  with no power and the machine began to hibernate.........
Yesterday was such a good day for a Monday!
I struggled in to school after successfully finding Baz's emails. We'd had a bit of a drama when he  couldn't find them on my laptop ...  Al had kindly modified the computer for me when I was having trouble (it was actually MTN)  and said he knew what to do as his parents were always bothering him so he had worked out how elderly people could  do what they wanted to do in 3 easy steps....... I'd forgotten that once he was here Baz would want to use my computer..............
School was very quiet as they had finished End of Term Exams and the teachers were marking them..........
I handed over the magnets much to Science Teacher George Byaguraba's delight who says that now his lessons will be very interesting with the magnets to play with! Mary Headteacher was  equally delighted with the  2 new clocks Daniel had found for us so now every Year Group has one clock and several have two which means  most classrooms now have a clock on the wall.
I strolled over the compound to find Olive  and Nebbert marking and a number of children playing outside so we rounded them all up and eventually herded about 50 (total year group numbers 130 ish)  into one room,and I went over some phonics with them, making little booklets with the photocopying paper I had brought.
Had to walk on to the main road in the boiling sun to find a boda boda to take me back to Courtview so was glad I'd remembered my suncream and hat!
At 5pm teacher Jackson arrived to escort Baz and me to his teeny house (One room) in town to see his 4day old baby boy. Absolutely beautiful!As honoured guests we were given a huge bowl of matooke with groundnut sauce and not only a bottle of soda but a bottle of water as well. So hospitable!Then we quickly rushed to The new Bishop's House where I photographed George in all the finery Baz had brought from U.K. These robes are absolutely beautiful and George and Joyce are so thrilled with them. I hope to go to Wales in the New Year and show Bishop Ivor's family the photographs etc. I have taken.
Bishop George and his wife Joyce were really pleased to be talked into going back to Courtview  for Dinner
with Baz and me and Audrey and Roger Collor who really are FRIENDS OF MASINDI KITARA DIOCESE.They had brought an Altar Cloth among other presents for the new Bishop. Incidentally, between us we'd forgotten to bring any purple socks but the purple handkerchiefs were a great hit!!!!Everyone thoroughly enjoyed our 3 hour long dinner together and especially the huge box of Thornton's chocolate that Sallie had brought back from U.K. on Saturday. It was a lovely evening after a lovely day.
We go to Kampala tomorrow so I will expand on the Consecration when we get back at the weekend....
Tonight a meeting with the welder about securing the classroom windows.
Thursday to the Soroptomist school near Masaka where apparently I am to present the prizes.....
And  a  wedding on Friday!

MONDAY 26th November
What a lot has happened in the last  4 days and although Baz has brought me Daniel's camera to replace the one stolen  on Kabarole Hill I havn't yet worked out how to transfer the pics on to this Blog so no pics for the moment!
Met Baz who arrived on time at Entebbe with the huge parcel of Bishop's robes. Godfrey Taxi Kampala drove us directly to Masindi, stopping off at a petrol station at Kawempe suburb for a cold coke and packet of Gnuts! Arrived in Masindi just before dark and ALL the staff came out to greet us, saying that they had seen me on T.V. at The Royal Wedding!. I think  they saw me at the church service.
The Bishop Elect, George Kasangaki asked me to deliver the parcel of Bishop's robes the next morning at 9am so after a bite of supper (Baz was not hungry after journeying for over 24 hours without sleeping) and meeting up with Roger and Audrey Collor (friends of both Archbishop-elect stanley and Bishop-elect George) we fell into bed without really unpacking!
And so I got myself and the parcel to the Bishop's house  by 9am, leaving Baz sleeping. George and Joyce were SO excited at unpacking the parcel. We were amused at  finding a wonderful thick and huge black cloak - the temp. here is in the eighties as the Rainy Season  comes to a close..........We discovered 3 mitres and the most wonderful cope etc etc. Unfortunately the robes are just ever so slightly too long for George so he chose to wear  on Sunday the very shiny ones made locally.
Sunday was the dayof George's Consecration and all went wonderfully - especially since there were about a thousand people attending. The Service was held in the open air under 30 or so marquees in Kabalega PPPPrimary Primary School's playing field. sPrimary

WEDNESDAY EVENING November21st
I shall try to finish the story of Princess Ruth Komuntale's Introduction Ceremony last Thursday 15th Nov.
Before Christianity arrived in Uganda, it had been the custom for the boy and his friends to kidnap the girl and take her back to his village then his father and elders would go to the girl's village and start negotiations for them to marry. These would include demands and offers of beer and finally the number. of cows as Bride Price. Nowadays this custom has been modified to The Introduction Ceremony when the girl introduces the boy to her parents who finally agree to the wedding which can be the next day or several years later!
I was lucky enough to be invited to attend the Introduction by my friend Evah who is related to the Royal Clan.

As usual, we sat around and waited and eventually things began to happen when the Royal Musicians appeared followed by delegations from the Kingdoms of Ankole and Bunyoro.They  brought greetings to The Princess's Uncle.Her brother, the King or Omukama could not be present at this ceremony.Whilst we continued to wait for the Princess and her groom we were entertained by singers and dancers.Eventually the groom - Afro-American Christopher Thomas with his mother and brother.They sat in their marquee.

Finally  The princess was ready and several different groups of beautiful girls were led out so that Christopher could choose the correct girl-eventually the PRINCESS CAME OUT AND WAS CHOSEN!
The grooms aunt then presented the bride with  a basket of fruit and flowers that she may be fruitful .

Then they signed a marriage contract and we could all be served a feast of traditional Ugandan food!I forgot to say that it rained heavily at the point when food was to be served so we had to wait ....................................................................................................

WEDNESDAY 21st November.
This is my second attempt at writing up my Blog today!
It is chaos here in Doctor's flat in Kampala - the T.V. is blaring, Dorothy Mugenyi has arrived with youngest daughter Brenda, and granddaughter Edith, Evah is both trying to  arrange a wedding venue for her friend on the phone and  getting the twins (Nalongo's daughters) to try on bridesmaids dresses and Doctor is shouting advice to everyone!

Colin drove  3 of us plus the twins and Fred's daughter back to Kampala yesterday.We left  Fort Portal at 11am, loaded to the gunnels and reached Kampala at7pm! We kept stopping  to buy bananas , onions ,potatoes tomatoes asnd avocadoes by the roadside and when we reached Mubende at about 2pm we bought little bags of freshly fried grasshoppers, still warm to nibble for lunch!Carrying on to the next biggish town of Mityana we stopped at the shop of  one of Evah's many sisters, a nurse and were given a tasty meal of meat stew, matooke and Irish potatoes covered in groundnut sauce! This was about  5pm. We carried on to Kampala and reached the outskirts just before dark. Doctor then did a big shop in Nakumatt Supermarket and we finally reached Kololo and her flat  just before 8pm. We found Kampala very hot and sticky so after bathing and a cup of tea I crashed out in bed!

The first picture is of The Royal Musicians who played both at The Introduction ceremony and again at the Reception up on  Kabarole  Hill after the actual wedding. They are wearing barkcloth whih was worn in precolonial days.
The second one is of  a witchdoctor who was part of he Delegation from the Kingdom of Bunyoro who came to pay their respects to The Kingdom of Tooro.
I will try to write up the rest of the Introduction Ceremony on the next Blog.
I am really missing my camera! Baz will bring me Daniel's to use  when he arrives on Friday. It is too late for Daniel to buy the  professional one for Nebbert on Ebay.I was thinking along the lines of 'give a man a hoe.....". I will see how much thet cost in Kampala.

MONDAY 19th November
Yesterday was cold and rainy and quite frustrating for me.
All 5 of us got up late and Doreen got  a lift back to Kampala because she has to go to work today, Monday. Colin is desperate to get back to the city - as a 24 year old graduate he is bored driving these old ladies around and now he has lost his young cousin Doreen! He and I became buddies, exclaiming in exasperation as Evah continued to change her mind in her usual disorganised way!Doctor Margaret remained her cool cynical self!
Eventually we set off for Evah's ancestral home and met her  two brothers. They insisted we stay for a bite to eat and we were very grateful for the hot tea. The Ruwenzori mountains affect the climate of Fort Portal bringing loads of rain after hot sunshine.After Evah had checked that all was in order, we set off to find another relative, an old man who is quite ill. We stayed in the car. Then on to greet Dora Rwambona whose sister Anne I taught alongside Evah back in 1965.Dora and Anne'.s mother is very old and frail but enjoyed the  visit.And then another stop to find yet another elderly relative. Again Colin and I remained in the car.
The vehicle had almost got bogged down at the Rwambonsa's place so we were careful here to stay on firm ground!
By now it was nearly 6pm and we were starving so  I insisted on us all going to The Gardens Restaurant in town(F.P.) for food. We had 3 children in tow who had come for the ride so we were 7 and the bill  came to abut 15pounds sterling! I had fish and chips!Delicious.
This morning I am happy to hear that the request we had put out on the Radio has  borne fruit and that someone has my camera. I offered a reward but don't hold out too much hope .......When Evah and Doctor come up for breakfast we shall go and see.......
Then I hope to meet up for lunch with an old friend Sam Rukuba. who might be able to help me find an old colleague who taught with me at Kyebambe Secondary, Lydia Nkojo. We shall go to Kampala tomorrow.
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SATURDAY 17th November2012
Wrote a blog yesterday but lost the Internet and that entry!
The challenges of living in Uganda!
Anyway, over the past 3 days I have been to an Introduction (kind of Engagement Party),a Wake at the end of the ritual 4 days of mourning after Margaret Tinka's father died, a graduation Dinner (Grace's son Charles and Dorothy & Doreen's brother) and The Royal Wedding of Princess Ruth Komuntale and Black American Christopher Thomas! Am exhausted!
I'll do the Introduction in detail later but want to write up today and The Wedding whilst it is still fresh..........
We got up at 7am  talking about being in the church by 8am but of course, This Is Africa and we actually got to the cathedral ( memories of taking the Kyebambe boarders to church there every Sunday in the Sixties!) at   around 9am.Found a pew towards the front but as the church filled up  squeezed people in  until I was really squashed between Doctor and Nalongo(Harriet, one of Evah's sisters) The police Band began playing about 10:15 ( service scheduled to start at 10am and the Groom's party arrived 11:30 and the Omukama  followed by the Bride about midday.Meanwhile as more and more people crowded in they eventually moved the choir out and frantically kept bringing in more plastic seats. At one point they carried in the Omukama's throne only to be told by The Bishop or was it the Archbishop to take it back as there was a designated seat for King Oyo. Princess Bagaya, my old friend decided to move her seat in order to accomodate The Speaker of the Parliament! The poor king of Benin left the cathedral at one point only to be brought back in when they pushed the choir out.................
I can't add any pictures today because my camera disappeared as I walked up the last part of the hill up to The Omukama's palace. Evah and Doctor had walked the whole way up the hill ,as the line of cars was bumper to bumper and  was at a  standstill for minutes on end.Colin managed to drive halfway for me -he and Doreen  wanted to execute Plan B and just go home for food and drink when we left the cathedral about 1;45pm but felt obliged to get me up to the palace, knowing there would be a long wait for food. I think the camera got pinched as I was on the phone trying to liaise with Evah to come  and get me in as I had no Invitation on me!
The good thing was that it rained whilst we were in church but the bad thing was it became very muddy....Many vehicles got stuck and it seems that Colin had to pay men to push him out of the parking place once they'd dropped me and Nalongo( Harriet is the mother of twins hence Nalongo)
I was glad of the rather gaudy stole we'd had made on Saturday to cover me up for church as it got quite cold  and we sat in a tent for hours listening to speeches and only glimpsing the newly weds  between the hordes of cameramen. Apparently my group had been spotted in church on live T.V.  this morning . Don' suppose the wedding has had much coverage in U.K. Whilst we were waiting for the Wedding service to begin -my bum went to sleep at one point and I was grateful to have to stand and sing hymns-we read todays newspaper of the  Royal wedding so far.....!
It was  fascinating to see the fashions and the variety of unsuitable shoes up on the Royal Hill.Eventually they served food  - and I mean served - by  ladies beautifully dressed in blue and gold traditional dress as we sat in a beautiful tent containing many round tables with tablecloths and lovely  flower arrangements plus glasses and cutlery!A far cry from Princess Ruth's father's coronation back in 1965! The food was tasty and the best I've eaten in the past  3 days.The dinner at Charles Graduation was spectacterly bad!
Princess Ruth wore a fairytale white dress for the Church and a slimmer white dress up at the Palace. Christopher wore a white dinner jacket - very american.
It was  moving in the church when everyone clapped and ululated when Ruth and Christopher said "I do" and the outgoing Achbishop Orombi gave a clear, accessable sermon both practical and spiritual.
Finally, we waited for the present giving and the dancing to begin before Doctor, Evah and I stumbled our way home back down the Royal hill to find Colin waiting for us on the main road opposite the road to Kyebambe, my old school where I taught over 40 years ago!