Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Our Trip (My 15th Birthday!)

On Friday morning I woke up and Catriona and Kasana informed me that I would be receiving a gift every hour.  For breakfast, I had a banana muffin which was a little over done because I had forgotten to tell my mum they were in the oven the day before when I left the house.  But they were still very good!  I was also given a little inspirational speech by Uncle James about how my life was like a tea bag package.  The outside was like the first fifteen years of my life with all the writing on it but the inside was blank because nothing had happened yet.  It was very profound and I was impressed that he came up with that on the spot. 

Now I should try and explain the plan for my day so that you can understand when I explain how it didn't turn out as planned.  My dad had to finish doing some work at the camp so Catriona, Kasana, and I were going to go with my parents in the 5-seat, air conditioned car at around lunch time.  Meanwhile, the rest of the Andersons, John, Uncle James, and the auditors were going to go in the 14-seater, not so comfortable, non-air conditioned car.  They would leave the camp around 9:00, go to Lugazi, drop off the auditors and Uncle James, and drive to Jinja.

Unfortunately, Auntie Tiff got sick so after a lot of deliberation up until five minutes before the 14-seater left, we decided that the girls would go in the first group and Auntie Tiff would stay with my parents.  On the drive to Jinja, I received more little gifts and we talked about all sorts of things.  And Kasana and I, and sometimes Catriona, played "car games." You may know the alphabet game where you look for all the letters in the alphabet.  We play it a lot on trips here.  But on the way out of the camp there really aren't a lot of signs so instead we looked for things that started with each letter of the alphabet.  For example, anthill, bird, cow, dog all the way up to zipper.  We also had a debate about whether the last letter of the alphabet is "zed" or "zee."  We took a vote and since we actually had seven Canadians and Ugandans and only six Americans, and the two youngest Americans said it was "zed", a decision was reached.  And of course we came to the conclusion that it was "zed", didn't we Kasana?  

We got to Jinja around 12:30 and ate some snacks for lunch, relaxed on the swings, and talked.  I also received more gifts.  My parents arrived a few hours later and Uncle Tal went with Auntie Tiff to the clinic.  We also called in our orders to the restaurant we were going to.  By the way, trying to order in food for 17 people can be complicated, but Catriona handled it very well.  She was also asked if the food should be ready on African Time or American Time to which Catriona promptly said "American Time."  

It paid off, and the food was ready when we got to the Keep.  The girls split three meals.  We had a meatball sub, a chicken sandwich, and a Caesar salad.  Then the people at the Keep came and sang happy birthday and gave me a giant piece of chocolate cake which fed all 17 of us!  I also received my 14th gift which was from my parents there--a necklace and a book.  

We went to pick up Auntie Tiff from the clinic and headed back to where we were staying.  My parents came to the girls' banda to watch my birthday slide show.  Thank you to everyone who sent a message. I really appreciated it!  Then my parents left and we watched a movie.  After that, we went to bed.  And that was my 15th birthday!  I had lots of fun and was so glad that I was able to spend it with my friends and family.

And besides encountering some imposing knights, it was also very peaceful! :)







No comments:

Post a Comment