Back home - or stranger in a strange land?

Heading home with the kids! The usual hectic to finish everything just before we go... but I manage to pack everything just a minute before the special hire hoots outside the gate. Reaching the airport around midnight with two kids who are just as excited as they are tired. After dinner at 2 a.m. they "only" watch for an hour until my two sweet ones finally close their eyes... just to be woken up only five hours later :-/

But they are just great! No whining, lamenting or fighting, even after changing at Amsterdam and reaching our final destination at 11 a.m. - really great kids.

Then, one of the first things we see: a big, yellow "M". What's cool? Nope, it's not only the weather...

But the weather is definitively also cool - even very cool. Even down to -8°C. What a killer! The kids are excited, Leona still recalls all the details regarding how to deal with snow and cold weather...

...for Adrian it seems to be a bit more difficult to adapt. A cap and a warm jacket should do, shouldn't they? Well, maybe not. He was back inside in less than 5 minutes ;-)

Last night I asked the kids what they liked most in their first week back home and both of them said: IT SNOWED! ...with a beaming smile on their face.

And for everyone else? Everybody is curious about life in the "wilderness" and it is certainly not me telling all the stories.


However, I have to apologise to my African friends... I had always trivialised their stories when they told me how they were freezing and their skin was aching when visiting Europe during winter. Ridiculous, I thought. But boy! How my skin is aching! And I haven't even been skiing in the sun! Just walking through town a bit. My feet are cold, my lips are dried up, and my skin is itching and peeling. Good heavens, how much European is still left in me?

Erections in Uganda

Ugandans sometimes mix up the 'l' and the 'r'. So, from time to time you hear someone saying he likes 'lice' instead of 'rice' and on the radio someone talks about the upcoming Presidential erections on Feb. 18th. Hilarious.

Mr. Musevini (shortcut M7) is standing again for another term, after having adjusted the constitution accordingly. Also hilarious?

Anyway, Presidential elections are taking place on the 18th, results will be announced on Sunday 20th and subsequently most of the other key offices will be elected (e.g. Members of Parliament, district and local administration, mayor, etc.). The town is full of posters of all those candidates' smiling, promising and friendly faces.


Some efforts are being made to make voters aware of the fact that a candidate's programme should be one of the key elements to give your vote - not only his/her promises, family ties, and tribal affiliation. Very nice: "Wolokoso" means palaver in the local language :-)

However, putting up beautified portrays of candidates is rampant in town, and rallies with deafening reggae music and a cheering and sometimes drunken crowd infest the city - I've even heard an airplane flying low over the streets while shouting slogans promoting a candidate to pedestrians.


Whoever wins, I believe it won't make a huge change to the country, I only hope that the threats to disregard the election results and to "claim our victory by force if necessary" will not come true and thrust the country into turmoil. Keep your fingers crossed!

Ready for the white stuff

Finally, after more than 1.5 years, I'm heading home again, and after - oh my dear, is it 3 years now? - we're going skiing. Of course the kids have outgrown any cloths related to cold weather so we're borrowing some stuff from friends. A surreal activity to pick tights, thick gloves, caps and jackets on a sunny and humid 30°C afternoon...

Rainbow wins Primary gala 3RD YEAR RUNNING!!!

Here are a couple of good pictures of the winners!

Well done all our kids: it was such a team effort to win by that tight margin on the very last race!

Parents and kids are hoarse and nerves ragged, but the whole thing was exhilarating.