Time is on my side (yes it is)

I suppose it's the time again... After an almost 3 month sabbatical, I've returned to my blog. Now, if more than the two of you (hey there parents!) read this, I'd feel bad. But since I've already told you both anything I'm writing here, my guilt is pretty much non-existent.

So, actually, the main reason I'm writing this right now, is because I've suddenly been placed with an extended period of time on my hands. Not by choice, mind you. It seems that my time has come, as I've known it would, to be plagued with an illness that only Africa can bestow. Well, not only Africa, but this type of thing is more common here than back in the States, so I'm attributing my feelings of crapiness to that. Anyhow, yesterday morning I woke up with some hardcore stomach cramps, which gave way to about 9 straight hours of... regurgitation (used the thesaurus for the least disgusting word possible). I went to the doctor in the afternoon, and after some blood tests, I was diagnosed with a fairly severe intestinal infection, and possibility of an amoeba. He gave me some hefty meds and I've pretty much been in bed ever since. Every so often I'll get a spurt of energy and be able to sit up for a while or walk around the house for a minute (keeled over the entire time, but hey – walking is walking), thus my attempts at another blog entry. Hopefully this pesky sickness o' mine will be done with by Monday, as I've already missed two days of work :(

And subsequently, and even more unfortunately, it also forced me to miss the final show of the high school drama production I've been co-directing. Yup, Thursday night was the last presentation of KICS drama presents Thornton Wilder's “The Matchmaker”. The kids have done splendidly, and I couldn't have been prouder :) If it hadn't been past the fact, I'd highly recommend purchasing a ticket down here ASAP to behold the masterpiece on stage in person. Once in a lifetime, ladies and gentlemen, once in a lifetime.

Quite a bit has been going on here, as always, but I'm not sure if much of it's “blog-worthy”.

School's going great, the kids are a hoot (that's them to the right on picture day), and save my current health concerns, life is just altogether peachy!

 About a month ago, one of my friends/roomies/fellow teachers and I went to Burundi to meet up with some other friends that were already there. Burundi, one of Rwanda's neighbors, is just about as small as she is, and also at about the same level of development. We went to Bujumbura, the capital city, which is right on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. The place we stayed at was right on the beach and simply gorgeous! I must admit that at first, I wasn't so sure what exactly Buju (as the locals call it - or just me... hard to be sure..)had going for it, but golly gee, that lake was amazing!! AND apparently home to one of the world's largest and most elusive crocodiles, Gustav. No firsthand encounters there though, luckily.  

A couple weekends after that trip to Burundi, a group of us decided to take a mini-road trip outside the city to a town called Kibuye, about 2 ½ hours out of Kigali, and right on Lake Kivu, the lake that borders

 Rwanda and DRC. But wouldn't ya know it? The gods of travel and fate apparently wanted us back in Burundi, because that's where we ended up. Can you imagine how embarrassing it is to think you're going to one place, and almost 3 hours later realize that you are not in fact in the intended direction, and even more so, are in a completely different COUNTRY? Now, how often has that happened to you? Exactly. Well, after a 2 ½ hour car ride turned into 7 hours, we were all too ready for a relaxing weekend at the lake. Which is exactly what we ran into. :) The lake was beautiful and so peaceful, as was the village that surrounds it. We even took a boat ride out to a couple of the islands on the lake. The first was called “Bat Island”, and if you can surmise where this name comes from, you can imagine what we encountered there. Literally thousands and thousands of bats were on this island. We jumped onshore, our boat guide clapped his hands a couple times, and all of a sudden, bats were swarming overhead.

 I've never seen anything like it, and if you had asked me at any moment before this trip if I'd ever like to see such a thing, my answer without hesitation would have been a firm no. But those rats with wings were quite the sight.  After Bat Island, we went to another island, the name of which I forget. But this island is totally that type of island where aspiring novelists and freshly graduated transients dream of spending a year in isolation. Gorgeous and secluded and seemingly untouched by many aspects of modern civilization. Except for, of course, a shack-turned-into-bar, a few tables with shade umbrellas, and one house for the sole “native” family to dwell in whilst accommodating travelers. Complete with a wooden swing, and friendly monkey, this island was also incredible and a perfect place to read and chill and soak in the sun (I have just re-read the last bit I just wrote, and I'm pretty sure someone should hire me to write travel brochures or ads or something. If you are in a related field, feel free to contact me with job offers). Altogether a marvelous weekend, and if nothing else, made for a blog filler :)

Plenty has been going on, and I'm certain will be continuing to go on. Week after next is our Spring Break, and I'm Uganda-bound once more. I'll do my best to keep this little guy up to date a bit more, since I know you both have work picking up, and hey, it's hard to find a good time to call sometimes, right? Well I love you all and if anyone else happens to be reading this by accident, I'd love to hear from you as well :) Peace!

PS – In case you were concerned, the fact that you are reading this blog online means that I've become well enough to actually leave my bed, find a place with internet, and sit up long enough to post it. Things are looking up, baby!